Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Comments on How do I realistically keep my large mammalian predator hidden from other pack hunters.

Parent

How do I realistically keep my large mammalian predator hidden from other pack hunters.

+4
−0

What coloration pattern/ technique could a large mammalian predator employ to evade detection from other mammalian predators at 100 -> 20 meter distances (or close enough so that it could sprint into them, and run away).

In my world building scenario there exists what essentially amounts to a Giant Hyena. This animal has the following characteristics:

  • It's 3000kg

  • It hunts mostly solo

  • It has amazing sense of hearing and smell (but otherwise not particularly spectacular eyesight)

  • It is "smart" however you want to take that.

  • It gets its food from scaring away other scavengers from opportunistic meals

  • It has massive neck and jaw muscles

  • It also gets food from tracking pack hunters, figuring out the size of the group from a long distance away using its advanced sense of hearing and smell, then using its powerful jaws to pick one of the animals off and run away with it

  • It lives in what is essentially the African Savannah and slightly wetter places. So it would prey on other Hyenas, Painted dogs, and Lions.

In order to sneak up on pack predators, it needs to be able to get in close enough undetected, so at the right moment it can pick up one of the pack members and sprint away with a meal. I don't need something that works 100% of the time, just enough that it won't go extinct because of the failure rates.

Changing the environment to a degree is acceptable.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

1 comment thread

General comments (2 comments)
Post
+2
−0

Idea 1

Everyone needs water. Your Giant Hyena frequents watering holes and waits for prey to arrive. Maybe it camoflages itself with mud or lurks underneath the surface of the water. Once a target is sufficiently close it snaps its neck out and chomps them.

If the predator is intelligent it may even be able to predict the movement of packs of other hunters; perhaps it uses vibrations to sense where herds of prey animals are and therefore where the non-apex predators are likely to congregate?

Look up videos of crocodiles for a similar water-predator strategy. You will likely need to justify a) whatever weird evolution sent this mammal aquatic and b) why it targets predators over prey - as Olin points out this is relatively weird behavior for various "real world" reasons.

Idea 2

The "Giant Hyena" is simply a normal hyena (or other predatory species) with giantism, enhanced senses, and cannibalistic tendencies. Insert genetic mumbo-jumbo here. It therefore lives as part of a standard hyena (or other) pack. It uses its size to bully other scavengers from carcasses but turns on its own mates when food becomes scarce. Once sated it will attempt to track and join another group of predators, if successful the cycle repeats.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

1 comment thread

General comments (1 comment)
General comments
Cazadorro‭ wrote about 4 years ago

Forgot to put I intended this animal to be more intelligent than traditional mammalian apex predators, both ideas are unique and interesting, never thought of a "cuckoo" strategy.