Predator Hunting and Prey Defence Strategies
Understand that predators have evolved hunting strategies: wolves hunt in packs, chameleons use their long tongues, spiders build webs, crocodiles ambush at water's edge. Prey animals have evolved defences: porcupine spines, skunk spray, poison dart frog toxins, zebra stripes confusing predators, playing dead
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describes at least 3 predator hunting strategies with examples
- Describes at least 3 prey defence mechanisms with examples
- Understands the concept of an 'arms race' between predators and prey
1 · Read
You already know that camouflage helps animals hide. But hiding is not the only trick out there. Predators have hunting strategies to catch food, and prey animals have defences to stay alive, and both keep getting better over time.
Wolves hunt in packs. They work together to chase and surround an animal that would be too strong for one wolf alone. A chameleon does the opposite: it waits alone and flicks out its long, sticky tongue faster than you can blink. A crocodile floats so still near the water's edge that a thirsty animal does not notice it, until it strikes.
A porcupine has sharp spines that poke any mouth that bites it. A skunk sprays a stinky liquid that stings a predator's eyes and nose. A poison dart frog's skin makes a poison, called a toxin, so strong that predators learn to leave its bright colours alone. When zebras run together as a herd, their stripes blur together, making it hard for a lion to lock onto just one zebra. Some animals, like the opossum, simply flop over and lie still as if dead, since many predators lose interest in food that is not moving.
Predators and prey are stuck in a kind of race. If prey get better at escaping, only the sharpest hunters catch enough food to survive and have young. If predators get better at hunting, only the best-defended prey survive and have young. Over many, many years, this back-and-forth is called an arms race.
Predators hunt with teamwork, speed, traps, and ambush, prey defend with spines, spray, poison, patterns, and playing dead, and both sides keep adapting to each other.
More to read
How to Keep Spiders and Scorpions Out of Your House Using Natural Products
Spiders are quiet hunters. Many spin sticky webs and wait. When a fly lands, the web shakes and the spider rushes out. It wraps the fly in silk so dinner cannot escape. The web is both a trap and a telephone line.
Other spiders hunt on foot. Wolf spiders chase down bugs and pounce like tiny wolves. Whether they spin or sprint, spiders catch millions of insects every day. Prey fights back too. A strong moth can tear out of the silk. A wasp can sting the spider right back. Birds and frogs then eat the spiders.
How to Catch a Fox: A Step-by-Step Guide
Foxes are clever hunters with sharp ears. They can hear a mouse squeak under deep snow. When they find one, they pounce high and dive headfirst to grab it. In towns they hunt at night, sniffing out gardens and bins.
But foxes must watch out too. Farmers guard their hens, and bigger animals like wolves can chase foxes away. Every hunter is also someone lunch. Hunters get sharper and prey gets better at escaping, year after year. That never ending contest is called an arms race.
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2 · Watch
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Where it sits
Learn first
Optional connections
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
24 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.