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When fruit is scarce, these monkeys hunt animals

smithsonianmag.com

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Re: When fruit is scarce, these monkeys hunt animals

#21

Post by b112 »

fitsumbelay wrote: post #16

there was a recent story about squirrels in rural California opportunistically hunting and eating field mice and vols that's due to an explosion the latters' population and high availability. Not driven by scarcity of default food sources.

Ground squirrels, and the name is key. I haven't researched, but I know that often such animals eat small insects. And worms. Insects are meat, too.

So if there is a vole population explosion, and voles live underground, and are hungry, a ground squirrels den is going to get invaded, with the voles trying to steal food. And the ground squirrel will of course attack and kill intruders. Especially if they have young in that underground nest.

So it's not a far stretch for them to get used to the taste. I think they prefer nuts, because they can store nuts, but on that front they also eat berries and really anything they find, so storage isn't a diet limiter. And after killing a vole, why waste it?

Re: When fruit is scarce, these monkeys hunt animals

#22

Post by kleton »

groestl wrote: post #14
kleton wrote: post #3

Once a horse gets a taste for baby chicks, it's hard to convince them they aren't omnivorous.

When cows have phosphorus deficiency, they occasionally eat small birds, rodents, insects, or bones

It's not uncommon for cows to get a taste for chicken eggs and start seeking them out

Re: When fruit is scarce, these monkeys hunt animals

#25

Post by HarHarVeryFunny »

kryogen1c wrote: post #11
thriving_earthw wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is this just based on that one video or is there something more to this

Its probably true of most animals. I raised a couple of pigs and we intentionally never fed them any meat, even though they'd probably eat it, because we didnt want them to get a taste for it

For sure they'd eat it - pigs have a taste for everything.

You don't want to be the farmer who falls over in his pig sty.

Re: When fruit is scarce, these monkeys hunt animals

#28

Post by heresie-dabord »

HarHarVeryFunny wrote: post #25
kryogen1c wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its probably true of most animals. I raised a couple of pigs and we intentionally never fed them any meat, even though they'd probably eat it, because we didnt want them to get a taste for it

For sure they'd eat it - pigs have a taste for everything. You don't want to be the farmer who falls over in his pig sty.

> You don't want to be the farmer who falls over in his pig sty.

This is the real reason for the panic when Dorothy falls into the pig sty at the beginning of the Wizard of Oz. The pigs would crush her and eat her. (But in the movie, her dress doesn't even get dirty!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-r6cF5lyqEo

Re: When fruit is scarce, these monkeys hunt animals

#29

Post by kulahan »

Revanche1367 wrote: post #24
lxe wrote: post #5

Related somewhat: ground squirrels in Bay Area park started actively started hunting voles. https://www.ucdavis.edu/climate/news/carnivorous-feeding-squ...

A biologist with the surname “Wild.” That woman was meant to be in this field.

Nominative determinism is the name of this phenomenon, for the curious.
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