Group Hunting Behaviors

Hunting across the mammalian landscape

Introduction

It has come to my attention that certain mammals participate in group hunts. Such hunts vary across land and sea, with prey ranging from fish to zebra, and even beyond. In fact, this behavior extends to birds and even spiders (see footnote Stegodyphid spiders are social creatures who collaborate on their webs, and share in the spoils).

A well known, prime (and primal) example is the lion. Hunting in groups of 3-7 individuals , and coordinating their efforts, a subset of this group slowly encircles the prey, while the remainder wait in ambush near their quarry. Such hunters will go after cape buffalo, zebra, warthogs, and other tasty critters .

There is a wonderful marine example observed in dolphins. Often called Mud Ring Feeding, this process takes place in shallow water (approx 18 - 35 feet) off the coast of Florida. Again, a circle is made, this time by a single dolphin, swimming in a circle, kicking up sand with its tail. This mud ring extends from the surface of the water to the ocean floor, trapping fish within this circle. The fish, panicked and disoriented, begin to leap over the wall of mud, and into the hungry mouths of the waiting dolphins .

The most interesting case of group hunting activity is observed in modern humans. Like dolphins and lions, an encircling process is employed. Groups of 2-7 (although larger groups have been known to participate), will gather in motor vehicles, each individual in a seated position. A single human, known as the driver, will begin to slowly move the vehicle (and all the humans contained within it) around a building in a circular format . The driver will then proceed to bark out instructions from the vehicle, often exchanging messages from the other humans participating in the hunt. Once this circling process is complete, food is almost universally acquired from a hole in the side of the building. Not all buildings have such holes, but the humans never seem to hunt in those locations [citation needed].