Anti-predator strategy

[Dogghound]

Early this morning I was observing a female fox hunting along the side of a lake with around 120 teal in it. Upon seeing this fox the teal came from the far bank to the bank where the fox was and started making a great fuss of it following it up and down the bank. Clearly the ducks were making the fox aware that they had seen it although I have never seen this type of behavior before is this common or well documented? have others seen this before? almost like they were mobbing it.

Also on a similar note later on in the day had a peregrine sat in the middle of a field intently watching a group of about 30 pale bellied Brent geese. I've heard of peregrines taking small geese before, these geese however did not seem to fussed by its presence. The fact it was sat presumably meant it seemed less of a threat that if it had flown over the geese. Anyone else noticed this sort of relaxed behavior?

[RKB]

This is the behaviour that is exploited at duck decoys, so has been known for many hundreds of years, and manipulated on a commercial scale.

[pammosley]

Hi Dogghound when we were at Martin Mere in Oct, 2 perries were sat eating their catch in a field, there were Pink Footed geese within a few yards. I guess a perrie is no match for a Pink Footed They weren`t bothered at all. I too guess that if a perrie was flying over smaller wildfowl they would have been alarmed.

[acherontia]

At Bempton RSPB I once saw a stoat running for its life whilst being mobbed by a group of sparrows. They were all bombarding it with beaks and it had to run for cover. I was 'stoatally' amazed!

Acher

[thebeard]

At Bempton RSPB I once saw a stoat running for its life whilst being mobbed by a group of sparrows. They were all bombarding it with beaks and it had to run for cover. I was 'stoatally' amazed!

similarly, i saw an american mink running across one of the sheep fields at my university campus. it was getting mobbed from all angles, being attacked from the air by a pair of crows, and running in terror into the vicinity of the sheep, who decided to defend themselves by running at the mink. the poor little thing didn't know where to turn, and eventually ran straight towards us (a group of ~20 students), who were standing atop a ha-ha, and rand along the ha-ha before making a dash for it across the field and into a plantation.

needless to say, we didnt learn much in that lecture, with all the excitement happening around us!

[Melus]

Originally Posted by thebeard

similarly, i saw an american mink running across one of the sheep fields at my university campus. it was getting mobbed from all angles, being attacked from the air by a pair of crows, and running in terror into the vicinity of the sheep, who decided to defend themselves by running at the mink. the poor little thing didn't know where to turn, and eventually ran straight towards us (a group of ~20 students), who were standing atop a ha-ha, and rand along the ha-ha before making a dash for it across the field and into a plantation.

needless to say, we didnt learn much in that lecture, with all the excitement happening around us!

The Ha Ha gave it away, good old Brack, many a happy memory The Mink was probably looking for a Great Crested to chew on, but don't tell Nev.

[thebeard]

yep you're right nev's the man!

[Picidae]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Early this morning I was observing a female fox hunting along the side of a lake with around 120 teal in it. Upon seeing this fox the teal came from the far bank to the bank where the fox was and started making a great fuss of it following it up and down the bank. Clearly the ducks were making the fox aware that they had seen it although I have never seen this type of behavior before is this common or well documented? have others seen this before? almost like they were mobbing it.

Also on a similar note later on in the day had a peregrine sat in the middle of a field intently watching a group of about 30 pale bellied Brent geese. I've heard of peregrines taking small geese before, these geese however did not seem to fussed by its presence. The fact it was sat presumably meant it seemed less of a threat that if it had flown over the geese. Anyone else noticed this sort of relaxed behavior?

I've seen both ducks and Moorhens do the same thing (which in all occasions led me to spying the fox in the first place!) - eventually, presumably relying on stealth as a key strategy, the fox gave up.

I've also witnessed Pere's (and other falcons/accipiters) apparently causing no stir amongst potential prey invariably because they weren't in active hunting mode due to having just eaten/'sat' on the ground, or it was due to sexual dimorphism and prey preference at the time.

[aeshna5]

I remember one day last winter when I was about to start a WeBS count along the Thames crossing Putney Bridge when a Peregrine flew just a few metres beside me + none of the gulls took flight. I was amazed they stayed put + assumed that they could somehow tell the Peregrine wasn't hunting.

Certainly at the nearby London Wetland Centre both Sparrowhawk + Peregrine are normally detected by gulls, pigeons + Starlings going up.