Lady Alizarin's Guide to Hunting/Eating Habbits: For Realistic Roleplays

[Lady_Alizarin]

Hunting and Eating Habbits: For Realistic Roleplays

A guide by Lady Alizarin

Okay folks, it's time to learn how animals eat their food!

No, not in that kind of way. I meant it's time to learn how wild animals hunt and eat their food out in nature. This is a guide for people who do realistic roleplays, but are unsure or unfamiliar with hunting/eating habbits of the animals they are roleplaying as. I have seen so many roleplayers make mistakes on a particular animal's diet. I've seen some who think that a single lone wolf could take down an elk all by himself, or a fox that could hunt down a deer. FAIL! Often times it's because some people just don't know much about the animal they are playing, or aren't very familiar with that animal's diet. Well, I'm here to help with that. So let's get started!


How Members of the Feline Family Hunt & Eat

Big cats, as well as other members of the feline family, are excelent hunters. Most felines are solitary hunters, and can take down prey bigger than they are. There are some who are scavengers, while others have the mentality of "If I didn't catch it myself, I won't eat it."

Lions:

The king of the jungle eats a variety of animals out in the plains. When it comes to hunting for food, the lionesses of the pride will work together as a team to bring down a meal. The most common animals on the menu are zebras, wildebeast, antelope, impala, and warthog. IF a pride is big enough, they will sometimes go for larger game such as a young elephant, cape buffalo, giraffe, or a hippo. It's VERY rare, but it has happened before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2ZW0EvMzSM

A single lion is capable of hunting prey by himself/herself, BUT it's going to depend on what prey they can handle and it's more difficult since they aren't being helped. A single lion can take down a zebra, antelope, or wildebeast,  but the prey would have to be either small, weak, old, or sick. Remember, a predator always goes for the one that can't keep up with the herd or is the smallest/weakest in the herd.

Lions can also be scavengers. If they find a fresh carcass, they will try and take it for themselves.

Cougars:

Cougars are solitary hunters, and have a big variety of prey on the menu. A cougar can hunt and eat deer, mountain sheep, elk, fish, rabbits, birds, and rodents. A full grown cougar is capable of taking down large prey, such as elk or young moose. Most young cougars will stick with the small prey, until they get big and strong enough to go for the big game.

Lynxes and Bobcats:

Lynxes are solitary hunters and mostly go for small prey such as rabbits, rodents, birds, and fish. A full grown bobcat/lynx is capable of taking down prey larger than they are. They can attack and kill deer, if they are strong and healthy enough. They often times go for the fawns or does, and will also go for old, injured, or weak deer. They will sometimes scavenge for food too.

Cheetahs:

Being the fastest land mammal, a cheetah likes to eat some fast food; gazelle, antelope, hares, and rodents. Cheetahs are one of those picky eaters. They will not eat something they didn't catch. Even if it's a starving cheetah, they will not eat the meat from a carcass that wasn't taken down by them.
Cheetahs aren't the kind that go for zebras, wildebeast, or large antelope. Those are much too big and powerful for a cheetah to take down by itself. They go for the small gazelles and antelope, and leave the bigger prey to the lions and the leopards.

Jaguars:

Jaguars are solitary, quiet hunters that rely on stealth. Their diet consists of tapirs, pecaries (javellinas), monkeys, small deer, fish, and rodents. They mostly hunt at night.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNGBZrdZyTE

Domestic Cat:

A domestic cat eats more species of prey animals than any other member of the feline family. They can eat rodents (mice, rats, voles, moles, shrews), rabbits, birds, fish, and even insects. I've seen my cat eating grasshoppers and crickets before. One of my cats even at a green caterpillar with a spike at the end of it's tail.
Even though domestic cats have a big list of prey to eat, they have their limits on how much they can kill. I've seen a few Warrior Cat roleplayers do things such as "-The she-cat caught 20 fish and took them all back to camp-"..... FAIL!


How Members of the Canine Family Hunt & Eat

Most canine speices hunt and eat in packs. They will rely on team work to bring down large prey for the pack to eat. Canines are also scavengers, and will look for carcasses to eat on if they are not able to hunt. There are few species that are solitary hunters and scavengers.

Wolves:

Being pack animals, they work as a team to bring down prey larger than they are. A good-sized pack of many members can take down deer, elk, moose, and bison. It takes time, patience, and teamwork to bring a large game animal down. Some small prey they like to eat would be rabbits, and rodents.

A lone wolf is often times a scavenger. A lone wolf CANNOT take down big game by him/herself. Often times, I see people making that mistake in wolf roleplayers. Since a loner doesn't have the help of a pack to hunt down big meals, the loner will find large carcasses to feed from. A lone wolf is capable of hunting small game such as rabbits, and rodents.

African Hunting Dogs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbb1BQQrUsE

An African hunting dog pack functions just like a pack of wolves. They use their numbers and teamwork to bring down prey. A pack of hunting dogs will hunt for antelope, zebras, wildebeast, gazelle, impala, and kudo. If the animal they are hunting is too fast for them to catch, they often times set up an ambush plan. They will drive the animal to some waiting members, where they will block the path of the prey and have it surrounded. African hunting dogs are also scavengers.

A lone hunting dog is only capable of hunting small game; such as rabbits, and rodents. A loner will also scavenge for food.

Coyotes:

Coyotes are smaller than wolves, but they can take down large prey... if the pack is big enough. A pack of coyotes is capable of taking down a deer or pronghorn antelope. Coyotes are not big enough to attack elk, moose, or bison. Coyotes can also hunt for rabbits, rodents, and birds (pheasants, quails, doves, prairie chickens). Coyotes are scavengers as well, and will often times try to take their fair share of a large elk carcass that was brought down by wolves or bears.... but it can be risky buisness.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXCvLzDNWz0

A lone coyote CANNOT hunt down a deer on its own. A loner can hunt and eat, rabbits, rodents, and birds, or can scavenge on carcasses.

Foxes:

Foxes are small canines, and often times hunt alone. Being small, they hunt for small prey such as rodents, rabbits, birds. They will also eat bird eggs, and berries. Foxes are scavengers too, and will often times wait for a good opportunity to take some scraps of meat from a carcass.
Some roleplayers I've met thought that foxes could take down deer, or elk. They CAN'T! Foxes are way too small to take down animals larger than they are. They do eat large game carcasses such as elk, moose, deer, and caribou, BUT the carcass was already killed by a bigger predator.

Domestic Dogs:

There are many street dog roleplayers who beleive that domestic dogs can hunt down animals like a wolf pack can. THINK AGAIN! Domesitc dogs, including dogs that were bred for hunting, don't hunt in packs like wolves can. Many breeds are too dependant on humans to feed them and provide for them. Most dog breeds have special needs that need to be met every single day.
Street dogs try to survive by scavenging for food in dumpsters, trash cans, or even eating road kill. Some stray dogs get their food from people leaving out scraps for them to take. A stray dog isn't going to go out and try to hunt down a big deer or an elk to feed itself. Terriers might survive if they find some rodents to eat.
If a pack of street dogs was hungry enough, they would kill and eat the smallest or weakest one of the pack. It's harsh, but that's reality. There are some dogs that can live a good long while out on the streets, but they won't live a healthy life. Most of them die from starvation, disease, or injury.


Important!

One important thing to remember is that when a predator animal hunts it's prey, it always goes for the weakest/slowest one of the herd/group. As you've seen in the videos above, the pack/pride predators sorted out which prey animal of the herd was the weakest or the slowest. They won't go for the strongest animal, because they would waste too much energy trying to bring it down. Even the big cats who hunt alone always go for the weakest one of the herd. A mountain lion wouldn't go for the biggest bull elk of the herd. Bigger isn't always the best. They take what they CAN handle. I've seen some roleplayers try to attack someone's prey animal thinking "Oh I'm so strong I can take down the lead bull or the lead stallion!" Yeah, in reality if a predator were to do that, they would get killed. OR they would get seriously injured.... and THEN die, because they were too injured and weak to go out and hunt more.
So it's important to remember that predators go for the slowest/weakest prey animal in the group.

[Lady_Alizarin]

Hunting and Eating Habbits: For Realistic Roleplays

Other Animals

Hyenas:

Hyenas are group animals, and will hunt or scavenge together. Heynas hunt in packs to bring down large prey. A group of hyenas will sometimes go on a scavenger hunt for carcases to eat on. They will often times try to steal a meal from lions, cheetah, and leopards. If they do hunt for large prey, it's usually small prey. If given the chance, they will kill lion cubs, cheetah cubs, leopard cubs, and other cubs to have as a meal. They can also eat hares, rodents, birds, and insects, berries, and fruits.
A lone hyena will mostly stick to scavenging in order to survive. They will look for any ungaurded carcass, and eat as much as they can.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xh2YpA1JzE

Birds of Prey:
 
Birds of prey, eagles, hawks, kites, owls, etc, can be both hunters and scavengers. Eagles, hawks, and owls can hunt for rodents, rabbits, fish, small birds, and small mammals. If eagles or hawks find an animal carcass, they will take the opportunity to feast.
In some RPs, I have heard people say things like -The warrior could hear the sounds of the owl's wings as they flapped toward the camp-. When owls and other birds of prey fly, their wings don't make a sound. Their wings are silent (no flapping noises) when they fly, because of their design. A bird of prey's wings were evolved to make them stealthy in flight. That way, their prey won't hear them coming. I've seen great horned owls in flight for myself. As big as their wings are, they made no flapping noises at all.

How Members of the Weasle Family Hunt & Eat

The members of the weasle family are carnivorous and omnivorous. They eat a variety of prey, even if it's bigger than they are. Most small weasles will eat rodents, rabbits, birds, and eggs.

Weasles & Ferrets:

Weasles can eat prey that is slightly larger than they are. They are capable of hypnotising their prey (rabbits, and hares) by doing what is called a war dance. After they confuse their prey, they will strike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4-DGhKfuck

Badgers:

Badgers are known for their ill-tempers, vicious nature, lack of fear, and persistance. With long claws, badgers can easily take down small prey. American badgers can hunt rabbits, rodents, prarie dogs, lizards, eggs, and insects. They will also scavenge for food by eating on animal carcases.

The honey badger of Africa has a nastier temper, and is more aggressive. The honey badger has been known to attack animals larger than they are. A hungry honey badger will attack zebras, antelope and other animals. They may not kill it isntantly, but they will wound it is as much as they can. They will wait for the animal to bleed to death before eating it.


 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlvZ6anM81U

Wolverines:

Wolverines are omnivores. They are opportunistic, and will eat anything from berries, to freshly killed rabbits, to rotting carcases. A wolverine's diet consists of rodents, small mammals, birds, eggs, or even large game such as deer, elk, and caribou. They are very gluttonous animals, and don't like sharing food with others. If they find a carcass, they are going to try everything they can to keep it to themself. They are so vicious and fearless that not even bears or wolves want to mess with them. They have long sharp claws that could tear into flesh and really do some damage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA_Gv0h6Y0A

[duna the killer]

  This is amazing Ali! Keep up the great work,maybe fight tenchiques next time! (It's 4 in the morning,can't spell )

[BouncyLion101]

Really nice of you to make this for realistic roleplayers, Lady.
It's so detailed and, even though I don't roleplay realistically, I read a bunch of it. Very interesting to read.

[Abomine]

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU. You are one of the very few people to address this issue in 'realistic' roleplays.

But the one thing I disagree with is you referring to hyenas as 'mostly scavengers'. They actually hunt much more often than they scavenge, and more often than you'd think, it's the lions who are scavenging the hyena's kills.

[Hallucination]

Ah, absolutely wonderful.
I always wanted a guide to foods that animals eat. I only knew from what I saw on AnimalPlanet.
This is very interesting, and the effort on the layout and information definitely deserve a floof. c8

From the Shadows~
~Hallucination

[Lady_Alizarin]

THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU. You are one of the very few people to address this issue in 'realistic' roleplays.

But the one thing I disagree with is you referring to hyenas as 'mostly scavengers'. They actually hunt much more often than they scavenge, and more often than you'd think, it's the lions who are scavenging the hyena's kills.

Thanks Abomine.
I will be sure to fix that up in the info on the hyenas.