First West Texas Hog Hunt

[Klem]

I once saw a fox on top of a sheep. The fox was attacking the larger animal and the sheep was lying on the ground frozen, doing nothing to save itself. I shot the fox off the top, the sheep got up and walked away.

I explain the behaviour as not ascribing human tendencies to animals (anthropomorphism) but animals do have personalities. This sheep had a personality that precluded it from saving itself. It had given up and was being eaten alive. Others have more spirit and will attempt to escape.

I agree that some species are predisposed to certain behaviour, in the same way certain dog breeds are to a degree predictable. Add to that a unique personality and we realize the variety of responses when attacked. Most of the animals I hunt attempt to flee. Occasionally, mainly large males will charge you. We have all seen different behaviours as they die. Surely some of this is down to personality, or at least a deliberate decision by the animal.

[Vasux86]

I once saw a fox on top of a sheep. The fox was attacking the larger animal and the sheep was lying on the ground frozen, doing nothing to save itself. I shot the fox off the top, the sheep got up and walked away.

I explain the behaviour as not ascribing human tendencies to animals (anthropomorphism) but animals do have personalities. This sheep had a personality that precluded it from saving itself. It had given up and was being eaten alive. Others have more spirit and will attempt to escape.

I agree that some species are predisposed to certain behaviour, in the same way certain dog breeds are to a degree predictable. Add to that a unique personality and we realize the variety of responses when attacked. Most of the animals I hunt attempt to flee. Occasionally, mainly large males will charge you. We have all seen different behaviours as they die. Surely some of this is down to personality, or at least a deliberate decision by the animal.

Very interesting. I know that with human behavior the "fight-or-flight" response has been expanded to include submission. Previously people only wrote about either fight OR flight. It makes intuitive sense, it just wasn't previously written about. Sounds like the sheep in the situation you witnessed had just submitted. Which lends evidence to the possibility that the animal made some decision (conscious or unconscious) in the matter.

[Moonshine44]

Pretty neat video! Looks like fun!

[Drift]

Clearly, the answer as to why some animals/people run and some fight in life threatening situations lies not in any conscious or unconscious decision, but rather lays in the sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system. When exposed to physical stress/violence there is a massive dump of hormones into the body. Principally adrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones trigger a cascade of events,including a clamping down the small blood vessels in the gut and limbs and shunting that blood back to central circulation and thereby keeping blood pressure to the CNS high enough to allow the animal to run farther or maybe win the fight or even sometimes reproduce. (Back in the less politically correct day it was called the F,F or F reflex)

[Klem]

Clearly, the answer as to why some animals/people run and some fight in life threatening situations lies not in any conscious or unconscious decision, but rather lays in the sympathetic-parasympathetic nervous system. When exposed to physical stress/violence there is a massive dump of hormones into the body. Principally adrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones trigger a cascade of events,including a clamping down the small blood vessels in the gut and limbs and shunting that blood back to central circulation and thereby keeping blood pressure to the CNS high enough to allow the animal to run farther or maybe win the fight or even sometimes reproduce. (Back in the less politically correct day it was called the F,F or F reflex)

I don't think my sheep wanted to do any of the three 'F's'. It had made a conscious decision to permit another animal to attack it. I say conscious because we came across a strange looking object in an empty paddock at night. In the light of the spotlight no one could figure out what it was to justify pulling the trigger. There was a fence preventing us getting closer and all this took time. I remember we had a discussion about it. Meanwhile, the fox oblivious to us and the light was hoeing into the sheep while it lay there frozen. To be honest when the trigger was pulled we were convinced the sheep was dead and the fox was taking advantage of a carcass. The fox fell off the top, the sheep got up and casually walked (not ran) away.

It may have been full of hormones but the walking away and not running is something else worth thinking about. I am convinced it made a conscious decision that at that time this was its destiny and it was not its place to influence destiny. Then the situation changed and it calmly accepted the next chapter in its life.

How this is related to 00's situation is that I think some animals are pre-disposed to being more spirited and self-determining than others. They try harder and resist subordination in whatever conscious decision they make. Others with the same wounding just lay down and die.

[81police]

I am not sure anthropomorphising animal behavior will be likely to provide an accurate explanation. While humans may look at their wounds, assess the graveness, and lie down to die, I have my doubts as to animals understanding the significance of their wounds and how such trauma affects their mortality. Some types of animals tend to do certain things when injured. Coyotes will attack their own wounds and rip out unfamiliar flesh thinking that the tissue is something causing them pain. Many animals certainly tend to run, perceiving the pain and noise as a threat. I am more inclined to believe that if an animal voluntarily lies down, it does so to garner some relief, not because it intends to die.

very well said!

Another great video from the wilds of west texas...my favorite region to hunt! Haven't made it out that way in a few months.