The strategies and techniques that the world’s predators use to catch their prey

WORDS SCOTT DUTFIELD

From stealthily stalking prey to launching a coordinated attack, the world’s predators have evolved a multitude of techniques to find and kill their food. Many of these involve using their senses to sniff out or spot their prey from a great distance. For example, eagles have some of the best eyesight in the animal kingdom, which they use to spot prey from up to two miles away while soaring in the sky. Other species are equipped with heightened senses for hunting, such as the electricity-detecting powers of sharks. Known as electroreception, sharks have adapted pores in their snouts, called ampullae of Lorenzini, which can pick up on electrical currents that move through the water. Any movement from the muscles of fish and other sea creatures creates an electrical current which is conducted by the ocean’s salty water. When sharks sense the current and its direction, they can follow their noses and catch their prey.

Cheetahs rely on their speed to catch a meal

Did you know? Wolves can smell prey from up to a mile away

Making good use of their senses, hunters generally employ one of several strategies to succeed in their pursuit of prey, such as stalking, ambushing and baiting. Others employ more deceptive methods to find and catch their food. For example, many herring gulls (Larus argentatus) perform a foot-tapping rain dance on the ground to call worms to the surface. It’s believed that the repeated stamping on the ground mimics the vibrations of rain, which earthworms are drawn to because it makes it easier for them to move around on the surface. However, emerging from the soil under these false pretences only makes it easier for the gulls to grab a quick bite.

But for some, hunting isn’t nearly as strenuous or calculated. Take the North American brown bear (Ursus arctos), for example. Residing in woodlands surrounding rivers and streams, these bears have situated themselves within arm’s reach of their salmon prey. During the salmons’ river migrations, these upstream swimmers are often faced with a furry bear sitting in wait above and below waterfalls for a salmon buffet to leap from the water, snatching them in midair.