IUCN / SSC Cat Specialist Group - Digital Cat Library |
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| Murray, D.L.; Boutin, S.; O'Donoghue, M.; Nams, V.O. | |
| Hunting behaviour of a sympatric felid and canid in relation to vegetative cover | |
| 1995 Animal Behaviour (50): 1203-1210 | |
Carnivore foraging behaviour is suited for hunting in specific vegetative cover types and therefore is largely stereotypical within taxonomic families. Felids typically employ dense cover to stalk or ambush prey, whereas canids do not make use of vegetation when hunting. Sympatric lynx, Lynx canadensis, and coyotes, Canis latruns, were tracked in snow for three winters and hunting behaviour in relation to vegetative cover was examined. The major prey of both species was snowshoe hare, Lepus americanus. Lynx chased hares more frequently in sparse spruce, Picea glauca, canopy than coyotes, whereas coyotes chased hares more often in dense spruce than lynx. Lynx initiated chases by stalking in sparse spruce and by ambushing from beds in dense spruce. Vegetative cover did not affect lynx hunting success, but lynx did have higher success when ambushing versus stalking hares. Coyotes chased hares from closer proximity than lynx and employed a pouncing hunting behaviour. Coyote chases were shorter and more successful in dense versus sparse forest. It is concluded that lynx hunting behaviour is variable according to cover, whereas that of coyotes is fixed. However, coyotes appeared to use vegetation as concealment when approaching bres: the possible influence of snow on hunting tactics of each predator species is discussed. |
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