(was Re: ASVAP)

[Amtoine Grant <rascienz@shaw.ca>]

On 31-Mar-08, at 1:31 PM, Jamie Stearns wrote:
> The key phrase here, of course, is "when they choose to strike".
Coyotes & their close cousins, jackals, are used to being the  
underdogs(no pun intended) among larger & more powerful carnivores 
(lions, hyenas, wolves, cougars). So yeah, they have to carefully  
choose when to go for it. I have a doc with a poor coyote getting rip  
to pieces by a pack of wolves 'cause "Wile.E" wasn't payin attention.

> Most animals of Velociraptor's size aren't usually considered  
> serious threats to humans, as they tend to avoid people rather than  
> attack them.
Uhuh. What about this cop-chasing turkey(http://www.youtube.com/watch? 
v=XTiWdAPLJ-M&feature=related)? I've seen turkeys walk right up to &  
chase people plenty of times. And y'know, I recall a duck walking  
right up to me and biting my finger. Then again, I was only there  
when it happened. What do I know?

> Of course, if one is dumb enough to try and pick it up or  
> something, bad things would happen, but I don't see why  
> velociraptors would attack humans on sight any more than modern  
> carnivore of their size would.
For one, every carnivore of the same size doesn't behave the same.  
Every carnivore of the same species doesn't behave the same. Ever  
seen a Badger vs a LARGER Cougar? I've met enough chihuhua-sized dogs  
that were ready to try & take a nip out of me, unprovoked, while St.  
Bernards & Rotweilers barely showed interest. By this easily  
observable logic, the smaller the canine, the more aggressive. Then  
again, Velociraptor was not a canid.

> As for the idea that several velociraptors attacking at once, there  
> really isn't much evidence for pack hunting in Velociraptor that I  
> can see. While the idea is plausible for Deinonychus, trying to  
> infer one animal's social behavior from that of a relative that  
> lived 20 million years earlier on another continent strikes me as  
> problematic.

I agree. Personally, I would think that Velociraptor would primarily  
be a solitary hunter, perhaps unless they mated for life like some  
extant birds barring when young need protection. IMO, the teeth don't  
seem to be something a habitual group hunter would be able to get  
quick slashes in with until a larger prey is weakened sufficiently by  
the pack for the final blow(s). I'd assign it a diet of smaller  
creatures. As far as the specimen locked in "combat" with  
Protocerotops is concerned, I'd say it's a more likely case of what  
would happen IF Velociraptor was 'fortified' enough to tackle  
something it's size solo. Now juvenile Protos are a different story.