>On Thu, 21 Dec 1995, Dennis Paulson wrote:
>
>> Some birds, and frogs and rabbits (and perhaps many more animals), emit
>> ear-piercing shreiks when caught by predators. It has been hypothesized
>> that a startled predator might release such an animal.

And Tom Foote wrote:

> ..perhaps, but Richard Nelson, Rick Bass and some of the writers
> who write about the hunt, speculate that the animal's cry is a
> signal to bring in other predators to finish the job more
> expeditiously...(in the case of wolves in particular, since
> Anthropologist Nelson lives in Alaska)

Tom, another hypothesis is that by attracting another (competing) predator,
the animal might be released. By expeditiously, do you mean the other
predators will kill the captured animal quicker and spare it pain? No
natural selection could produce such a response. Perhaps I misunderstood
your comment.

Also, we humans think of a cry being a manifestation of pain, but in fact
frogs give their screams when caught by a snake and not, I suspect, in any
particular pain.

Dennis Paulson, Director phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416