Re: lions, chimps and sticks

David L Burkhead (r3dlb1@dax.cc.uakron.edu)
5 Oct 1995 21:47:17 GMT

In article <hubey.812870249@pegasus.montclair.edu> hubey@pegasus.montclair.edu (H. M. Hubey) writes:
>Alex Duncan <aduncan@mail.utexas.edu> writes:
>
>>you WOULD attack a group of large-bodied primates wielding sticks, rocks,
>>etc., who were simultaneously screaming, jumping up and down, and
>>threatening you with their weapons?
>
>I don't think chimpanzees would survive even hynas, or maybe even
>wild dogs let alone lions.

Your statement is wrong, since, as others have shown, they _do_
survive along with lions. Sunce they do, obviously they can. QED.
Thus, any conclusions drawn on the supposition that they cannot are invalid.

>Would you stand in front of a pack of hungry hyenas (or even a large
>pack of dogs) let alone lions and wave sticks?

That's a silly statement. If I'm being attacked by a wild
animal, or many wild animals, and a stick is all I had, then I'd whap
at them with the stick. Your "counter" is invalid because the
_defender_ has no choice. The attacker, however, does. One more to
the growing list of non-sequitors.

>It's difficult for humans to even scare off cheetahs.

That might be true for _individual_ humans, but _not_ for groups.
And it's _certainly_ not true for groups of chimpanzees. Most
predators leave them strictly _alone_. Perhaps they know something
you don't?

David L. Burkhead
r3dlb1@dax.cc.uakron.edu
d.l.burk@ix.netcom.com

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