LAST BATTLE OF THE NIGHT! #3 seed Berlin Boar (Sus scrofa) vs #6 seed Bobcat (Lynx rufus) #2018MMM
Tonight's battle is a collaboration w/ @je_light @chumblebiome @AnneWHilborn & me! #2018MMM
Both of these urban competitors had an easy time of things in R1: Berlin Boar scared off an Eastern Grey Squirrel & Bobcat outwaited a Striped Skunk to advance #2018MMM
Wild pigs are "ecosystem engineers" bc they can completely changing the way their ecosystem functions. All thanks to their schnoz: "rooting disturbance could be comparable to tillage treatment in agroecosystems". #PlowDownToChowDown #2018MMM link.springer.com/article/10.100…
Although wild pigs & bobcats are adapted for diurnal activity, in urban and suburban landscapes both species shift activity to nighttime to avoid humans (& their dogs) #2018MMM
Although not their primary prey, bobcat can bring down deer, launching to deliver a kill bite to the neck or throat of the MUCH bigger mammal bioone.org/doi/abs/10.167… #2018MMM
Our male Bobcat is large, ~12kg (60 stoats), but our female Berlin Boar is even bigger, ~100kg (454 stoats) #StoatsAsMeasurement). #2018MMM
t's springtime in Berlin & you know that that means? It's piglet time! Our female Berlin Sus scrofa recently produced a litter of 5 piglets #2018MMM npr.org/2012/11/06/164…
While sows are smaller than their boarish male counterparts, wild pig sows "temperament also becomes increasingly
protective & unpredictable" when they have piglets to protect. #2018MMM academic.oup.com/jas/article/58…
Bobcats are known to prey upon wild pigs (jstor.org/stable/pdf/138…), & the bobcat cousin Iberian Lynx has a proclivity for piglets (raco.cat/index.php/Mzoo…) #2018MMM
Tonight the cloud cover has warmed things a bit above freezing, but the piglets are snuggled together to keep warm. The sow is foraging about & walks further and further away... #2018MMM
Bobcat is concealed behind the bushes & begins his stealthy approach jstor.org/stable/pdf/379… & bit.ly/2G1KeP2 @Mammalogists #2018MMM
As a felid, the bobcat's "soft paw pads ensure a silent, firm grip during the stalking & final approach to prey" (Kitchener et al. 2010) #2018MMM s3.amazonaws.com/academia.edu.d…
Bobcat pounces into the piglet pile- their squeals of fear obscure the patter of approaching cloven hooves... #2018MMM
Charging at 25 miles an hour, MOMMA SCROFA plows into bobcat, catching one of his haunches IN HER TEETH! #2018MMM
"Boars tend to slash & stab with their lower tusks, while sows tend to bite, in their use of these teeth as weapons" #Carnage #2018MMM articles.extension.org/pages/63589/fe…
Oh lookee here... a pic of a bobcat femur in the jaws of a Sus scrofa that we just happened to have laying around that was taken this morning by @je_light #2018MMM
"The ever-sharp claws" deploy like "switchblades" lacerating one of the sow's eyes! (Kitchener et al. 2010) #Carnage #2018MMM
The sow loosens her grip on the felid
& with the powerful neck muscles she more typically uses to up-turn 100lb rocks,
FLINGS THE BOBCAT AWAY #2018MMM
BERLIN BOAR CLOBBERS BOBCAT!!! #2018MMM
AND never say that #2018MMM doesn't take requests.
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