Coyotes and Badgers: Unlikely Partners in Prairie Dog Hunting

Coyotes and Badgers: Unlikely Hunting Partners

The American wilderness is home to many fascinating wildlife dynamics, yet few are as surprising as the cooperative hunting relationship between coyotes and badgers. While these two predators typically compete for the same food sources, they sometimes partner to enhance their hunting success, especially when targeting burrowing rodents such as prairie dogs.

This remarkable collaboration, although not commonly known, has been recognized by Indigenous communities for generations and was also documented by early European settlers. The teamwork generally involves a single coyote and a single badger, each reaping distinct benefits from the alliance. Badgers, known for their exceptional digging abilities, provide a clear advantage to coyotes by flushing prey from underground burrows, making them easier targets for the waiting coyotes.

For badgers, the advantage is less straightforward. It’s hypothesized that the presence of a coyote might deter prairie dogs from escaping their burrows, thereby increasing the badger’s chances of a successful catch. This aspect of the partnership is challenging to observe as it occurs beneath the surface.

The seasonal nature of this cooperation is noteworthy. During the warmer months, coyotes and badgers team up to hunt, but as winter sets in, badgers rely on their digging skills to uncover hibernating prairie dogs independently, negating the need for coyote collaboration. With the arrival of spring and the resurgence of active prairie dogs, their partnership is rekindled.

Such interspecies cooperation is not unique to these mammals. In the marine realm, similar behavior is observed between grouper fish and moray eels in the Red Sea. Here, moray eels drive prey out of coral crevices, enabling groupers to catch them. These examples suggest that cooperative hunting across species may be more widespread in nature than previously thought.