everytime in a _____ vs _____ thread, weight is put forth as the overriding point against the lighter contestant. which animals are able to defeat larger opponents without the use of poisons in a 1v1 fight?
i’ll start the list with humans and the honey badgers.
Mongooses regularly take out cobras which weigh about twice as much as they do.
Mustelids in general, from the wolverine on down, are known to box above their weight class. Stoats take down rabbits many times their size, for instance. Wolverines will take on moose and wolves. Bears, even, although their record there apparently isn’t that great.
Chimps vs humans
Small black bears are surprisingly powerful. A friend of mine was severely injured by a Black Bear smaller than him 1997 at a hot spring and campground in northern B.C.
This bear attacked a boy, killed his mother, killed a man who tried to help, then tackled my friend and ATE a significant portion of his thigh and glute. My friend was in the hot spring with his companions and when hearing of the commotion they got their boots on and went to try to help. By this time someone had driven the bear off and it charged my friend on the boardwalks between the campground and hot spring. At least four people were around him kicking, throwing rocks and hitting the bear with sticks, while the bear chewed on him. Eventually a man that had run to his truck (a run of a couple kilometers) to get a gun when the first attack began arrived on the scene and killed the bear.
One bear dead; two people maimed, two dead. The Bear was 70 kilograms (154lbs), a juvenile, and a good 20 lbs lighter than my friend. Talking about it with him on a hike after his recovery I asked him if a large hunting knife would have been helpful. He just looked at me like I was an idiot.
Yesterday my co-worker was showing me pictures of the cute little Black Bear he saw by the side of the road on the weekend. They are quite peaceful and gentle looking when foraging. At least half a Black Bear’s diet is vegetable, but they do hunt and do eat meat. They are so much tougher, stronger and better armed than us we might as well be marshmallows. Supposedly they can peal open a closed car door.
that only shows that the wolverine has balls. in no way is the bear defeated.
The grasshopper mouse.. It even howls.
Does defeat have to mean kill? I always thought that defeat meant that the lesser opponent backed down and avoided you in the future. More fun to subjugate your opponents than simply killing them. That wolverine can just walk by that bear and call him a pussy in front of his mate and piss on him if he wants; priceless.
The various mustelids probably qualify. Weasels, stoats, ferrets, mink… Wiki shows a stoat killing a rabbit much larger than itself.
It doesn’t have to mean kill but it also doesn’t mean that an opponent that avoids another is defeated. I’ve avoided yapping half-pound dogs before but not because they could defeat me.
My guess is that if that bear is hungry enough and the wolverine is guarding the food there would be a much different outcome.
Birds of prey regularly kill prey that outweighs them (although they may not be able to carry it off in one piece). Golden Eagles and other large eagles can kill goats and small deer.
A 60 pound dog can dominate a 1000 lb bull. He might have a tough time killing him though.
BubbaDog had been defeated by a half pound dog. I cite post #10. 
If you average BubbaDog weighs in at 200 pounds that’s a 400X weight advantage over half-pound dog!
Prey animals can often be very heavy yet have poor defenses. I would rather see predator against predator compared. Most predators will avoid a fight as to not risk injury unless they have to so I don’t give too many credits for a stupid animal backing down a much larger intelligent animal. A shrew might be a candidate although they do emit a small amount of poison.
By these rules, this cat is pretty bad-ass.
Given that a black bear that size can tear your arms out of your sockets, I think it’s clear that your cat could grind you into a fine paste.
I’m stocking up on catnip.
The too-annoying-to-kill defense isn’t that uncommon in the animal kingdom, so I wouldn’t consider that as evidence of a defeat. Otherwise you’d have to include skunks, porcupines, hedgehogs, and the like. And most of those tend to run away at the first sign of trouble.
Golden Eagle, which apparently has knife-like claws, a crushing grip, ripping beak, and the eyesight and flight of Superman. Not bad for a bird with hollow bones not weighing more than 14lbs.
Also against an aligator.
The smaller you get, the more even the field. The shrew can eat another rodent nearly twice its weight.
