I have a Rhodesian Ridgeback. Known in Africa as Lion Hunters.
Flushing 9 Lions. I never really thought about the significance of this. But Lions. Lions! You know the 400 pound cats that can find a new place for your head should they see fit. Jeez…
Just how courageous is our dog? I recently saw a new behavior, that I started a thread about. He cases our yard like a well paid security guard. So I know he’s a hunter/guardian. But Lions?
Google Ridgeback and Lions and you can see some amazing stories.
Now for the Question: **What could one rhodesian actually do to a fully grown Lion? This is what I do not get? I know my dog is strong. I have one of those four wheel, wheel-barrows, and I saw him pull the rope attached to it, and actually pull it for 10 or so feet fully loaded with wood. So I know he’s strong. I wonder what he could actually do to a lion?
Ridgebacks are great dogs. However, IMO, on his own against a lion your dog would probably be cat food. The pack is required to keep the attention of the prey from focusing in any one place. With no backup, a lion can focus all its attention on your dog to defend itself.
Just as one fox can evade/injure one beagle, one lion can really ruin a Rhody’s day. In both cases, the human hunters used packs. It’s just that the packs of Rhody’s were about 4-8 (IIRC) dogs on a hunt. Which is still really damn impressive.
I’m going with adam_yax on this one. One Rhodesian Ridgeback vs. one lion = cat chow.
Dogs are pack hunters and not so good singly against large prey. Generally the MO is encircling the prey with those behind the prey dodging in to hamstring the animal. Whichever way the prey turns a dog is behind it. I’d be surprised if one dog, even one as strong as a Ridgeback, could do any significant harm to a lion at all.
I’m sure ol’grissholm could hold his own for a bit…not biting mind you just annoying. However, I have to say, he’d probably be cat food. But I remain very impressed at pack hunting of the breed. I mean just for one of these dogs to even want to get close to a lion is pretty impressive. The article I quoted from has a brief mention that the author once saw his two rhody’s take down a rather large deer. I wonder what instinctually was going through their heads to do that?
I wouldn’t read too much into any dog’s willingness to approach a clearly larger animal. Dogs seem to be missing some self-preservation instinct in this respect (at least domestic dogs). I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen little dogs harrassing much larger dogs. Usually nothing comes of it but on occasion the two dogs tangle and when the size disparity is large (e.g. 20 pound dog vs. 100 pound dog and assuming both dogs have committed to the fight) the little dog invariably loses.
On the upside for the Rhody the lion most likely doesn’t want to tangle with the dog. The dog is not its natural prey and mother nature has generally encouraged predators to avoid unneeded fights. Even if one predator can clearly win it might get wounded to some degree which may hamper its ability to hunt (maybe a scratch in the shoulder slows it down or some such thing). Chances are the Rhody and the lion would snarl/bark at each other and go their own way eventually. Of course if the lion is sufficiently hungry or provoked it might attack. In this case the dog is at a serious disadvantage. Not only is size against it but the lion is faster (in the short run) and more agile to boot. Doggy doesn’t really stand a chance.
Watching the instinctual aspects of a domestic dog rise to the surface is indeed amazing. For your dog you’ve seen the pack hunting aspect that was selected for in the breed. In my case I have a German Shepherd and I’ve seen her herding instinct pop out on several occasions despite her never being trained for such a thing in her life…it’s just there and very cool to witness when it appears.
As far as large prey items go, that’s what pack hunters do and that’s what packs are for. Teamwork allows packs to routinely hunt much larger game - African hunting dogs ( the wild ones, Lycaon pictus ) average ~65 lbs, yet still take much larger animals like impala or wildebeest and with a success rate in hunts that is much higher than that of lions. Similarily with wolves and deer ( or even elk and moose…or more dangerously, moose and squirrel ). The instinct is in all pack hunters - immobilize the dangerous head, immobilize the limbs if possible or at least fix the prey item by getting it by the haunches and then either rip it apart immediately ( if you have the numbers and strength, ripping out the belly if you have extra bodies ) or let your body weight hanging off of it to wear it down until it is too weak to fight anymore.
Similarly, much smaller pack hunters will instinctually seek to drive off larger, rival predators, by harassing them, using their numbers to surround and confuse it, nipping at hindquarters and fleeing serious contact.
Nothing unusual about your pup’s instincts really - It’s just a wolf in dog’s clothing afterall.
I don’t know why but something ‘clicked’ when reading this. I know how dogs pack hunt but I never understood why ‘little’ dogs seemed utterly unaware of their relative size when confronting larger animals (often to their detriment).
I am guessing it is that dogs in general don’t have a problem with larger animals as that is what packs do…take down larger than themselves prey items. A dog spooked by being smaller is of no use to the pack. That this attitude remains while not in a pack setting is not surprising and may see the little guy get in trouble when there are no other pack members to distract an attacking animal leaving it one-on-one.
Well, plus, when you’re taking your dog for a walk and he tangles with a bigger dog, from his perspective, he’s not alone…he’s with a member of his pack…you. You just don’t give him the backup he expects.