# The Wimpiest Predator??? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 19, 2011, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108 "2011-10-19T04:10:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/61 "2011-10-20T17:44:31Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > … I’d back the average human to lose any stand-up fight with any other animal mentioned in this thread. Try cornering a fox and see if you can kill it. Hell try cornering a wild cat or dog and see if you can kill it. Humans are a seriously wimpy species physically; we’ve just gambled that brainpower would be more successful in the wild, and we were right. the simplest of weapons will turn the table around for the human - a club. ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/62 "2011-10-20T18:02:31Z")
> [@Alka\_Seltzer](#): > > They are parasites, not predators. The difference being, they don’t bite your head off before sucking your blood.. There are small predatory fish, piranha for one, but some even smaller that will eat a hole in a much larger animal, swim inside and then eat it from the inside. ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/63 "2011-10-20T18:15:30Z")
I’m not sure about the argument for humans. To make humans look wimpy, we have to take tools or weapons away. But it seems to me that weapons are a natural outgrowth of our brain power - and are simply an example of us playing to our strengths. It’s the same way that a spider uses a web, or a snake uses it’s venom, or a wolf uses a pack mentality. Animals adapt their behaviour to utilize whatever strengths they have that give them the greatest advantage. If we de-fang a cobra, then it’s not so fierce, now is it? So I don’t see why we should decide that humans can’t utilize their strengths (brain power, language, and the ability to make weapons), when all other creatures can. In the end though, it’s all arbitrary based on how we define the question. ---
**Author:** ![AndrewL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/64 "2011-10-20T18:16:36Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > I’d back the average human to lose any stand-up fight with any other animal mentioned in this thread. I dunno, I’m pretty sure I could take a Calabar Burrowing python in a fight. ---
**Author:** ![bucketybuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@bucketybuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bucketybuck)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/65 "2011-10-20T19:42:49Z")
> [@AndrewL](#): > > I dunno, I’m pretty sure I could take a Calabar Burrowing python in a fight. Its a silly point. I am pretty sure that in a fight to the death I am kicking the fuck out of a fox, a sheep, plenty of snakes, most birds, etc etc. Sure they might hurt me, like an eagle might shred the meat from my arms, but I have a lot of weight and power over a lot of animals, and I will probably be the one left standing. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2011, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/66 "2011-10-20T22:32:16Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > Very little human hunting behavior ever involved catching and killing prey in the same “fierce” way that tigers or sharks do, and I’d back the average human to lose any stand-up fight with any other animal mentioned in this thread. Try cornering a fox and see if you can kill it. Hell try cornering a wild cat or dog and see if you can kill it. Humans are a seriously wimpy species physically; we’ve just gambled that brainpower would be more successful in the wild, and we were right. As has been said, you can’t take tools out of the equation for humans. We and our ancestors have been making tools for at least 2.6 million years - in fact, since before we were humans (that is, genus _Homo_). One might argue that we have been able to become physically wimpy in comparison to other animals exactly because we were able to rely on our tools to replace physical strength and sharp teeth. So tools and brainpower _are_ our basic adaptation to becoming a big game predator instead of a forager for plants and small animals. And that key adaptation made us the most fearsome super-predator on the planet. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/67 "2011-10-21T00:44:14Z")
> [@isaiahrobinson](#): > > I’d back the average human to lose any stand-up fight with any other animal mentioned in this thread. Try cornering a fox and see if you can kill it. Hell try cornering a wild cat or dog and see if you can kill it. Humans are a seriously wimpy species physically; we’ve just gambled that brainpower would be more successful in the wild, and we were right. I’ll take that bet, and your money. Humans are insanely dangerous to just about anything smaller than they are that isn’t venomous. Despite our social training to not be violent, and temper our strength with gentility, the average human can do something that nearly no other animals outside of the great apes can. We can grab and bash things while keeping the opponent far from our faces. We can crush and dislocate limbs and joints with ease from smaller animals, and larger opponents aren’t that much harder. Doing so means accepting scratches, bites and gashes to our soft and mostly unprotected skin, but the fight is over fast. Grab a limb and swing for the fences, or pull and yank on it until it breaks. smash it into the ground, a tree or a handy wall or stone. If it’s biting you stick your fingers in the mouth and dislocate the jaw, twist the neck, or bash an elbow into the spine. We have an insane command of leverage. Our kicks and punches can be devastating when landed properly. One does not need martial arts training for this. Additionally, most animals do not have half the persistent aggression a riled human can display. They prefer to run when even slightly challenged. Honey badges and wolverines excepted of course. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2011, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108/68 "2011-10-21T00:57:59Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > As has been said, you can’t take tools out of the equation for humans. We and our ancestors have been making tools for at least 2.6 million years And you don’t really need to make the tool, even, if you can see and reach a good-sized rock that’s already ready already. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-wimpiest-predator/600108.md?page=3)