We can probably avoid most of that by deciding to define ‘predator’ (for the sole scope of this thread) as something that, with (some reasonable appearance of deliberate) intent, kills and eats another animal as its prey.
There will be borderline cases, but we could nitpick away almost any question that involves the natural world in that way.
By that definition deer, sheep and squirrels are indisputably predators.
Just curious, what animals do sheep eat?
And so are lots of microorganisms. They’re pretty wimpy.
Lots of grazing animals will occasionally deliberately catch and eat small animals such as birds and mice. If you Google you’ll find lots of images of larger herbivores like deer and cattle wolfing down bigger prey like rabbits.
Thing is, we all know what the OP means, but we’ve got to ruin the thread with ridiculously precise nitpicking now.
Thing is we don’t know what the OP means. If a maned wolf, which obtains 60% of its nutrition from plants, is classified as a predator, then why are rats, where many individuals obtain 90% of their nutrition from animals, not considered predators?
There is no nitpicking involved in pointing out such massive inconsistency here.
There is an inherent contradiction in the OP. It’s asking for animals that are not effective predators yet somehow mange to support themselves as predators. That contradiction means that the question is far from clear.
Since you seem to think that you know what the OP means, perhaps you can tell us in terms that are not inherently contradictory and inconsistent.
Assuming the OP means to disqualify omnivores, insects and micro-organisms…
Possibly a species of dolphin. Unambiguously a predator, yet only preys on fish much smaller than itself. I expect someone will object that they have been known to attack sharks, but I doubt that is true of all dolphin species.
Well, my interpretation of the OP’s intent is to try to identify something that can commonly be regarded as a predator (tigers are commonly as predators, sheep are not), but has the *appearance *of being the most surprisingly inept, fainthearted, feeble or cowardly in its approach.
But I’d prefer to let the OP refine the parameters.
Mosquitoes are pretty lame.
I think he’s asking this:
Name a creature that :
So something like a hypothetical cowardly lion that can catch and eat a mouse, but would flee from a gazelle.
How about patu digua, the smallest spider in the world? They max out at around 0.4mm across.
No, because they attack prey that is much bigger than they are. That makes them very fierce indeed, relative to their size.
In that case, the wimpiest possible contenders (if we restrict ourselves to the animal kingdom) are probably tiny zooplankton like copepods. Many species prey exclusively on even tinier animals like rotifers. They are utterly incapable of defending themselves from their predators, which include insects, krill, fish, and whales. And in fulfillment of the fourth condition, they don’t eat krill and insects.
OK then, my cat. Pats frogs and mice on the back but doesn’t kill them, and runs away from rats.
They are parasites, not predators. The difference being, they don’t bite your head off before sucking your blood.
Hopefully the OP will clarify exactly what they are looking for. LSLGuy, are you looking for “wimpy” in relative or absolute terms? For example, a sperm whale prey on creatures less than a fifthieth their size, unlike a weasel which will bring down rabbits larger than itself.
Off the top of my head, for terrestrial animals, I’m sure there’s a very small venomous snake (probably in Australia) that’s subsists on larger-than-insect sized prey.
Then there are lots of birds (kingfishers, herons, etc.) that primarily kill and eat small fish and frogs --which I think makes them predatory by the OP – which really couldn’t hold their own in a fight against a determined mouse.
Finally, I thought of sea anenomes. They live on fish, which I think makes them predatory by the OP, but they can’t even move, which is pretty wimpy.
Monte Iberia Eleuth, the world’s smallest frog. Frogs can’t even survive without a very moist environment and are, therefore, wimpier than spiders.
We’re talking about species, not individual animals. Although that particular cheetah may have won the encounter, hyenas in general will probably win better than 90% of encounters with cheetahs. And Spotted Hyenas more often tackle bigger prey than cheetahs; they’re a much more powerful animal.
There are snakes that are specialized for eating eggs, but none of them are big enough to take on an ostrich egg. A hen’s egg is closer to the biggest size they take.
Nearly anything will turn out to be an “omnivore” if you look at its diet closely enough. The Maned Wolf is at least a member of an order, Carnivora, most of whose members are adapted for predation. (Admittedly, some are even less predaceous, like the Giant Panda and the Aardwolf previously mentioned, and raccoons also usually don’t tackle stuff that’s very big in comparison to their own size.)
But I agree that the question as stated is too vague to admit of a reasonable answer. It’s going to depend on exactly how you define “predator” and “predation.”
I’m in the “question is too vague to answer properly camp”
But I thought I’d throw out certain birds of prey. While they may have impressive talons and beaks, there are some pretty small examples and they are all physically fragile because of the need to keep their weight light. Something like a kestrel (weight under half a pound) might be a good example.