I am of the opinion that there are few if any mammals that I could catch and defeat in hand-to-paw combat without the use of any sort of “tools” whatsoever.
Let’s say I am a reasonably fit 25 year old (not in reality)
I have no slingshots, guns, knives, spears or fire (etc.) nor the means to make/ acquire any such things. (Just my bare hands and feet.)
Defeat = capture or kill
I say on the remote chance I catch, for example) a squirrel it shreds my skin to pieces and leaves me weeping on the ground.
[Pets probably shouldn’t count because of the element of trust]
I think you’re underestimating humans. A fit 25 year old can out-walk any other land based mammal. All the human would have to do is keep walking up to the other animal and then strangle or beat it to death. At first it would run away, but eventually the animal would tire out before the human would. Of course something like a bear, lion, or wolf would win, but against non-predators, I’d pick the human.
Humans are fantastic at long distance walking, and can walk many animals to death. Apparently we evolved to do that as it was a primary way we secured food.
If I wasn’t clear my situation involves another mammal and me alone (not part of a group). I’ve read of “persistence hunting” and my understanding is that it involves groups of people and running. At any rate it may not even be a real thing.
As far as walking an animal to death: What animal wouldn’t just run off? Up a tree? Down a hole? Into the woods?
My quibble is that tool use, and fire, are such a integral part of our adaptions (we were using both long before we were H. sapiens) that it’s sort of like speculating on the combat ability of a declawed cat.
Larger animals don’t have the option of going up a tree or down into a hole. And yes, I suspect even a lone human (at least as specified in the OP as opposed to someone who is middle aged, obese, has arthritis, diabetes, and so on) could walk an animal like an antelope, zebra, gazelle, cow, etc. to death. Of course they would run off. And the human would walk after them. And they would tire out from the running away before the human tires out from walking after them.
The point I am trying to make is that we are somewhat useless without tools. I think a feral cat that is declawed could fend me off using it’s teeth. (The element of trust might give me an advantage over a pet cat.)
If you managed to sneak up on one, you could kill a rabbit quickly and easily with your bare hands, and he’d be unable to scratch you up and probably unable to get a good bite in. I imagine in a situation where it’s me vs. a single fox or single coyote, I might come out the winner, but be worse off for it. But those critters are pack animals and don’t genreally travel alone.
I’ve been suspicious of “persistence hunting”. A deer can reach a top speed of almost 40 miles an hour. So after 15 minutes of sprinting, it’s like 10 miles away. Even if I were an elite marathon runner, it would take me like an hour to cover that distance. You mean to tell me that deer won’t be rested after an hour and ready to sprint another 5-10 miles (assuming I can eve find it)? Probably through terrain that’s a lot easier for a deer than a human? And I’m going to have to do this for 20, 30 miles?
Perhaps. I was able to catch a baby bunny that was playing possum once (to save it from a cat). I suppose I could catch an Opossum but my understanding is that they give off an unbearable odor.
A deer can’t sprint for ten minutes – I don’t think it’s even close. Horses, which are some of the best runners in the animal kingdom (faster than deer, both in sprinting and endurance), can only sprint for a mile or two.
Persistence hunting has actually been done in modern times, both by hunter gatherers and scientists. It definitely can be done, and doesn’t even require elite-level athletics or stamina.
Not in my experience, but the one I caught (by accident) didn’t play dead either. It was a shrieking nightmare and a pain to release from the humane live trap I was using to remove groundhogs.
Whether or not it was a big driver for human evolution, maybe or maybe not. But persistence hunting is something that humans can do for certain prey. Hot climate definitely helps.