# What animal is #2 on the food chain? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 4, 2020, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165 "2020-12-04T02:27:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joeu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/joeu/32/2911_2.png) [@Joeu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joeu)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/21 "2020-12-04T15:34:19Z")
I, too, was brought up with the idea of the “food chain” with somebody always at the “top.” But for the past few years I’ve shared an office (at least, when we all used to go to the office) with an ecologist. She’s taught me that I sound like a total dinosaur even referring to such a concept. The idea of the food chain is of very limited usefulness, and shapes your thinking about interactions among organisms and the environment in a way that can lead to big mistakes. The “food web” is a more useful model–there isn’t any top or #1, so there really isn’t any #2, either. At least that’s what she tells me! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/22 "2020-12-04T15:42:48Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Cows may have benefitted from their domestication as much as dogs have. I don’t know about the food chain, but cows do ultimately wind up as number 2. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/23 "2020-12-04T16:38:54Z")
I was thinking cats would be #2, because I think they outnumber dogs as pets worldwide. As mentioned, they are everywhere people are, just like dogs, but there are more cats than dogs. I am not sure what happens if you factor in cat and dog species in the wild, tho. ---
**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:** [December 4, 2020, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/24 "2020-12-04T17:18:22Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > I don’t think there are eagles and other raptors in the Arctic. Gyrfalcons, Peregrine Falcons, Rough-legged Hawks, and Snowy Owls are common in the Arctic. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/25 "2020-12-04T17:25:01Z")
There’s no universal “The Food Chain”. On the ones where we are #1, #2 is any animal we eat. ---
**Author:** ![Akaj](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/akaj/32/145_2.png) [@Akaj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Akaj)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/26 "2020-12-04T17:35:50Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > Cows may have benefitted from their domestication as much as dogs have. Lord knows we have _displaced_ a lot of animals just so we can eat hamberders: I love that that graphic shows “golf.” Accurate or not (I have no idea) it’s a sly social comment. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/27 "2020-12-04T17:42:18Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I was thinking cats would be #2, because I think they outnumber dogs as pets worldwide. As mentioned, they are everywhere people are, just like dogs, but there are more cats than dogs. I’d vote for dogs because cats, in many places, are at risk of predation from coyotes or other local predators. Dogs, on balance, are preyed upon much less frequently – some small ones might but there’s no “large dog” sized housecats to make up that end. And there’s nothing that would eat a dog that ain’t gonna eat a cat. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/28 "2020-12-04T17:46:59Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > I don’t know about the food chain, but cows do ultimately wind up as number 2. ISWYDT ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/29 "2020-12-04T19:31:33Z")
> [@naita](#): > > There’s no universal “The Food Chain”. On the ones where we are #1, #2 is any animal we eat. Beat me to it. Given _arguendo_ that “food chain” is even a meaningful idea ref @Joeu above, whatever we eat the most of is #2. So cattle. I suppose the next best rubric is something like: Find the apex predators in each geographical niche and then take the one with the largest geographic extend or the greatest headcount. By that approach I’d go with Orcas, tigers, polar bears, maybe grizzly / brown bears, and maybe lions. Given the size of the oceans vs the restricted land habitats of the others (yeah, I know about ice floes & polar bears), Orcas win the geography prize. I have no clue as to these critters’ head counts and I’d probably need to come up with another half-dozen major ranges & species to do justice to this whole idea. So I’ll leave it hanging. @JohnT. Thanks for those pics. A very interesting look at how we use the land we have. Here’s a different take on a similar idea, but based on pounds, not acres: > **[Land Mammals](https://xkcd.com/1338/)** > > Bacteria still outweigh us thousands to one--and that's not even counting the several pounds of them in your body. ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/30 "2020-12-04T19:38:38Z")
Lol, you have any idea how many pages of Google images I fruitlessly searched through to (not) find the barely-remembered XKCD image above? “Uh… perhaps ‘land mammals by weight’ will bring it up… no. Let’s try 'land animals…” ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2020, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/31 "2020-12-04T20:41:48Z")
Don’t waste your time in Google images that’s totally a red herring. Just go to the regular Google search and put in something like [site:xkcd.com rocket] or [site:xkcd.com mammal] or [site:xkcd.com math] ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/32 "2020-12-09T07:08:04Z")
Error in the premise. Humans are #2. Saltwater crocs are #1. They eat humans. ---
**Author:** ![GaryM](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garym/32/241_2.png) [@GaryM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GaryM)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/33 "2020-12-09T13:38:37Z")
> [@Spiderman](#): > > I thought it would be obvious that dung beetles are the #2 apex predator. > > . > . > > ::flees:: You misspelled Flies! Or maybe it is Fleas? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/34 "2020-12-09T15:10:20Z")
Flees? If flies and fleas were to interbreed they would likely take over the number one spot! A really nasty insect that could spread disease multiple ways. ---
**Author:** ![a6ka97](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c2a13f/32.png) [@a6ka97](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a6ka97)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/35 "2020-12-09T22:44:14Z")
Hippopotamuses are one mean animal that not many other animals mess with. ## Attacks on humans The hippopotamus is considered the world’s deadliest large land mammal. These semiaquatic giants kill an estimated 500 people per year in Africa, according to the [BBC.](https://www.bbc.com/news/world-36320744) Hippos are highly aggressive and are well-equipped to deliver considerable damage to anything that wanders into their territory. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/36 "2020-12-09T23:00:01Z")
But do they eat what they kill? ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2020, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/37 "2020-12-09T23:01:31Z")
While humans are an Apex Predator, we don’t mostly eat carnivores unless we are hungry. We eat omnivores - pigs and bears – but by preference when they’ve been on vegetarian diets, because of the flavour. The big exception is fish. We eat, for example, Barramundi and Swordfish and Sharks. Swordfish and some sharks are apex predators, so they could be #2’s. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/38 "2020-12-10T00:38:32Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > But do they eat what they kill? 'Zactly. Though I could happily label the hippo an “Apex defender.” IOW, something you f\*\*\* with at your extreme peril no matter how badass a critter you are. Readily kill humans if provoked? Check. Readily kill lions if provoked? Check. Readily kill packs of hyenas if provoked? Check. Readily kill salt water crocodiles if provoked? Check. Readily kill [fill in the blank] if provoked? Check. Apex defender. Doesn’t cause much shit, but takes even less. Kinda like Chuck Norris or maybe Billie Jack. But badder ass. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/39 "2020-12-10T21:08:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Doesn’t cause much shit, but takes even less. I take it you’ve never seen [how they mark territory](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-jXMeo4a4k) ---
**Author:** ![Toxylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f05b48/32.png) [@Toxylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxylon)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2020, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165/40 "2020-12-10T21:29:46Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > We eat omnivores - pigs and bears – but by preference when they’ve been on vegetarian diets, because of the flavour. The big exception is fish. Thats a complete and utter myth. Meat-eating omnivores and even carnivores taste just fine, and they were aboriginally and traditionally food, the same as anything else. Beef and pork are no different from say, fox, badger, marten or meat-eating bear. Been there etc. Claims of this or that animal flesh being unfit for food are little more than culturally dependent, irrational biases, save for ultra specific cases like polar bear liver, with toxic levels of vitamin A. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-is-2-on-the-food-chain/927165.md?page=3)