Did hunter historically wear some kind of armor?

[Brother Oni]

And I'm a little confused as to what you mean by the former, since well...Most mammalian predators have that feature.

Bipedalism raises our sight organs very far off the ground, enabling us to see over undergrowth and other foliage. With the exception of bears, there aren't any terrestrial predators that have such a far view distance 'built in' as we do.

I'm not unconvinced that we didn't domesticate Fido to get around our problems, through the intelligence would be a big factor. And human senses aren't middle of the road, we have Fs in everything except specialized uses of sight.

The current hypothesis is that we domesticated Fido as initially they were the only animals that could a) keep up with us and b) had a hierarchal social structure that could be co-opted.

While true that human senses are subpar, there are numerous other traits of our biology that helped elevate us to the apex predator role.

We've already discussed our thermoregulation and ignoring intelligence, tool use and cooking for now, we have significant durability and regeneration - if a horse broke its leg, then you might as well put it down - we can repair a broken leg given time and with a bit of care, it will be almost as good as new.

Compared to other mammals, our injury regeneration is essentially Marvel Wolverine-esque. We trade off for this with increased scarring and keloid tissue generation.

[Honest Tiefling]

Bipedalism raises our sight organs very far off the ground, enabling us to see over undergrowth and other foliage. With the exception of bears, there aren't any terrestrial predators that have such a far view distance 'built in' as we do.

Interesting. I wonder how good our distance vision is compared to other mammals.

While true that human senses are subpar, there are numerous other traits of our biology that helped elevate us to the apex predator role.

We've already discussed our thermoregulation and ignoring intelligence, tool use and cooking for now, we have significant durability and regeneration - if a horse broke its leg, then you might as well put it down - we can repair a broken leg given time and with a bit of care, it will be almost as good as new.

I agree with this, we have tools, traps and poisons on our side, even if our senses are often crap. We'll keep tracking something through endurance, but we're not a freaking bear that can smell a bacon wrapper in a car from miles away. Humans just aren't master trackers outside of intelligence, but I think people really don't understand how good other mammals are at it. If you don't believe me, go up a ravine in cougar country and turn around. You might have a new friend!

[Rogar Demonblud]

Interesting. I wonder how good our distance vision is compared to other mammals.

Hard to say. They don't exactly listen to the optometrist.

[sktarq]

If you don't believe me, go up a ravine in cougar country and turn around. You might have a new friend!

I've spent most of my life in cougar country...they are usually far too busy being asleep to try to make friends...

coyotes...well they are far more curious and tend to follow you more in my experience.
Ringtails....OHMYGOODNESSSOCUTE ...they will find you if you sit still...and they will trace where you have walked around if you end up making camp in their territory. Its funny to watch them retrace your steps
Bears....they can track trash and remember avocado orchards.

[Honest Tiefling]

I've spent most of my life in cougar country...they are usually far too busy being asleep to try to make friends...

I was told by an ecologist that if you needed to find a cougar for study is to do this. But I'm not testing it, personally. That would require going outside and I have no desire for star damage to my delicate pasty skin.

Ringtails....OHMYGOODNESSSOCUTE ...they will find you if you sit still...and they will trace where you have walked around if you end up making camp in their territory. Its funny to watch them retrace your steps

I've never heard of these until I googled them to figure out your post. And they are SOOOO CUTE, you are not wrong. They can track me anyday and eat my food.

Bears....they can track trash and remember avocado orchards.

Thank you for making me never want to go to an avocado orchard.

[Mith]

On the discussion of finding animals, my problem is that I like animals too much.

For example, you mention bears in avocado orchards? I would hang out in those orchards if it gave me a better chance to see a bear. I have a friend who studied polar bears, and posted a picture posed with a tranqed polar bear. I responded with "I would be really tempted just to cuddle with the bear for as long as possible".

[Honest Tiefling]

On the discussion of finding animals, my problem is that I like animals too much.

For example, you mention bears in avocado orchards? I would hang out in those orchards if it gave me a better chance to see a bear. I have a friend who studied polar bears, and posted a picture posed with a tranqed polar bear. I responded with "I would be really tempted just to cuddle with the bear for as long as possible".

Are you by chance in one of the life sciences? I feel like many biologists I have encountered act like this.

[No brains]

I watched the video I shared and it turns out that I misremembered some things. It didn't actually go into wearing armor for the hunt. I messed up.

[Khedrac]

Interesting. I wonder how good our distance vision is compared to other mammals.

For a start it should not be overlooked how useful having color vision is - something most mammals do not.

[Xuc Xac]

We also have really good depth perception and our brains are wired to judge distances and trajectories like an artillery computer. It's a useful skill when swinging from branch to branch in a tree, but when we started waliking on the ground with two hands free, it turned out to be extremely useful for throwing stuff.

Many an antelope has died thinking "I'm safe here because there no way that thing can catch me and bite me from that far away" just before taking a 90 mph rock to the skull.

[Honest Tiefling]

We also have really good depth perception and our brains are wired to judge distances and trajectories like an artillery computer. It's a useful skill when swinging from branch to branch in a tree, but when we started waliking on the ground with two hands free, it turned out to be extremely useful for throwing stuff.

I'm pretty sure most arboreal species also have good depth perception, else when the baby animals leave the nest would be one hell of a season.

For a start it should not be overlooked how useful having color vision is - something most mammals do not.

You'd think, but apparently trichromatic vision (that we humans possess) is quite rare! Most predators can see only two colors, and many primates just aren't predators like humans and chimps. And I am not sure if I should even include chimps as predators, as they apparently hunt the Red Colobus monkey mostly, and those monkies might be kinda dumb.

Maybe there are just pressures against evolving that sort of thing.

[Khedrac]

You'd think, but apparently trichromatic vision (that we humans possess) is quite rare! Most predators can see only two colors, and many primates just aren't predators like humans and chimps. And I am not sure if I should even include chimps as predators, as they apparently hunt the Red Colobus monkey mostly, and those monkies might be kinda dumb.

I think you need to be a lot more specific on this one. I don't know how non-mammal color vision works - e.g. a lot of insects can see further into the infra-red and ultra-violet than we can, but, as I understand it, most non-mammals have color vision - it's something one of the early mammal ancestors managed to loose.
Thus pretty much all birds, reptiles, fish and insects have decent color vision, it's only most mammals that don't.

So, when you say that it is rare for predators I suspect you mean mammal predators, which, as you were asking how human distance vision compares to other mammals, is why I was pointing out that our color vision is a big advanatge. Yes, it's not a necessary one, as most mammal predators lack it, but that does not stop it being an advantage.

If you want to see just how useful an advantage it is, look at raptors (and other predatory birds) - they can see prey at far greater distances (one advantage of not having an inverted retina - yes, our eyes work backwards, birds' eyes do not) and they all have very good color vision (except possibly night-hunters).

[Honest Tiefling]

Yeah, I should have made it more clear. I meant mammalian predators, because if we start including things like the Sonic Boom Shrimp, things get a little weird.

Through you might need to define 'decent' color vision. Technically, a dog has color vision, but they can only see blues and yellows (dichromatic) as opposed to some, but not all, primates who can see three colors (trichromatic). Birds do have better color vision than us, but a lot have a terrible sense of smell.

Also, I don't think many birds track, but I could be wrong.

[sktarq]

I was told by an ecologist that if you needed to find a cougar for study is to do this. But I'm not testing it, personally. That would require going outside and I have no desire for star damage to my delicate pasty skin.

Possibly true in truly deep wilderness but in my neck of the woods cougars are scardy cats and hilariously chill....small children go ahead tie up a barking terrier and/or a lab puppy to a tree with a cougar sitting in the branches....it will be fine.... (I'm serious I've seen this happen twice once at my boarding school once a couple years later in my hometown just down the street)

Thank you for making me never want to go to an avocado orchard

I grew up either in orchards or on the boarder between orchards and wilderness (with a couple goat, horse, and geese farming operations thrown in) and honestly never saw much in the way of bears being a problem. They really loved avocados fall cycles (hass avocados have a near continuous harvest cycle in my neck of the woods-which is why that variety dominates) but almost always just ate windfall items at night. They are not that scary really. (These are black bears mind you) There really is not much threat unless you are already asleep and restricted by a sleeping bag. One of the reasons I can't see armour being all that useful. You'd have to chase them a lot and honestly getting close to them is what you have dogs for.

[Honest Tiefling]

Possibly true in truly deep wilderness but in my neck of the woods cougars are scardy cats and hilariously chill....small children go ahead tie up a barking terrier and/or a lab puppy to a tree with a cougar sitting in the branches....it will be fine.... (I'm serious I've seen this happen twice once at my boarding school once a couple years later in my hometown just down the street)

I live in the same state as you and I sure as hell would not try that...Are you secretly a Disney Princess or something? Did you take druid levels?...Both?

Further reading of your post would indicate yes. My godmother got some bear soup after the thing tried to barge right in some guy's cabin. (He was alright, bear was not, hence, soup). When I lived in Santa Cruz, you always heard stories of kids getting beat up by the deer, let alone the cougars.

[sktarq]

I live in the same state as you and I sure as hell would not try that...Are you secretly a Disney Princess or something? Did you take druid levels?...Both?

Further reading of your post would indicate yes. My godmother got some bear soup after the thing tried to barge right in some guy's cabin. (He was alright, bear was not, hence, soup). When I lived in Santa Cruz, you always heard stories of kids getting beat up by the deer, let alone the cougars.

Arguable? I went to a hippie (well kristamerdi(sp) ) school as a kid and learned how to deal with all sorts of wildlife by knowing how they thought....I certainly wouldn't recommend walking children/puppies under a wild cougar but it is not a terrifying thing.

And I've pet wild deer. Also pretty chill. (Okay ONCE - very special)

Bears....honestly its about not being a target....use bear bags...don't poke at em .... Leave em alone/keep respectful distance....that kind of thing and they will leave you alone.

So I guess? Also learned toforage and trap/fish up in the hills...all about living by the rules that the environment/flora/fauna lives by and not what you bring to it.

i'm generally more worried about feral hog, fire ants, ticks, scorpions (because they actively like people camping's stuff-found em in all sorts) and somewhat rattlers (depends alone I'm fine they are noisy buggers and won't bite if you're polite)

And urban skunks/raccoons (arrogant and rude in my experience)

[Rogar Demonblud]

When I lived in Santa Cruz, you always heard stories of kids getting beat up by the deer, let alone the cougars.

Few things compare to a pissed off grass-eater. Which is fun for those of us who like watching YouTube videos of the idiots who try to make a bison move with their subcompact.

[Honest Tiefling]

Few things compare to a pissed off grass-eater. Which is fun for those of us who like watching YouTube videos of the idiots who try to make a bison move with their subcompact.

Nah, weed usually makes people quite calm. Not sure what effect it would have on the deer themselves.

[sktarq]

Few things compare to a pissed off grass-eater. Which is fun for those of us who like watching YouTube videos of the idiots who try to make a bison move with their subcompact.

You know how I mentioned the animal's rules and respecting them?

That kind of behavior does not qualify.

Which is why I agree it is fun to watch them reep what they have sown.

I mean really a 1000+ lb (up to double that) animal with horns and an instinct to head butt and push fight.....you are asking it in its language to mess you up.

and deer will do the same....just don't stare, don't be a threat, if it is starting to warn you it wants to back off-do so, and don't block where they want to go....then you are extremely unlikely to be mauled....I expect those kids that were didn't follow the above advice.

[Rogar Demonblud]

It isn't even that good. American bison are pushy, territorial, aggressive and just plain mean. When I was younger I saw one at Custer State Park attack a tree for being in its way. The spruce lost.

[snowblizz]

American bison are pushy, territorial, aggressive and just plain mean.

Yup, sounds like an american all right.

Funnily enough we've got word for being like that that basically is a derivation of "like a buffalo".

[veti]

Nah, weed usually makes people quite calm. Not sure what effect it would have on the deer themselves.

Deer can chomp their way through an impressive amount of vegetation in any night. Just imagine what they can achieve once they get the munchies.

Next thing anyone knows, there's this bloated beast sprawled in the road and just staring into the oncoming headlights. Presumably admiring all the pretty colours.

[Mith]

Are you by chance in one of the life sciences? I feel like many biologists I have encountered act like this.

Nope. I grew up with a fair number of animals (despite not being on a farm), since I had a pet goat, while my neighbour had llamas, more goats, and a donkey. That sort of thing. But I know enough people in the life sciences to agree with that assessment of those professions.

[Beleriphon]

I'm not unconvinced that we didn't domesticate Fido to get around our problems, through the intelligence would be a big factor. And human senses aren't middle of the road, we have Fs in everything except specialized uses of sight.

And tool manipulation. Being a fully bipedal creature that can breath independent of movement has a whole host of interesting advantages.

[Vinyadan]

We assume that our senses generally aren't that good; OK, we can't compete with a dog's nose, or a cat's night vision, or a dog's earing. However, I wonder how our tact (touch) does, compared to other mammals. Also, taste. There are more tastes we can taste than the canonical 4.

[Rogar Demonblud]

We have a lot of exposed skin instead of a pelt, so our sense of touch probably blows away pretty much every other mammal just on that.

[Honest Tiefling]

A quick wiki search indicates that this is another realm we're middle of the road in. Sure, other animals have pelts, but we lack whiskers. Pinnipeds apparently can detect vibrations in water way better than we can.

Our fingers are agile and sensitive, but what are we going to do, fondle some tracks? Feel up a tree for what might have passed by? Not really good for tracking. The rest of our body? We don't tend to rub that on things, at least I don't.

But go tool usage! Suck it, animals with better senses than us in many ways! Sure, we may never be able to comprehend how to sense the world you can, but **** it, WE HAVE POINTY STICKS.

[Rogar Demonblud]

Actually, touch can tell you more about a pelt or a track than you'd think. Fur from different species can be differentiated by feel, and some info about the animal's health can also be gleaned from details like glossiness that affect the texture. And a feel of the track can tell you things like how heavy the animal is, if it is moving incorrectly (possibly injured), even the warmth or lack thereof is relevant.

Essentially, every bit of data we gather gets plugged in to the Mark 1 Mod 1 human brain, still one of the best computers ever created.

[Brother Oni]

... but **** it, WE HAVE FIRE AND POINTY STICKS.

Fixed that for you.

[Tajerio]

Essentially, every bit of data we gather gets plugged in to the Mark 1 Mod 1 human brain, still one of the best computers ever created.

A point well worth emphasizing. Other animals might be better at gathering the data, but we gather enough good data that we can weaponize our enormous brains and their analytical capacity.

I think it's also worth noting that another massive advantage we have is the extent of our ability to pass on our understanding of the meaning of data non-genetically (which is a component of culture). So yeah, we don't have the most outstanding senses. But all the members of a group of humans can communicate with each other about the things they perceive and the results of their analysis, and educate their descendants in them, and the process repeats itself. So then you get an extensive historical database about what x and y and z signify, and what approaches work best given the situation, and so forth. That allows us to maximize the meaningfulness of everything we do perceive, which is basically what our brains are geared towards, by cross-referencing it not only with our own pasts, but also the pasts of many other humans. No other animal comes close to doing this on either our scale or our level of complexity.