Chapter 659 - 8: Saw-toothed Tiger Cubs
For predators, hunting is a complex and challenging skill to master.
Since they can stumble along, they have been honing their hunting skills with their siblings.
Through rough-and-tumble play, under their mother’s guidance, through observation and practice, these young predators gradually learn how to become master hunters and refine the art of killing to a higher level.
Ambush, approach—
Position themselves downwind to prevent their own scent from wafting into the prey’s nose;
Lower their bodies, merging the patterns in their fur with the brush and grasses, making it difficult for the prey to detect their presence;
Slow their steps, using soft paw pads to touch the ground, minimizing footstep noise to deceive the prey’s hearing;
Step by step, until the prey enters attack range, then suddenly erupt, delivering a thunderous strike.
There is no room for error in the entire process.
The prey is not a foolish wooden post standing still; they have evolved keen hearing, extraordinary smell, and strong running capabilities. Once detected, all previous efforts will come to naught.
...
The male Saw-toothed Tiger is not a sufficiently experienced hunter; in fact, it hasn’t been long since it left the group.
Like its peers, it has formed its own small family and, following instincts, is busy reproducing the next generation.
As a young male Saw-toothed Tiger, it must shoulder the responsibility of caring for the entire family—
Unlike the Northeast Tiger, the Saw-toothed Tigers often live in groups.
The Pleistocene megafauna were far beyond modern herbivores in comparison; their large body size and thick fat reserves under the dense fur, and their huge nutritional organs offered predators substantial rewards for every successful hunt, enough to offset their consumption.
The abundant food sources determined the survival strategy of the Saw-toothed Tigers—
As long as the reward is sufficient, they are willing to risk challenging stronger animals.
Of course, rewards always come with risks.
The young Saw-toothed Tiger and its little family should not ideally target the Giant Ground Sloth; this giant prey is quite tricky, even without Sharp Teeth, its weight alone can cause significant losses for the Saw-toothed Tigers.
But the blood that boasts of small victories over large challenges still runs warm in the bones of young predators, and upon seeing the juvenile Giant Ground Sloth, the male Saw-toothed Tiger decided to attempt this "deal," to satisfy its hunger and feed the new members waiting eagerly.
As the "head of the family," since the male Saw-toothed Tiger made the decision, it leads by example and charges first.
...
Amidst a powerful roar, the male Saw-toothed Tiger sprang from the bushes, charging straight toward the young Giant Ground Sloth.
Among the Saw-toothed Tiger family, there are both smaller-sized species and "brawny" types weighing over 200 kilograms on average.
Coincidentally, this male Saw-toothed Tiger belongs to the larger-sized species, weighing a full 270 kilograms upon maturity.
Yet even so, compared to the 4-ton Giant Ground Sloth, it still appeared quite petite and charming.
In South America, the young Giant Ground Sloth had hardly encountered any proactive attacks from other creatures; its parents protected it well.
Facing the Saw-toothed Tiger charging at it, the young Giant Ground Sloth looked especially alarmed, hurriedly adjusting its stance from upright to quadrupedal, while calling "huh-huh" and rushing to its mother.
Despite being larger than the Saw-toothed Tiger, the little creature was inexperienced and lacked confidence in its combat abilities, its courage quite small.
The call of the young sloth, along with the sudden appearance of the Three-headed Saw-toothed Tiger, made the atmosphere tense along the riverbank.
The female Giant Ground Sloth stopped feeding on tender leaves, turned around and ran towards her child while issuing a deep growl to warn the three "little cats."
But the male Saw-toothed Tiger’s sprint did not slow a bit due to the female sloth’s warning.
It knew well that once the young Giant Ground Sloth reached its mother’s side, the hope of success would greatly diminish.
If the male adult Giant Ground Sloth reunites with its family members, it would basically lose all hope of killing the young sloth.
...
The male Saw-toothed Tiger’s confidence was not without reason.
The reason it pursued a swift, decisive battle, apart from the bounty of a successful hunt, was that Saw-toothed Tigers were predators specializing in large animals.
When hunting Mammoths, they stealthily ambush near the elephant herd, attacking as a group as soon as the calves drift away from adult supervision, quickly killing the calves with their specialized long fangs, then either fleeing or working together to drag the young elephant’s body away.
Their bodies are quite bulky, powerfully strong, three or four adult Saw-toothed Tigers can drag a heavy young elephant hundreds of meters away in just a few minutes.
The members of the herd being hunted would surely enrage the Mammoths.
Sometimes, they angrily attack the Saw-toothed Tigers, guarding the dead calf’s body to prevent the Saw-toothed Tigers from consuming it.
But herds always need to migrate, and they can only restrict the Saw-toothed Tigers for a day or two at most; as time goes by, the same old story repeats, they can’t catch up with the dastardly tigers and end up watching those successful predators enjoy the spoils.
...
The male Saw-toothed Tiger didn’t have experience hunting the Giant Ground Sloth; it naively believed that the sloths were as cumbersome as Mammoths, with even lower attack abilities—
Mammoths had those giant tusks, while the sloth seemed to have no "weapons" at all, which was why it dared to continue charging, even approaching the female Giant Ground Sloth.
The two female Saw-toothed Tigers coordinated with it, feinting left and right to distract the female Giant Ground Sloth’s attention.
Seeing the young Giant Ground Sloth about to return to its mother, the male Saw-toothed Tiger accelerated again—