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borg2 t1_j9jt089 wrote

I've seen two videos where coyotes play with badgers and I've read that they might have a symbiotic relationship. Badger digs out a burrow and the coyote kills what's in it. Is this a common thing? Is it observed often? How would such a symbiotic relationship commence?

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nationalgeographic t1_j9l91fm wrote

This is one of my fave symbiotic relationships out there! It has even appeared in Indigenous lore, so it is definitely not a new relationship, either.

This relationship likely came to be simply because the two species have complementary hunting methods -- the badger can scare up squirrels through its underground work, which benefits the coyote; and the opposite - a coyote could scare a squirrel underground, which benefits the badger. Thus in some circumstances and with certain prey species (i.e., ground squirrels) they can be more successful as a hunting unit. This has been studied scientifically at least as far back as the 1980s, so I don't think it's particularly uncommon.

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