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nationalgeographic t1_j9l91fm wrote

Reply to comment by borg2 in AskScience AMA Series: I'm Dr. Christine Wilkinson, National Geographic Explorer, carnivore ecologist, human-wildlife interactions specialist, and performer. Want to know why a coyote wanders through your city? What happens when hyenas chew your tires during research? How to get into SciComm? AMA! by AskScienceModerator

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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