#i have no issue with alterhumans with prey drives/hunting instincts and i love all of you. this is just about *my* experience

[theros]

on prey drives, or the lack thereof

a lot of nonhumans have mentioned their predatory urges or prey drives on here. it's a common topic of discussion, especially when it comes to not being ashamed of these thoughts and urges. i often see posts reminding carnivores and predators that they're not bad for having prey drives and predatory urges, and that of course these are a normal part of being a predatory animal. there is nothing to be ashamed of if you have a high prey drive or want to pounce on a small herbivore for breakfast.

but the more i think on it, i don't really have a prey drive.

i'm multiple predators; bobcat, snow leopard, kestrel, fox, coyote, cougar-- and i can't think of a single time i've looked at a small animal and thought prey.

potential food, sure-- but there was no urge accompanying the thought. just an idle recognition that that creature could be food if i were in a situation where i had to hunt it. i think humans have the same line of thought, especially if they are or have been around other humans who hunt for their food. i've known a lot of hunters in my life, so i wonder if that recognition of a deer or a squirrel or a rabbit as potential food just comes from that. it certainly doesn't have any accompanying instinct.

bobcats primarily hunt rabbits. when i see a wild cottontail outside, i don't think "i'm hungry and should catch that prey!", i think "huh. didn't expect to see a bunny in the open when there's so many coyotes around here."

small rodents are also common staples in the diets of bobcats, foxes, coyotes and kestrels. when i see a mouse or a squirrel or a rat or a chipmunk, i don't want to hunt it. that takes way too much effort.

the most my hunting instincts ever really trigger is when it comes to spotting quick traces of movement. kestrels and cats will happily snatch lizards when they can. being obsessed with reptiles now, i've taken advantage of that sense whenever i'm looking for wild lizards and snakes-- or trying to see the skittish mourning geckos in my indoor vivarium. even then, i don't watch them with the intent of eating them. if i want to catch the reptile i'm after, it will be released after i'm done looking at it and talking about its species to whoever's nearby to listen.

the thing is, foxes and coyotes are fundamentally lazy when it comes to food, foxes especially so. they're opportunists. both will happily eat roadkill and other carrion, or steal parts of other predator's kills. foxes will go for just about anything they can eat, and the less effort it takes to get, the better. eggs, worms, berries, garbage, bits off my mate's plate-- easy meals that take little effort to get are highly preferred over anything i have to hunt down. it's one of the many reasons that feeding wild foxes is a bad thing. foxes are lazy. if you can get an easy (even if unhealthy) meal from this human's backyard, why bother expending the energy to roam a territory searching for food? hell, why bother having a territory? if there's such an easy food source here, there's no need to maintain territory large enough to ensure you can find enough food for yourself. not having a territory to patrol means you can spend more time eating from the human's backyard.

the only time i ever feel that my predatory instincts really get triggered is whenever migrating goose calls push me into an arctic fox shift-- and then it's still the eggs i focus on more than the goslings. they don't struggle as much.

honestly, prey drive is the least of my concerns when it comes to alterhuman-related instincts, but the satyr's instincts should be left to their own essay.

if i wasn't a fox as well as a bobcat, would i have a prey drive? would the sight of a fawn away from its mother strike me with the desire to leap? would i want to crunch down the chipmunk in the garden or would i still watch it with the idle fascination of an already-satiated cat? would seeing the hawks circling the nearby field fill my kestrel's heart with envy because i can't fly high, scanning the ground for prey?

i don't know. but as it is, the combination of things i am has created a creature with no prey drive whatsoever, and i suppose that's okay. lack of hunting instinct doesn't make me any less what i am. hell, it may even reinforce it.

lazy fox, indeed.