Re “pack hunting”—according to this link, the phenomenon happens with foxes—but not dogs: “Hares did not stand before approaching dogs”. Perhaps they know that dogs pay no attenntion—or perhaps an increased chance of pack hunting is involved.
Okay, thank you, that answers the nagging concern I had about your initial explanation. There are reasons why that equilibrium would be destabilized, but it depends on whether the predator species would find the appropriate (destabilizing) countermeasures, and this doesn’t happen with foxes.
Re “pack hunting”—according to this link, the phenomenon happens with foxes—but not dogs: “Hares did not stand before approaching dogs”. Perhaps they know that dogs pay no attenntion—or perhaps an increased chance of pack hunting is involved.
Okay, thank you, that answers the nagging concern I had about your initial explanation. There are reasons why that equilibrium would be destabilized, but it depends on whether the predator species would find the appropriate (destabilizing) countermeasures, and this doesn’t happen with foxes.
Confusion extinguished!