What benefits do predators have?

Predators are a part of the animal world. While we often don't want them around because of our animals, they provide benefits to an ecosystem.

The first one I can think of is balance. I know of an town that is on an island in a river. They outlawed hunting on this island. And no one can grow a garden without complete fencing because there are too many deer that are too bold. The deer eat gardens, fruit trees, flower gardens, etc.

I also recall reading an article about how the wolf changed the river. While I think that is a bit sensational in its title, reintroducing wolves did change things in Yellowstone National Park.

When we have mouse trouble, we all suddenly want cats.

What other benefits direct or indirect come from predators?

You mention the risk to livestock, but the predator population also protects them! Native deer (etc.) carry diseases that can jump to your herds, but if the infected deer get weak out in the woods and are taken by a wolf, that deer has less chance to spread their infection to your cattle. I suppose the same thing must protect human health sometimes, but the only examples springing to mind are things like dragonflies eating mosquitos where the dragonfly doesn't have any downside -- it isn't going to prey on our children or hens.

"Nature abhors a vacuum." I've read plenty of articles about predator/prey balance and how it works itself out.

Humans want animals to "be manageable" and to "be where we want them, when we want them".  That's like putting out an all you can eat buffet for predators! Humans have hunted predators to reduce the pressure for a very long time also. But using a spear to hunt a wolf pack is a dangerous outing, as is true of many predators.

However, growing acres of monoculture isn't any different, so growing plants for food vs growing animals for food, doesn't change the equation that much if you're following the Industrial model.

Permaculture encourages "paddock shift" approaches which is what nature does with herbivores to reduce predation. It encourages polycultures instead of monocultures which helps reduce insect predation.

So much comes down to density and circumstances.  Hunting deer in my area is very limited because of reasonable gun rules (firing a gun near a roadway can kill innocent humans - duh!) So instead, the humans unintentionally hunt the excess deer with their cars. I dislike this because I end up smelling decomp for a week.  So I totally support qualified hunters being given access to the few places hunting can be done safely. (We have a few farms large enough for this.) Cougars are our local deer predator. They also take pets, children, and occasionally adults. As much as I appreciate cougars reducing the deer pressure, I understand why humans don't like this solution.

However, predators also teach humans things - like better ways to protect their livestock! My friend got a refresher lesson in that yesterday. No sympathy from me as I'd warned her repeatedly. Unfortunately, I got a minor injury in the process, so that has also significantly reduced my sympathy level. Predators have just as much right to their role in nature as humans and farm animals do. So maybe "benefit" is only one way of looking at it. Right to do what they were designed to do - keep populations in check by targeting the young and removing the old before they die of illnesses that can be spread - might be a better way for me to look at it.

I know it would be more valuable if I were thoroughly synthesizing the abstracts, but for now at least, here's a gob of links on the subject and the simple note that it turns out large predators provide an awful lot of ecosystem services that benefit humans:

https://besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/pan3.10385
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-017-0421-2
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/eap.1799
https://esajournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/fee.2336
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0167880924004377

Hi, Matt

That is a thought provoking subject with lots of different benefits.

I feel most folks will agree that it is a balance of nature.

We have a large predator presence though not the same predators aaa you or others might have.

It is possible that we might have a mountain lion or a bear as those have been spotted/killed though I have not seen them.

We have feral hogs, raccoons, and foxes. And a cat named Tiny who is a good hunter of small creatures.
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The natural system REQUIRES predators. Without them, the system breaks. For the most part, the system is 'self-repairing' when a component is removed from it, but in doing so, the system is forever changed.  The system is VERY complex, and it is virtually impossible to predict what is going to take place or how the system is going to repair itself in the end when parts are removed. Some of the resulting changes can be predicted, but in reality, most changes, and the final outcome, isn't predictable, nor is it what is usually wanted.

Really, the only predator that heavily damages ecosystems are humans.

On a long-term scale, predation helps to drive evolution. Everything is trying to avoid being eaten by something else (even plants) and the ones that manage to eat (in the case of the predator) or to not get eaten (in the case of the prey) pass on their genes.

Christopher Weeks wrote:You mention the risk to livestock, but the predator population also protects them! Native deer (etc.) carry diseases that can jump to your herds, but if the infected deer get weak out in the woods and are taken by a wolf, that deer has less chance to spread their infection to your cattle. I suppose the same thing must protect human health sometimes, but the only examples springing to mind are things like dragonflies eating mosquitos where the dragonfly doesn't have any downside -- it isn't going to prey on our children or hens.

Chris, also in relation to 'native deer', consideration must be given to that if the deer population goes unchecked without predation, not only do the deer eat theirself out of house and home, they also eat the livestock out of house and home, not to mention the impact on the vegetation itself.

Our experience here in New Hampshire is predators can be utilized to manage pests. We had a large vole population, which lead to a large weasel population which solved our vole problem for a while. Then owls and hawks population increased. These birds of prey ate the weasels. The weasels disappeared and the voles came back this year. We had loads of foxes until a bobcat moved in, and the foxes disappeared. We have big coyotes (coywolves) all around, but they keep to themselves. We have huge black bear population, but they keep to the forest edges mostly.

We have two dogs with strong prey drives patrolling the farm regularly.

Take-aways:

1. You can't have predators without prey
2. Food chains are dynamic
3. Predators compete for territory
4. There are good predators and bad predators within a species.
5. Predators are most active on the edges.
6. You can design systems that utilize different predator vectors, like any other system. Requires keen observation.

E Sager wrote: 4. There are good predators and bad predators within a species.

I'm not sure if you're looking on the individual basis or the sub-species basis, but I agree. We work hard to not let the local racoon discover that chickens taste good. However, we look like a "forested" area and have had coons "dropped off" in our back yard. These coons not only don't know local food options, but also were likely trapped in the first place for causing trouble. They were trap savvy!

Often in this situation, we end up having to resort to removal. As a registered farm, we can do so humanely. We've had local homesteaders request our "assistance" in a few severe situations, and it's amazing how as soon as the "bad apple" is gone, they're happy to report no more trouble.

This is why there are rules against feeding wild animals. It really is a bad idea in most situations. One exception we've done is to introduce a predator to an invasive species. Black squirrels are invasive here. A friend has killed some and left them out for the local owls so that they know that Black squirrels are "food". I am not trying to kill every squirrel - just help keep them achieve balance by encouraging owls to see them as a food source.

Jay Angler wrote:I'm not sure if you're looking on the individual basis or the sub-species basis

That's right, I was referring to individual basis. For instance if you have a bunch of coyotes who are not eating chickens or lambs, it's best to keep them if you can, because new coyotes moving in might have a preference for chicken or lamb.

Good idea with the owls, you can never have enough owls.

Tuesday afternoon, I was visited by an immature or male falcon, that was attracted to the sound of newborn pigeon chicks!

It got caught in the pigeon cote beside the house.

I quickly realized my pigeons were freaking out.

Most of those in the cote did what they do best: freeze and make no noise!

So I got in there and closed the door and started closing cages and stuffing any loose ones in cages and closing the doors!

Then I relocated my prize breeding stock: pure giant runt breeders, hiding in their cages / nests, with their weight on chicks, and moved their cages inside my door, that has rubber matting over recycled tire flooring, and I have effectively begun fall selection of who stays indoors for the winter. This allows me to provide meat for the local falcons and provides hours of entertainment, while not being frustrated about losing breeding stock.

The falcon had already munched down on a 10 day old darling before I had gotten in the cote, the remainder of it put directly in the municipal compost, at the same time I brought in water for the falcon.

I let the falcon loose about 25-26 hours later, which gave me time to relocate pigeons and shelter them for the night, give them a chance to eat lightly, then release the falcon after most of them were on afternoon siesta. It hung around for a few minutes, and it has probably learned not to go inside structures! A valuable lesson.

I was disposing of eggs this year, and only bred a male and female pair of chicks off my alpha pair, and one undetermined. A few accidental crossbreeds.

Domestic animals as predators I have little patience for. It is frustrating because they are someone's beloved pet, and also most people don't have compassion for pigeons or their owners, thinking only flying rats, not staff who have the job of soil building, and keeping their owner in shape.

I had a husky visit last fall, to kill chicks for sport, and it came yesterday and is skulking around today. My new puppy is doing a fabulous job of alerting me: hackles up and all! Ready to lay down his life to protect me! Fortunately I am prepared for land predators -- I had collected almost all my eggs this year -- few hatched  (pigeons will lay a maximum two every month for a breeding couple so not that many eggs), those eggs which I  put with the pet food, and so I don't really have chicks to speak of this year. I don't eat my pigeons. They're purely for fun and soil building. I have never had better gardens.

I expect the falcons will be back next January and February for up to 6 weeks, to come and cull and beef up to make more chicks. I really appreciate them culling my pigeons for me. It's not a fun job and I haven't had to do it.

I have been visited by weasels in the past. They are determined enough to eat through framing and get around 1/4" mesh , and so I can dress 14 killed birds in an hour and get them ready for pet food. But their only purpose as meat is pet food security.

Knowing how cruelly commercial live chickens are treated before slaughter, I suppose it's not surprising that someone have misplaced hatred of pigeons: they won't bother people or their buildings unless someone is feeding them

A half acre is sufficient so that they don't bother my neighbors -- but obviously culling must be done, and I appreciate the falcons.

I lost my entire crop (from 2 trees) of hazelnuts this year. 3 pair of Stellar Jays started taking them even before most nuts were mature!  I have blueberry bushes that are not bothered by the jays until, it seems, the Kestrels, in a nest box I put on the corner of the orchard, have fledged.  I wish I could convince the kestrels to spend more time over the orchard even after the babies have fledged.

The other issue I have are voles, seemingly lots and lots of voles.  I have lots of coyotes that spend a great deal of time here, and a barn owl pair that nest in one of the barns. They use it as their dining room year round, so I am certain they also help a lot with vole (and other rodent) mitigation. Still, I think I have grown the vole population by growing them lots of high quality food, and fencing the deer and elk out of 2 growing areas, which inhibits the coyotes and owls (on one small garden) from ready access to the voles.  about a month ago I decided I would rather the deer eat my bean plants than the voles, and I took down one panel of my veggie garden. This may have worked as the bean plants have regrown and are looking good  (knock wood).

I have lots of wasps here. Mostly I have lots of paper-wasp nests, but I also curated a nest that fell from the eaves so they could still live in it. That lasted about 2 months and/but they moved on or some other insects drove them out of that nest. I appreciate the wasps not only for all the pollination, but for controlling various harmful larvae, etc.  

Two groups of my friend's Bantam chickens had a member "culled" last year - first by a Sharp-shinned Hawk and then by a Red-tail Hawk (which are *much* bigger up close than they seem when they're up in the air).

In both cases, the birds were let go after being given a stern message of not coming back. The Red-tail mated and had chicks on the next property, but never tried to take another one of my friend's birds. Most Predators want the advantage and don't want to get hurt or killed. That's why they go after the sick and the young, and that is truly a benefit in my eyes.

I despise armadillos for the damage they do to infrastructure and soil. One was in the process of burrowing under the square-foot concrete pavers supporting my propane tank before I filled their diggings with concrete. One was attracted to the A/C condensate drip pipe during a drought, and then started digging under my building's foundation, next to the drip pipe before I, again, thwarted it with concrete. ALL of the them are turning my pasture into a maze of divots, not to mention the burrow holes. HOWEVER, those divots are the result of digging for Japanese Beetle grubs, which are no longer present to chew my blueberry operation. If I had my way though, I would rather deal with the beetles than the armadillos. Milky Spore could achieve similar effect.

Milky spore does work for Japanese beetle grubs. I haven't had very many beetles in the 5 years since I spread it out in late summer. Armadillo are designed for anteating though. I keep them around because they prefer to exclusively consume fireant mounds. The fireants have no organic methods of control that I know of except our only anteater north of the Mexican border. The armor they have is absolutely useless against predators, but stops ants from stinging them.I live in the country so I dont have an ornamental lawn and would rather have Armadillo cultivation than step in a fireant mound.

I have thriving reproducing prairie dogs in my region, and in my pasture and my neighbors’ pastures.  We have a gravel road, and there is even an active hole in the middle of the road!

I hear coyotes singing at night, 3 packs of them.  I don’t know why there can be such a flourishing population of prairie dogs with the coyotes around.

We also have hawks, eagles and owls.  Probably no ferrets, who are the most efficient prairie dog predator.  I think the black footed ferrets are endangered in my region likely because people killed so many prairie dogs.

I don’t want to eradicate them, I would just like their survival rate decreased!

I have another sign of insufficient predation.  Grasshoppers!  Their hatch out numbers depend on a few variables, so they provide an inconsistent food supply.  A variety of  predators  need to be on hand when we get a super hatch.  Song birds, wild turkeys and predatory insects can eat a good many, but in order to have them present when super grasshopper hatches occur, we have to allow their presence in other years when they might take things besides grasshoppers.

I raised some keets this summer, will provide for their survival over the winter I hope, so they can be on hand next grasshopper season.  I have some cats that I hope will help keep the prairie dog survival rate down.