Facts collected by zoologists already in the twentieth century witness that many animals fight for the females and territory following certain "rules" that prevent injury and mortal wounds. This sudden discovery forced the scientists to look at the animals' struggles in a new light.
In the "knightly" middle ages in Europe, people say was a custom: on a tourney the victor had the right to rip-off from the prone opponent his helmet and putting the sword to the unarmed throat, to stab him. Not always but often the victorious knights used that right.
Animals do not do that. If in a fight it is discovered that one of the opponents is weaker, it hurriedly flees (the victor makes chase just to make a point) or begs for mercy, falling to the ground and raising its legs upwards. The victor always spares the loser.
There may not even be a fight, if the weakest, for example a young wolf, immediately will ask the strongest for mercy, submissively lowering the tail and offering the throat. And the wolves often test their strength not in biting, but running around in a circle for a long time, muzzle to muzzle: whose strength gives first quicker, it is the weaker animal.
Almost every species of higher animal has special signs in its "language" with which the weak animal asks for mercy. Usually, "the white flag" in the animal world is symbolized by some lowly poise (literally "lowly": an animal that surrenders lies low to the ground at the feet of the victor who proudly rises above it) or some special cry: for example, a squeal of a skunk. Crows and gulls offer the unprotected back of their head - it is equal to the human "Hands up!" in meaning. When the backs of heads are offered from both enemy sides, this means that the pack of mutual non-aggression is reached.
Each species has its own "fashion" of a white flag. Therefore, even animals close to each other by blood and evolution do not always understand each other.
The author remembers a tragicomic episode, which was described by a famous Swiss biologist Adolph Portmann. He saw a turkey and a peafowl fighting for leadership in the yard. The turkey was weaker and decided to stop the battle throwing in lieu of a towel its heavy body into the ring: it spread on the ground, begging for mercy. But the peafowl did not understand: in its tribe surrender is done differently.
The submissive poise of the turkey was convenient for attack and the peafowl with greater enthusiasm charged at the adversary, overpowered it and began to peck its head. The turkey did not resist, although, probably, it was very indignant about the breaking of the battle rules. It just squeezed ever closer to the ground.
Males of some species do not even fight and never wound each other. A duel that must decide an argument over territory or female is replaced in their case by peculiar "ritual" moves that on occasion resemble figures of some complicated dance. Some British biologists call this sort of competition a bluff. Buffing males do not fight but just, so to say, show off before each other.
Drakes behave thusly, but it was discussed earlier.
The great tits, for example, jump before each other, stretching necks upwards and slightly shaking from side to side: demonstrating the beautiful black-and-white spots on their cheeks.
The European robins boast with red breasts. They bulge them, pulling heads upwards and also shake.
The pigeons only puff before each other, bulging chests and fluffing feathers. Whose appearance is more impressive, wins.
The battle of snow buntings is a very amusing sight: a mix of charges and retreats. Like a swinging pendulum, the fighting males run first in one direction, then another, first one of them pursues the rival, and then another. After running for a bit the pursued turns towards the pursuer and chases it for approximately the same distance back. And then once more the pursued turns its back and flees.
"I never saw them fighting," one scientist talked about the Manchurian cranes. "A threatening poise is always enough for the rival to retreat."
This poise is sufficiently impressive: the head with beak is stretched forwards; the neck is arched up or down. Hissing emerges from the throat and the large, long-legged bird with its forward-thrust "rapier" charges the enemy, flinging its legs up in a funny way. The nerves of whoever had disturbed the crane's peace break and they flee.
The astatotilapias and some other fish that are related to them, for example Mik's cychlosoma, threaten the rivals, by opening their gills. The rivals almost stand nose-to-nose to each other and inflate themselves, trying to look scarier and bigger, rather like the bragging frog in the well-known fable. At the same time the golden-rimmed big black spots on their gills glitter and glow. The duels of these fish are a very beautiful sight.
And the males of bitterlings "gore" each other. In spring on their heads grow horny warts and each one pushes their rival with them, trying to chase the rival away from the selected shell.
Many fish during their battles use "blunt" weaponry: they "strike" each other with water jets. Two males circle one after another and striking the water powerfully with their tails try to hit each other with the more powerful wave.
The proboscis monkeys, orangutans and howler monkeys fray each other's nerves with incomparably loud cries: whose cry is more terrible and who can endure the opponent's roar for longer, wins.
The tree shrews meet the uninvited guests of their king with ear piercing squeaks and squeals. If the vocal attack does not terrify, they grab the intruder's tail, and so powerfully, that the latter, fleeing, drags the tail-grabbing opponent for a long time. Sometimes the duelling tree shrews box, as the kangaroos do: they sit on their hindquarters and hit each other with front legs. But they do not forget to shout either. And if in box, even according to points, the owner does not get any advantage, and then it suddenly falls onto its back and yells so piercingly and overwhelmingly that the uninvited guest, stunned, flees without looking back.
Two zoologists showed just how powerful a weapon this cry really is. They recorded the tree shrews' war cry onto a recording and caused lemurs to listen to it through an amplifier. What did happen next! Utter panic and some even went into convulsions.
If one's own vocal cords are not powerful enough, some clever monkeys use some noisy objects for aid. The story of Mike, a chimpanzee dominated by his superiors, shows that.
Jane Van Lovik-Goodall, who lived for several years in the jungles of Africa in great friendship with the wild apes, says that before their departure from the national park on the shores of Tanganyika the male chimpanzee Mike "was rather quivering from fear, nervous. He shook from any sound, from any movement".
When they returned to the national park, then they "found Mike to be completely different. He was scaring all other chimpanzees". The reason of his sudden rise was in... empty containers from kerosene that were left in camp by the expedition. Mike learned to produce a deafening racket from them. He "could make a show with three containers, throwing them one after the other. The chimpanzees do not like loud sounds - the exception is made for their own cries. Therefore Mike had simply scared all of his relatives with his unusual entertainment".
The East African oryx has very sharp horns - real rapiers. When fighting, the opponents never really use them: the antelopes only cross horns with a cracking sound, like "theatre swords", they fence, but do not stab! And when once a hornless male oryx went to battle with a horned male, the latter fenced as if the opponent had horns too. He parried and struck the imaginary rapiers some distance away from the hornless head.
It was noticed a long time ago: the more dangerous a weapon the duellers' possess, the more the duel itself is loose, and it is replaced by an ever more safe ceremony, albeit one very militant in appearance. If any, the smallest fight in venomous, for example, species is deadly dangerous for both fighters, and it may be replaced by a peculiar symbolic dance with a wrestling finale.
An example: fights of Texan rattlesnakes for the hunting domains.
When two males claim the same territory, then their argument is solved not with fighting, but a militant dance. Otherwise, though the snakes are resistant to their own venom, they in the heat of battle would bite each other so much, that both would perish.
The opponents approach each other with highly raised heads; they shake them before each other, separate, make a move to the right, a move to the left. They again approach each other and crawl together, making identical movements, which result in one snake being the mirror reflection of another.
The first act of dancing lasts for five minutes. During it neither of the dancers does not attempt to charge its' opponent. The real struggle lies ahead.
After a break the opponents again approach each other with heads raised almost half a meter. They twine and untwine their dexterous necks, crawl together, swinging smoothly, move apart and again draw warily together. There is a peculiar rhythm in their dance. Tiring out, the snakes rest, lying on top of each other.
They say that it is a very beautiful sight; the snakes execute a real ballet on sand!
The Mexicans really love to look at the snakes' war dances. For hours they sit at small enclosures that contain the most prominent dancers, introducing them more and more new competitors.
Some scientists brought many good photo shots of various "moves" of rattlesnakes from Mexico.
The dance finale is always the same: they end in wrestling. The snakes suddenly twine their "necks". A moment of tense strength - and one falls to the sand, flashing the white belly. The strongest wrestler for some time presses to the ground the "vanquished" opponent, and then leaves with the proudly raised head. It crawls against the wooden enclosure, as if making a circle of honor. And the fighter who lost the fight humbly leaves into a corner. In the wild it would crawl away for a greater distance, leaving the domain to the victor.
The "humane" duels pursue two goals at once: to establish the strongest in the fight and at the same time save the weak and young competitor from death, as with time, after acquiring strength, it can possibly become an equally worthy representative of its kind.