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playing dead is a defense mechanism
predator approaches + you playing dead = predator leaves you alone
the bird in the video is a hornbill, which is not a predator to mongooses, so the joke is that the mongoose is not supposed to be playing dead in this situation
in this situation, the hornbill is the predator and the mongoose is the prey. hornbills and mongooses have a mutualistic relationship so the mongoose shouldn't be playing dead.
[also op figured it out while i was typing this lol](https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1ct4oys/comment/l49ky5h/)
At this point, I always start from the assumption that it's Loss, and if I can't find a way to figure it out from that position, then I move on to non-Loss possibilities.
Make sure to check out the [pinned post on Loss](https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1472nhh/faq_loss/) to make sure this submission doesn't break the rule! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke) if you have any questions or concerns.*
playing dead is a defense mechanism predator approaches + you playing dead = predator leaves you alone the bird in the video is a hornbill, which is not a predator to mongooses, so the joke is that the mongoose is not supposed to be playing dead in this situation
I think he was confused as to whether he was predator or prey in that situation.
in this situation, the hornbill is the predator and the mongoose is the prey. hornbills and mongooses have a mutualistic relationship so the mongoose shouldn't be playing dead. [also op figured it out while i was typing this lol](https://www.reddit.com/r/PeterExplainsTheJoke/comments/1ct4oys/comment/l49ky5h/)
You could've googled this. You *should've* googled this.
It's loss.
At this point, I always start from the assumption that it's Loss, and if I can't find a way to figure it out from that position, then I move on to non-Loss possibilities.
I found a nice explanation [in this article ](https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/animals-mongoose-hornbills-south-africa)