peter,
this sounds like common sense to me.  dogs (who live socially) also go off on their own to die.  i can imagine that a dying animal might have all kinds of parasites/bacteria/viruses, and that a dying animal might also be an easy target for predators.  perhaps hiding is for short term self preservation...but not making "the family home" a good target helps "the family"...as does moving an exploding population of parasites/bacteria/viruses away from the home.

deknow

-- "Peter L. Borst" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Parasites and their hosts show behavioral as well as physiological interactions. 

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