but you said that when the food ran out they stayed there and died of starvation.
Peg, when a drought occurs, any vegetation in an area can most likely be found near sources of water. Herbivores, naturally, will head towards those sources in order to feed on the vegetation that remains there. Carnivores will head to those sources in order to feed on the herbivores that have gathered to feed on the vegetation that remains there.
There's nothing magical. It's simple survival. Animals gather at watering because that's where the last remaining food in an area will be.
But there are more reasons than that. When food runs out and an animal slowly starves, the animal will move less and less in order to conserve strength. Also an animal is unlikely to move away from a source of water simply because water is more necessary to life than food is. A human can survive, on average, several weeks without food, but only 3-5 days without water.
What this means is that you are very likely to find various groups of dead animals clustered around watering holes. The herbivores went to the watering hole because that's where the last likely source of vegetation would be, and once the vegetation was gone, stayed near the watering hole because they could survive longer staying near the watering hole and drinking water than trying to go out to find food somewhere far away from the watering hole. Carnivores would also be found near watering holes because they follow the herbivores. Carnivores would also be the last to die as their sources of food would last a bit longer.
Edited by Izanagi, : No reason given.
It's just some things you never get over. That's just the way it is. You go on through... best as you can. - Matthew Scott
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This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, "Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?" When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, "We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts..." - Terry Pratchett,
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You know, I used to think it was awful that life was so unfair. Then I thought, wouldn't it be much worse if life were fair, and all the terrible things that happen to us come because we actually deserve them? So, now I take great comfort in the general hostility and unfairness of the universe. - Marcus Cole
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