This is just a guess, but forming up into sounders (group name) probably was good vs predators that existed in Europe long ago, but don't exist now in the south

This is just a guess, but forming up into sounders (group name) probably was good vs predators that existed in Europe long ago, but don't exist now in the southern US. There are a few mountain lions but not enough anymore to impact the population and coyotes might take an abandoned young but even one adult would probably scare them off I think? Farmers that really want rid of them use big net/cage traps that catch a whole sounder at once, because escapees learn to spot the traps and spread the knowledge apparently. Not sure what they do with the meat.