At 1st level, a hunter forms a bond with an animal companion. A hunter begins play with any one of the animals available to a druid. This animal is a loyal companion that accompanies the hunter on her adventures. This ability functions like the druid animal companion ability (which is part of the nature bond class feature). The hunter's effective druid level is equal to her hunter level. If a character receives an animal companion from more than one source, her effective druid levels stack for the purpose of determining the companion's statistics and abilities. A hunter may teach her companion hunter's tricks from the skirmisher ranger archetype instead of standard tricks. The animal companion can use skirmisher tricks when commanded, a number of times per day equal to 1/2 its hit dice + its Wisdom modifier.
If a hunter releases her companion from service or her animal companion perishes, she may gain a new one by performing a ceremony requiring 24 uninterrupted hours of prayer in the environment where the new companion typically lives. While the hunter's animal companion is dead, any animal she summons with a summon nature's ally spell remains for 1 minute per level instead of 1 round per level. A hunter cannot have more than one summon nature's ally spell active in this way at one time. If this ability is used again, any existing summon nature's ally effect immediately ends.