Aaa-ha
You're talking about vortecies, like the little cloud-puff feathers seen off the tips and trailing edges of airplane wings up at altitude...
I've seen some pretty impressive mirage effect along bullet paths out in the desert. I think I can imagine what you're talking about.
What I was referring to was shock in the meat of the animal, where when hit hard enough the liquid (blood) in the animal's tissue becomes secondary projectiles the instant the bullet hits the meat -- creating much larger than bullet caliber wound channels with permanent and catastrophic tissue damage...
Essentially how the high speed 22s and 250s vaporize groundhogs.

Any way you cut it, big bore high zoot loads on little varmints equals sticky mess!

--Tinker