Although their small stats may make you heavily underestimate them, don't be fooled. These little guys rely on confusing you, and are very small and hard to hit. In high leveled groups with lots of members, they can be extremely deadly early game. For dealing with the annoying groups, just use a torch. If you cannot beat them, and they are overpowering you, I can help. A strategy I've found works is probing (default key X) under a large creature with a neutral temperature, preferably a herbivore with a large hitbox on its body and attacks (a Triceratops would be perfect). This may result in you being hit, but the Trike will kill off all the Compies, giving you time to run, or collect their spoils.

More Compy Encountering Tips