Under cover of darkness, the world is a safer place for a kangaroo rat.
It’s mostly hidden from predators, while it searches for seeds - its main source of
food and water in this harsh California desert.
But it’s not totally safe
Ok, let’s slow that down.
Like some kind of furry, spring-loaded ninja, the kangaroo rat dodges those venomous fangs.
And it didn’t just get lucky.
These rats do this again…
And again…
We can see it thanks to night-vision cameras, but it’s really dark out.
So how does a kangaroo rat escape almost certain death?
Scientists think they can hear the slightest change in air pressure - caused by a snake
lunging or the flutter of an owl wing.
Its hearing is ninety times more sensitive than ours.
That hyper-sensitivity is mostly thanks to these giant hollow spaces in its skull - known
as “tympanic bullae.”
They act as natural amplifiers - kind of like how a small sound echoes in a large cave.
When it senses danger, the rat kicks into action, propelled by its powerful hind legs.
Thick tendons and large muscles mean a super-fast reaction time.
And their legs are huge in proportion to their body size.
That’s how they blast off like that.
See how its tail is whipping around?
That helps the rat twist out of the rattlesnake’s jaws, stabilize, and land on its feet.
Even when it looks like the snake has a bullseye, the rat uses those powerful legs to kick free,
before the snake can inject its lethal dose of venom.
This all happens in a matter of milliseconds, faster than the blink of an eye.
Sometimes, the rats do lose this battle, but in one study, researchers found that three
quarters of the time, they survive the snake attacks and make it back to their burrows,
safe and sound.
And sometimes, the best defense is a good offense.
Ok, now you’re just showing off.
So kangaroo rats aren't the only warrior rodents in the desert.
The southern grasshopper mouse has a taste for scorpions - sting and all.
And we’ve got more rattlesnakes.
How does that rattle actually work?
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