Our first division in this year's March Mammal Madness is all about the spring!
And the leap. And the pounce.
It's time for the Jump Jump division. How high? Real high, apparently.
I am MC Marmot, and this is March Mammal Madness. (Wiggity wiggity wack!)
In the early rounds, the higher seeded contenders get home field advantage.
As a result, the streaked tenrec
suddenly found itself high on a mountain ledge, far from its home in the rainforest.
A markhor, foraging for food, was curious about this new arrival and approached to give it a good sniff.
The tiny tenrec was outraged and jumped at the markhor's face, driving its spines into its nose!
The markhor sneezed all over the tenrec, but the tenrec stood its ground and leapt again at the markhor.
The markhor leapt as well..away from the tenrec, and away from the battle!
The snot-covered tenrec is the winner! Hooray! And also...ew.
You may remember the ringtail from
2017's March Mammal Madness. Well, it's back, and was ready to avenge its previous loss!
However, it found itself matched up against a...
...Bengal tiger.
As it watched the trigger leap upon a hog deer,
the ringtail considered its options...and its odds...and it wisely decided to scamper away.
The Bengal tiger is the winner!
For this battle we go to one of our roving rodent reporters. Take it away!
Thanks, MC! Let's hear it for the spinifex hopping mouse, also known as the tarrkawarra.
Normally, it spends its days hopping around the Australian shrublands.
But today, a flash flood has swept our mouse out to sea on a tiny raft of vegetation.
It had visions of sailing the ocean blue!
But it came across a pod of spinner dolphins.
The dolphins were leaping and frolicking and splashing, and then they swam over to meet the mouse, and the mouse
slipped in, and...
well...
...we can't swim in the ocean very well.
Farewell, brave tarrkawarra. The spinner dolphin is the winner.
Our next battle took place in the Serengeti National Park of Tanzania.
The klipspringer crept down from the rocks to forage, and found itself near an impala.
Klipspringers are cute, but nervous,
and it stayed on high alert while it ate.
Suddenly, a terrible noise disturbed the peaceful scene!
The klipspringer leapt up in fright to see the impala locking horns with a rival male.
The klipspringer bounded off the field in a panic, leaving the impala victorious!
Did you know that the springhare is a rodent? It's true! More from our roving rodent reporter.
Thanks, MC!
I'm reporting from Kruger National Park in South Africa,
where an amazing battle just took place. it started when a male springhare spotted
an attractive female springhare, but then he also noticed a nearby stranger that was getting a little too close.
The jackrabbit, also known as the mysterious stranger, looked up...and he looked up just in time to see the springhare
launching himself at him!
The jackrabbit jumped up, and said, "Put up your dukes, buddy!"
I've got to admit, the jackrabbit got some good punches in, but the springhare sprang up and landed feet-first
on the jackrabbit, and it crushed him! The springhare wins! Woooo!
The stoat is a March Mammal Madness favorite. it has even inspired its own measurement scale!
Our brave stoat, weighing in at, um, one stoat,
found itself in the Himalayas, looking for a snack. It spied a pika,
and prepared to pounce...but suddenly, a herd of bharal appeared.
One bharal weighs about 300 stoats.
The stoat, not wanting to be trampled upon, ran off.
The bharal wins, without even realizing there was a battle!
The armadillo found itself in an unfamiliar forests with unfamiliar
but tasty insects, and trundled along happily.
A sifaka bounded along through the treetops, but misjudged a leap and landed near the ground, and near the armadillo.
Was this armadillo a fossa in disguise? (Autobots, roll out!)
Suddenly, a hawk attacked the distracted sifaka,
and sent it plummeting to the ground!
The armadillo wins without even noticing the drama taking place above its very head. (Schwing!)
In South Africa,
a serval was watching and waiting to pounce on small rodents, which make up most of its diet.
By the way, we highly disapprove of this.
Anyway, the serval heard a stirring behind it and
pounced! But it wasn't a rodent. It was a rock...
wallaby!
The wallaby was not amused, and sprang into the air to kick back! The serval fled in fear.
The rock wallaby is the winner!
And there you have it: a night filled with drama,
upsets and...
...obliviousness.
Join us tomorrow for the first round of the Waterfalls division! This is MC Marmot signing off. (Wiggity wiggity wack!)