'Ninja' Kangaroo Rats Fight Rattlesnakes, and Win in High-Speed Video

The title from the article is a bit misleading - it is more accurate to say that the rats ESCAPE the attack (however, escape IS a win for the rat). The video embedded in the SOURCE ARTICLE does show the rats kicking the snake in the head. Thanks for reading!

Rats and snakes are two of the most reviled and feared creatures in many parts of the world. There are some exceptions, of course, like at the Karni Mata Temple in India where rats are revered, and Serpent Cults have existed since ancient times. Some scientists from the University of California Riverside were trying to find out how kangaroo rats were surviving snake attacks, so they set out with high-speed cameras to tackle the mystery. They learned a couple of things: the snakes attack was faster than they thought was possible from previous studies, and the rats were probably able to amplify their speed using "elastic energy storage".

I can tell you from personal experience that rats (and mice) are extremely swift and agile, plus they possess an incredibly strong will to survive. I recently became the proud papa of 8 (unexpected) baby mice, and trying to determine their gender was not as simple as looking under their skirts- they are like living pop-corn being popped and very difficult to catch by hand. Rats are the same way, they can jump straight up into the air and male rats will often "box" to show dominance. I hope you'll find this video as fascinating and cool as I did!


SOURCE ARTICLE

In a fight between a kangaroo rat and a rattlesnake, maybe bet on the rat, according to new research out of California. High-speed video captured by researchers at the University of California Riverside show the small rodents, that often weigh just 4.5 ounces, can kick an attacking rattlesnake in the head with lightning-fast speed, "ninja-style." In one video, a rat is seen jumping high in the air and kicking a snake with its haunches, launching the serpent several feet away. Then, the rat runs off to safety. “Kangaroo rats that responded quickly were frequently able to jump clear of the snake completely, leaving the serpent biting nothing but dust as the kangaroo rat rocketed 7-8 body lengths into the air,” Rulon Clark, coauthor and an associate professor of biology at San Diego State University, said in a statement. The team has been working to figure out how the rats evade death when snakes attack for some time.

a reply to: seattlerat

I like how the first rat sort of pauses a bit to sort of gauge what's going on. And reacts even faster. Their reaction time is insane.

Wonder if my cat could catch one, hes gotten many mice in his life time.

a reply to: seattlerat

I like rats and snakes, just wouldn't want to get bit by either of them. Wow, that rat was fast!

a reply to: strongfp

One of my Chihuahuas caught a field or house mouse in the yard when she was a year old before she was fixed.

Now she's overweight, lounges around, and completely lost her alphaness. She lets the runt of the litter, a cute beta male pull rank now because she's disinterested in playing as often as he is and lost her killer instinct for lack of a better term. Maybe she'll get back into shape this summer because there's a hole in the fence being fixed this weekend.

Then.. I can let them out and not have to watch them. They'll find any hole possible under the fence to get into neighboring yards and the street. I'd find her a couple of block down the street barking at someone's big dogs, as in more than one, at the fence of a fenced in backyard with hair raised. The cool thing about dogs is that they're so dense. Simple psychologically is a better way of putting it. A Chihuahua can intimidate and scare multiple big dogs if they're domesticated.

As for the rat, I saw the video on Fox news website. It's cool footage and interesting facts but it also says that they don't always get away and the ninja stuff is thrown in for cute factor to pull more views, more interest. I'd say they had a great day in the sun, good exposure for their project. You even shared it here and when I saw it on Fox I wondered if it was posted on ATS yet.

a reply to: seattlerat

The rat's eyesight or hearing or both must be off the charts. Thanks for sharing.

That is some serious skillz and informative Thread. Way cool vid too. Yeah, count me in on the thanks for sharing crew.

a reply to: Night Star

I've been bitten by both rats and snakes, as well as mice, hamsters, rabbits, dogs, cats, and, believe it or not, a chimpanzee.

The most painful bite was a Syrian Hamster - I was breaking up a fight and got my hand in the middle and he latched on and wouldn't let go. Rabbit bites are very painful, too- but they are also damaging in a way unlike other small mammals - they are like fluffy scissors!

The chimp was more of a love-bite- she was showing me that she owned me, first by rubbing her breasts in my face then latching on to my finger with her teeth, not enough to break the skin, but enough to hold it fast.

The worst was a rat bite from a guy named Thor, he must have had something on his incisor that was left beneath my skin deep enough that it caused a serious infection. I ended up having finger surgery and have great scars from finger-tip to palm. In all of these cases I never got mad or blamed the animal, it was usually overconfidence or stupidity on my part. I'm pretty sure Thor thought my finger was a french-fry.

Rabbit Head X-Ray:

a reply to: r0xor

Dogs dont know their own size!
Big dogs are always scared of smaller dogs or cats. And smaller dogs and cats scare even the biggest of dogs.

As for the mice thing, I guess that's just nature, evolution at its finest, but it all balances out in the natural world, the best of the snakes get the weakest of rats, and the strongest of rats get away from the weakest of snakes. There is however, the middle ground.

originally posted by: strongfp
a reply to: r0xor

Dogs dont know their own size!
Big dogs are always scared of smaller dogs or cats. And smaller dogs and cats scare even the biggest of dogs.

As for the mice thing, I guess that's just nature, evolution at its finest, but it all balances out in the natural world, the best of the snakes get the weakest of rats, and the strongest of rats get away from the weakest of snakes. There is however, the middle ground.

"It's not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog."
Quote probably from Confucius or someone like that....

a reply to: seattlerat

That is one quick rat and snakes are not slow. Night vision cameras discover the most amazing things.

a reply to: seattlerat

The most painful bite was a Syrian Hamster - I was breaking up a fight and got my hand in the middle and he latched on and wouldn't let go.

That made me laugh, not because you got bit, but because I was once bitten by a hamster and They do latch on! First it bit my hand and I tried to shake it off. He then landed on my foot and bit my big toe. OMG! I was screaming OW, OW, OW! LOL