Let’s play a little mind game before we get into today’s Wild Fact.
What is the first thing that comes to mind when I say Giant Centipede? For me it was a variety of words such as deadly, disgusting and terrifying. Did you have something similar?
Now what pops into your head when I say Grasshopper Mouse? This time around words such as fluffy, soft and cuddly came up in my mind.
So what was the purpose of this little mind game? As you will soon see, it is to never judge a book by its cover. In fact, this is exactly the type of thing that gets the Giant Centipede into trouble.
The Terrifying Grasshopper Mouse
As I alluded to earlier, the Grasshopper Mouse is indeed a cute and cuddly creature, however, underneath that fluffiness is the heart of a kung-fu legend. Many predators, including the incredibly poisonous Giant Centipede, have tried to take down this little unsuspecting mammal. Unfortunately for them they don’t realize that this mouse has the quickness of a ninja and unusually powerful bite, regardless of how tiny their mouths are.
The Fate of a Predator
When a predator walks onto the Grasshopper Mouse territory, the tiny rodent will let out a high pitched howl before commencing battle. Already, the little mouse is trying to instil fear into their opponent with their patented battle cry. Once the fight begins, the mouse uses their speed and agility to avoid the predators advances and sneak for quick biting attacks of their own. Incredibly, this mouse appears to also be a gymnast at heart as they will do back flips, cartwheels and variety of other tricky manoeuvres to avoid becoming dinner.
You know what, I think a video is in order. You definitely need to see the action for yourself, so take a minute and enjoy the short clip below.\
Nature never seems to stop amazing me. This small, “helpless” mammal may be one of the toughest opponents out there. The perfect example as to why you should never judge a book by its cover. A lesson we should all remember, so we don’t end up like the Giant Centipede.
