Venturing out alone into the desert for the first time would be a scary journey for anyone, with snakes, millipedes, and venomous spiders around every turn.
But it’s dinnertime, and this little animal is not afraid to hunt down his next meal!
Grasshopper Mouse
It’s the Grasshopper mouse!
Crazy Skill: Fearsome Fighter
Crazy skill: fearsome fighter!
Mice are generally omnivores. They will eat both meat and plants.
omnivores
But grasshopper mice are different.
They’re carnivores and only eat meat. Grasshoppers and other insects are often on the mouse’s menu.
carnivores
But what makes this mouse especially crazy is that it eats deadly Arizona bark scorpions!
One sting from this scorpion can kill any other animal … even a human.
But it doesn’t seem to frighten this mouse at all.
That's because the mouse has specially adapted nerve cells, which stop it from feeling any pain when stung.
The scorpion is defeated, proving that this carnivore is the mightiest mouse in the desert.
And it has an unusual way of showing it. It stands on its hind legs and howls at the night sky to warn others of its presence.
So how crazy is the grasshopper mouse?
carnivorous
It’s the only mouse that’s carnivorous.
unaffected by venom
It’s unaffected by scorpion venom.
howls
And it howls!
Wow, that’s super crazy!