MIGHTY MOUSE MOVE
OVER!
By J.E. Rogers
The
Grasshopper Mouse is not your ordinary house mouse. This fearless, miniscule
mouse can take on a scorpion.
Let’s
meet and learn a bit about this incredibly aggressive rodent.
Photo credit: Matthew and Ashlee
Rowe
The
Grasshopper Mouse lives in the Southwestern United States. It is the only
carnivorous mouse in North America. This little sparkplug of a mammal eats
scorpions for lunch. Although the sting and venom of a scorpion are deadly and
extremely painful, it doesn’t seem to have an effect on the Grasshopper Mouse.
How does it do it? Well, from what I’ve read, this mouse has a protein that
stops the nerves from reacting to the venom. This protein turns the venom from
a pain to a painkiller. Research is being conducted to see if this ability can
apply to human medicine. To read more about this phenomenon, click here:
Photo credit: Matthew and Ashlee
Rowe
This mouse
also likes insects, worms, and snakes. They are even immune to the bite of
other venomous creatures like centipedes. Very territorial, their home range is
about 28 acres (Wikipedia).
I’ve
found a video created by the BBC which provides an interesting look at the
Grasshopper Mouse’s diet and hunting habits. As I said above, they are very
territorial and have an unusual way of telling other Grasshopper Mice to stay
off their turf — they howl at the moon.
Photo credit: Michael and Patricia Fogden
The
Grasshopper Mouse leads a fairly solo life, but may be found in pairs; female
and male. It grows to about three and a half to five inches in length with a
tail that is approximately one to two and a half inches long.
Photo credit: http://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/grasshopper-mouse.html
In the
following video from Michigan State University, you will learn about the
Grasshopper Mouse’s ability to turn toxic venom into a pain killer.
Oh, one
last thing. I hope you will have guessed that the Grasshopper Mouse got its
name due to the fact that it eats a lot of grasshoppers. J
Thanks
for stopping by. Please share with your family and friends.
Enjoy!
Jeanne E.
Rogers, Award Winning Author
The Sword of
Demelza, The Gift of Sunderland
and
One Hot Mess, A
Child’s Environmental Fable
Where Endangered
Animal Heroes Roam the Pages!
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