
Kangaroo Rats - sohkamyung
https://www.kqed.org/science/1957226/kangaroo-rats-are-furry-spring-loaded-ninjas
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hirundo
> The team hiked the cameras and infrared lights, along with the heavy 12-volt
> car batteries that power them, into far corners of the deserts near Mojave,
> California and Yuma, Arizona. Once set up, they waited — often for hours
> without luck.

The could come setup at my house in rural New Mexico, we've got scads of the
little ninjas here. They've cost me about two grand in repair work on my
pickup truck so far, nesting in the engine compartment, nibbling on the wires.
I've tried to keep them away with sprays and an electronic gadget, but so far
no luck. Next up, a cat, but outdoor cats don't last long here. It's the
coyote homeland.

They also managed to get into my travel trailer and poop in it, despite all
I've done to try and seal it. I can testify that they are hardy, persistent
and clever little devils. But after they've caused enough damage they seem a
lot less cute.

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pengaru
They're adorable as far as rodents go, but I've had to kill my share of them
for similarly refusing to leave my automobiles alone.

If you're resorting to killing them, I've found a 5-gallon bucket half filled
with water containing a small bait-carrying raft to be quite effective. I just
leave a 2x4 ramp to the bucket edge, they jump in for the food, the raft
immediately sinks, and the walls are too high for escape.

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trhway
the drowning sounds like an unnecessary torturous way to go. Especially
considering that it is not immediate as the victim will be trying to jump/get
out again and again...

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pengaru
Compared to what?

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Pfhreak
Muad'Dib is wise in the ways of the desert. Muad'Dib creates his own water.
Muad'Dib hides from the sun and travels in the cool night. Muad'Dib is
fruitful and multiplies over the land. Muad'Dib we call 'instructor-of-boys.'
That is a powerful base on which to build your life.

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desmondw
I highly recommend checking out more from the people who produced the video.

Deep Look -
[https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-3SbfTPJsL8fJAPKiVqBLg](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-3SbfTPJsL8fJAPKiVqBLg)

~~~
PostOnce
I had no idea "webspinner" insects existed until I learned it from Deep Look
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_JP3RbJ8zk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_JP3RbJ8zk)

their web strands come out of their feet.

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clairity
wow that's faster than zion williamson on a put-back dunk!

but seriously, legs of all sorts are fascinating in their composition and
specialization (i may be biased since i studied biomechanics). we all have the
same basic components (long bones, joints, muscles, tendons/ligaments, nerves,
and blood vessels) in similar configurations, but can still have wide latitude
in specialization.

robotics _still_ has much to learn from biology in this regard.

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rurp
These amazing little guys are a blast to watch out in the desert; I've seen a
number of them in the Mojave.

Their tails make distinct drag marks in the sand, which makes it pretty easy
to identify their burrows and other areas of activity.

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akamoonknight
In one of the later gifs it looks to me like the snake aims higher in the air
than would be expected if it was going for the rat just on the ground. I
wonder if that's a learned behavior after multiple interactions, like darn you
little rat, I'll aim higher next time. I wonder if there's a push and pull in
that regard too. Fascinating overall though in any case.

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bitbckt
We had one of these guys zip through our house when I was a kid, just after
our house cat died.

We had a new cat within a day or two.

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dilipray
Apple team will copy this, please get it IP Protected. Don't be another
Alfred.

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teddyh
Wrong thread?

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agustif
Raycaster maybe?

