Texas, USA: Don't mess with Texas . . . rabbits

Here's a video worth watching,. A Texas man filmed this astonishing wildlife incident in his backyard. A rabbit, apparently a momma with young nearby, fearlessly attacks a big snake. And what's more, she kicks its butt.


Texas Rabbits Rule - video powered by Metacafe

A commenter wrote in to Meta Cafe and said he hoped it wasn't a rattler because, if so, the momma rabbit would surely die. I don't think this was a rattler. Look at its pointy tail. Rattle snakes have blunt ended tails. Also, a rattler will stick its rattles up in the air at an almost 90º angle to its body and shake them furiously when angered. This snake didn't do that. A rattle snake also curls up into a strike position much tighter than did this snake. The rattle snake, from this tightly coiled position, can launch itself out further than the length of its body. This snake struck at momma rabbit several times but only reached out about half its body length.

In addition, the snake obviously hit momma rabbit several times and had it been a rattler I think the rabbit would have died almost right there on the spot. Rattle snake venom is very powerful and she would have gotten at least three doses of it. And finally, she chased the snake up a tree. I've never heard of a rattle snake being treed or even climbing a tree, let alone fleeing up a tree. And after being chomped on the tail a few times, this snake had only one thing on its mind. Get. Up. That. Tree.

I think momma rabbit was lucky it wasn't a rattler. Even so, she showed not only bravery but also an aggressive, fightin' side that I did not know rabbits possessed.

What I liked most about this was the fact that momma rabbit, after being struck a few times, worked out that she was attacking the wrong end of the snake. She switched tactics and attacked its tail and that put the snake on the run.

Outstanding.


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