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Shrew vs. Snake | National Geographic


meet the hyperactive short-tailed shrew
under stress the shrews heart beats at
1,300 times per minute and the shrew
burns so much energy if it misses one
meal it can die so it’s under stress
most of the time the shrews life is
simple in this Virginia garden hunt for
food for an hour sleep for an hour
glands on the Shrew stomach give off a
musky smell which means that a predator
needs a pretty strong stomach to take
one on the garter snake is up for it
this is one of the great hunters in a
backyard garden it tastes the air with
its tongue and picks up a whiff of the
musky shrew
the garter snake has steel trap jaws
he’s ready to tussle but the snake is
the one without venom the short-tailed
shrew on the other hand is the only
North American mammal with a poisonous
bite that’s why the Shrew isn’t shy
about battle the Shrew goes right for
the garter snakes neck
[Music]
oh the snake is in big trouble its
muscles go slack its breathing slows
paralysis will soon set in if the shrew
left it alone instead the Shrew makes a
feast of its phone in a garden shed
another shrew looks for a meal but they
have terrible eyesight and they’re
solitary animals so these two shrews
aren’t aware of each other until they
bumble into each other and then this
garden isn’t big enough for the both of
us this is not a fast motion effect this
is a real-time battle between two
hyperactive short-tail shrews the winner
gets the others territory the loser
probably mends up as lunch let’s slow it
down so you can see just how extreme
this dance of death really is this is
just like professional WrestleMania
even though both contestants have
poisonous bites experts aren’t sure if
shrews are immune from their own species
venom battles like this can go on for
over a half an hour
who’s going to emerge the victor look at
that hiney bike
yikes oh wait a minute it looks like
it’s gonna be a draw each combatant
retreats to its home turf to lick its
wounds and plan the next battle
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