Rattlesnake strike at kangaroo rat comes up short

High speed recording of sidewinder rattlesnake (Crotalus cerastes) striking at a desert kangaroo rat (Dipodomys deserti). The animals are free-ranging in their natural desert habitat at night, and filmed with high speed cameras using near-IR lights invisible to both species. The video is recorded at 500 frames per second, and playback is slowed down about 30 times. This clip shows a rattlesnake attempting a strike towards a kangaroo rat, but apparently misjudging the distance, as the snake achieves the full extent of its strike before reaching the kangaroo rat. This is an example of an inaccurate strike in the study described in Whitford et al (2019, doi ). Of the 17 unsuccessful strikes we recorded (strikes that did not involve a snake biting a kangaroo rat), six (~35%) were unsuccessful due to various snake errors. Find more details, information, and bonus videos at .