The kangaroo rat is a small nocturnal seed-eater, weighing in at five ounces soaking wet, which hardly ever happens since it lives in the desert. One of its many predators is the sidewinder rattlesnake, a two-foot long viper weighing in at a little over seven ounces.

The rat has sensitive ears, strong legs and big feet, the better to hear a predator and leap in the air or kick sand in its attacker’s face. The snake has venom and a speedy strike.

So who wins in the never-ending evolutionary battle between predator and prey?

In one recent study in a Southern California desert, rats overwhelmingly defeat snakes, escaping in all of 23 recorded attacks during 40 encounters. The recordings captured 15 different snakes, 21 identified kangaroo rats and 17 unidentified rats. Only once did a snake manage to sink its fangs in a rat deep enough to inject venom, and it wasn’t enough to stop the rat from getting away and recovering.

The rats also seemed to be able to prevent strikes, by so-called “predator deterrent” actions like kicking sand at the snake, drumming its foot, jumping back or going up to investigate the snake. According to some thinking about how prey and predator interact, these actions are ways for a prey animal to show off how quick or strong it is, essentially saying, “Forget about trying to catch me, you don’t have a chance.”