With lightning-fast reflexes to rival Mr Miyagi, new vision has revealed just how the elusive kangaroo rat is able to pirouette out of peril in less than the blink of an eye.

Key points: The research team planted high-speed cameras in common hunting and feeding areas in California

The research team planted high-speed cameras in common hunting and feeding areas in California The footage revealed the kangaroo rat can leap up to eight times its height to escape predators

The footage revealed the kangaroo rat can leap up to eight times its height to escape predators Some rodents were able to react to a snake strike in just 38 milliseconds — around a quarter of the time it takes to blink an eye

The seemingly defenceless rodent has been somewhat of an enigma to researchers, who could not understand how, despite its strength and stature, it is able to front up against a host of natural predators and walk away unscathed.

Now, research by a student-led team from the University of California Riverside (UCR) has proven once and for all that size isn't everything.

Using high-speed cameras placed in common hunting and feeding areas, the research team was able to record how the kangaroo rat interacts with free-ranging rattlesnakes, known for their deadly strikes.

What they found took them by surprise: not only was the seed-eating rat able to foil its foe through evasive, turning leaps, but it also dealt out ninja-style kicks to thwart oncoming attacks.

The high-speed cameras recorded how the kangaroo rat interacted with rattlesnakes. ( Supplied: University of California Riverside )

"The serpent [was left] biting nothing but dust as the kangaroo rat rocketed 7-8 body lengths into the air," Rulon Clark, an associate professor of biology at San Diego State University and a co-author on the research papers, said in a statement.

"But in perhaps the most surprising finding of our research, kangaroo rats that did not react quickly enough to avoid the strike had another trick up their sleeves.

"They often were able to avoid being envenomated by reorienting themselves in mid-air and using their massive haunches and feet to kick the snakes away, ninja-style."

The reaction time, as researchers would discover, was quite literally less than the blink of an eye, which is known to last around 150 milliseconds.

While the rattlesnakes were able to launch from absolute stillness to reach their prey in under 100 milliseconds, they were simply no match for the rapid rodents.

The kangaroo rats averaged a reaction time of 70 milliseconds, and in some cases, initiated jumps within just 38 milliseconds of a snake starting its strike.

The rodent was able to use its haunches to reorient itself mid-air and kick the snake away. ( Supplied: University of California Riverside )

"Both rattlesnakes and kangaroo rats are extreme athletes, with their maximum performance occurring during these interactions," co-author and UCR associate professor Timothy Higham said.

"These lightning-fast and powerful manoeuvrers, especially when executed in nature, tell us about the effective strategies for escaping high-performing predators.

"Those that are successful at evading the strike will suggest ways in which the kangaroo rat might be evolving in response to the intricacies of the predatory movements."

The research, which aims to better explain the behaviours and biomechanics of the rodent and rattlesnakes, has been described in two papers published in Functional Ecology and the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.