Gallery: The Amazing Scorpion-Resistant Mouse

Predator Mouse

A grasshopper mouse and scorpion

(Image credit: Ashlee and Matthew Rowe)

A southern grasshopper mouse ( Onychomys torridus) approaches and sniffs the Arizona bark scorpion ( Centruroides sculpturatus) that it has just killed.

Eating a Scorpion

A mouse eats a scorpion

(Image credit: Ashlee and Matthew Rowe)

A southern grasshopper mouse eats the Arizona bark scorpions that it has just killed.

Scorpion Snack

Grasshopper mouse venom

(Image credit: Ashlee and Matthew Rowe)

Grasshopper mice feel no pain from the venom of an Arizona bark scorpion.

Preparing to Attack

Scorpion versus mouse

(Image credit: Ashlee and Matthew Rowe)

A face-off between a bark scorpion and a grasshopper mouse. The mouse has evolved so that the scorpion's venom blocks pain signals to the brain, preventing stings from hurting.

Mouse Attack

Scorpion versus mouse

(Image credit: Ashlee and Matthew Rowe)

An Arizona bark scorpion prepares to fight as a grasshopper mouse approaches.

A Desert Duel

Scorpion versus mouse

(Image credit: Jillian Cowles)

A Mearn's grasshopper mouse attacks a striped bark scorpion. Both species are close relatives of the souther grasshopper mouse and Arizona bark scorpion.

Successful Attack

A mouse eats a scorpion

(Image credit: Jillian Cowles)

A Mearn's grasshopper mouse eats a striped bark scorpion after a successful attack.

Scorpion Treat

Grasshopper mouse and scorpion

(Image credit: Jillian Cowles)

A grasshopper mouse with its prey, the striped bark scorpion.

Stephanie Pappas
Live Science Contributor

Stephanie Pappas is a contributing writer for Live Science, covering topics ranging from geoscience to archaeology to the human brain and behavior. She was previously a senior writer for Live Science but is now a freelancer based in Denver, Colorado, and regularly contributes to Scientific American and The Monitor, the monthly magazine of the American Psychological Association. Stephanie received a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of South Carolina and a graduate certificate in science communication from the University of California, Santa Cruz.