Scientists have discovered that a breed of rat defends itself by covering its fur with poison.
The African crested rat, or Lophiomys imhausi, chews the root of the toxic poison arrow tree before smearing the concoction over its fur to protect itself against predators.
The findings were published in a scientific magazine called ‘The Proceedings of the Royal Society B’. Author Professor Jonathan Kingdon called it an ‘extraordinary defence’. However the researchers who discovered the cunning defence still do not know how the rat survives the poison itself.
The poison causes the unfortunate victim to have an accelerated heartbeat which results in a heart attack, and is usually used by hunters to kill elephants.
So lads, think twice before you next ask a girl to ‘get her rat out’!
By Jonathan Anderson
