[Misc] World's Hardest Creature XII - 2nd Round - Match 5 - Naked Mole Rat v Grasshopper Mouse

Good morning and welcome to our fifth contest of the knockout round. This pits a fancied new entrant against a WHC favourite. It promises to be a Battle Royale among the rodents so make yourselves comfortable and watch the sparks fly.

Naked Mole Rat



Here’s the Naked Mole Rat doing its impression of an octogenarian’s penis. Don’t be fooled by its apparently flaccid appearance. It’s definitely weird but almost certainly hard too. It resides in the arse end of East Africa and isn’t even the slightest bit endangered. It doesn’t feel pain; it can do without oxygen and it’s opted out of bothering with cancer. It can even reverse at the same speed it moves forward. Nifty! Still not convinced? It can also live to about 30 years of age. Studies have also suggested they don’t even die of old age. I’ll be honest. That one has fried my brain a little so we may need a zoologist to flesh it out. Oh yes! It turns into a plant too. Well, maybe not exactly but it does a lot of plant like stuff to deal with a lack of oxygen. We can expect some serious NSC debate on this one.

Here's the secret to their eternal youth…

Grasshopper Mouse



The Grasshopper Mouse has yet to lift the WHC crown, having previously been vanquished by the Honey Badger back in 2017. Last year it was beaten at the semi-final stage by the Hippo. Basically, it takes a champion to fell this fearsome ball of badassery. It can govern a ridiculous territory of up to 28 acres and this from a creature no larger than… well… a mouse. Intruders are initially warned off by the GM’s howl. It stands on its hind legs and howls like a wolf. Creatures still daring to enter its turf do so at their own risk. It can hunt, stalk, attack and kill readily and eat the remnants with gusto. Family occasions are best avoided, as the GM is more than ready to indulge in a spot of cannibalism to keep its patch neat and tidy. A proficient hunter; the GM will regularly take down scorpions and toxic centipedes. The GM has a classic brawler’s instinct, but does it have what it takes to get past its peculiar challenger?

Scorpion takedown…

Again, another debate free round. It's a distressingly well mannered WHC this year. The Grasshopper Mouse seems to have this in hand. Perhaps the Naked Mole Rat simply isn't a brawler.

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz....... posibly the dullest pairing of all time?

Grass Hopper Mouse.

Mole Rat is more Tardigrade survival bore-off.

Looks like another of the newcomers is making their exit. GM showing it's class (sure I've hear that somewhere before).