Forget whatever box-office thriller you were hoping to rent this weekend. Here's some real-life footage to make your heart race.
It's a video of a mama rat saving her offspring from a predatory snake. And after you watch it, well, you may never look at that vermin of the subway the same way again.
In a clip posted to Facebook by Rojas Montecinos Evy on June 26 — and on YouTube late last week — the snake appears to hold the baby rat in his mouth while the mother frantically trails along behind him, trying to trip him up. Though the baby's fate seems pretty much sealed, somehow — somehow — the snake is startled enough by the persistent mama that he seems to decide against eating the baby and drops him.
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HE. DROPS. THE. BABY. TO. FREEDOM.
There's a little more scuffling, and then we see the baby lying helpless in the road as both the snake and the mother (presumably for her own safety) disappear into the brush.
It can't be. After all that, he's gone? Just like that? Cue the muted violins.
Then ... out of nowhere ... the little rat begins to awaken. Oh my God.
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In a moment that can only be described as cinematic gold, we see the little one begin to stir, then hobble sideways a little. And there, in the distance, is the mama rat, her eyes glistening with tears of relief.
OK, fine, no glistening and no tears. (At least none that are visible to the camera.) But she's there in the distance, and as she emerges and takes him back into the brush with her, we can practically hear the fanfare.
Watch.