By Rafi Letzter, Staff
Writer | December 7, 2017 02:16pm ET
A video making the rounds online shows a
rabbit dashing through a gap in the flames of the huge Thomas fire
in California. A man rushes after the animal and stops at the edge of the fire
line, anxiously dancing around and trying to coax the critter out of the
burning brush. A few moments later, the rabbit bounds back through the same
flame gap, and the guy scoops it up, cradling it pinned against his chest.
The dramatic footage has, understandably,
gone viral, with some folks online calling the man's actions heroic and some
calling them stupid. Most people seem to uncritically accept, however, that
this man, in risking his life, saved the rabbit.
But an animal flitting around at the edge of
a fire might not need saving at all. In fact, it might have a very good reason
for being there.
Most small mammals are good at dealing with
fire
In general, wild animals are good at dealing
with wildfires, scary events that are still more or less regular features of
many ecosystems, according to ecologists. When a wildfire moves through an
area, according to
a January 2000 report from the U.S. Forest Service, the blaze usually fails
to kill very many animals outright.
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