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Despite how small scorpions are, humans who have been stung describe it as one of the most painful experiences ever, similar to being branded with hours of throbbing pain. The scorpion stings and paralyzes its prey with venom so strong that it can kill a small child. Despite having the ability to severely hurt larger species, a new study found that a scorpion's sting is barely painful for the small southern grasshopper mouse.

"Some people might say, 'Why would you study grasshopper mice and bark scorpions?'" the lead investigator of the study, Ashlee Rowe from Michigan State University, said reported by USA Today. "There's a whole lot of things animals can do that we can't...There's potential for applying it to humans biomedical problems, for sure."

According to new research, the little rodent, which looks like any house mouse, has the power to stop feeling pain from a scorpion sting. After numbing the pain immediately, the mouse will start to eat the scorpion. The researchers went about their study by analyzing the effects of scorpion venom on grasshopper mice and house mice. They injected both types of mice directly with scorpion venom. The house mice started to lick their paws, which indicates pain, for an average of three and a half minutes. In comparison, the grasshopper mice only licked their paws for an average of nine seconds. The researchers concluded that this species of mice felt initial pain that barely lasted. The researchers then used a pain-inducing chemical and found the same trend.

The researchers studied the grasshopper mice to see what stops the pain from lasting longer. They found that in these rodents, the toxins appear to link to a protein called Nav1.7 that exist on top of nerve cells responsible for sensing pain. Normally, the venom will cause the Nav1.7 to open, which then allows sodium ions to enter the nerve, triggering the nerve to send pain messages to the brain. In grasshopper mice, however, the linking somehow prevents the nerve cells from transmitting pain messages to the brain. The researchers found that in these mice, the second protein, Nav1.8 appears to be able to recognize the venom and prevent Nav1.7 from sending pain signals. As a result, the mice do not feel the burn of a sting.

"It's like an evolutionary martial art," Rowe said according to the National Geographic. "The mouse is using the scorpion's strength against it."

The study was published in Science.