Collared pikas are gray, potato-sized, herbivorous lagomorphs native to Yukon Territory & Alaska. Being roughly spherical and #SuperFLOOF-y means the pika is a pro at conserving heat in these cold climates. #2020MMM 
Although pikas are supposedly the real-life inspiration for the @Pokemon character Pikachu (theverge.com/2016/3/6/11161…), this contender is not able to produce lightning or fit neatly into a poke ball. #2020MMM
(#DYK that there is a WHOLE SOCIETY devoted to FLOOFY pikas? The North American Pika Consortium even has WHOLE CONFERENCES every few years! #CutestConferenceEver ochotona.wixsite.com/pikaconsortium) #2020MMM
Unsurprisingly, Southern African Hedgehogs live in Southern Africa. Like other hedgehogs, the brown hairs of this species are modified as sharp spines, and it can roll into a spiky ball to protect itself from predators. #PricklyFLOOF #2020MMM
A lion was once observed “rolling a balled hedgehog between his paws & trying to bite it. The lion eventually gave up & examination showed that the hedgehog was none the worse for this treatment.” (books.google.com/books?id=iqwEY…, p255) #ImageNotToScale #2020MMM
Our contenders are roughly equal in #smolness – both approximately 20 cm, or half a stoat. #StoatsAsMeasurement #TinyTerrors #2020MMM
Tonight’s battle takes place in Sehlabathebe National Park, the first national park established in Lesotho, itself a tiny country completely surrounded by South Africa. Although rare here, the hedgehog is at home in these rolling grasslands. #2020MMM
Finding itself here, the pika starts to build a haypile under a boulder. Collared pikas work around the clock to cache >15 kg of fresh plants to survive the winter. (link.springer.com/article/10.100…) #2020MMM
But, all that #busybusy generates heat, and combined with the #SuperFLOOF, pikas may be vulnerable to climate change. (Changes in winter snowpack can also alter microclimates and plant phenology: besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.11…) #2020MMM
Indeed, March temperatures in this part of southern Africa often exceed 26C/79F, and the pika quickly overheats. #2020MMM
As pika is frantically searching for shelter, it trips over something spiky, curled up and sleeping under the grass.... It's the HEDGEHOG!! #2020MMM
Hedgehog snorts, annoyed at being waken. Startled, pika dives into a mole rat burrow to beat the heat (of the battle and the habitat). But, IT GETS STUCK ON THE WAY IN. #2020MMM [gif is of Winnie the Pooh stuck in a rabbit hole]
Upon discovering the pika wriggling in the hole, the hedgehog anoints itself with the SCENT of VICTORY by licking the pika, frothing at the mouth, and spreading the scent on its own spines, which may make it less palatable to predators. #2020MMM; nationalgeographic.com.au/videos/david-a…
Meanwhile, the pika manages to wriggle its #SuperFLOOF into the burrow, escaping both the hedgehog, the heat, and the field of battle. #NoDeadPikasHere #DidntHaveTheHeartForIt #TheFLOOFsurvives #2020MMM
SOUTHERN AFRICAN HEDGEHOG DEFEATS COLLARED PIKA!!!! #2020MMM
SUPER SAD PIKA JO :(
