"The Lord is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works" (Psa. 145:9).
Kangaroo rats are fascinating little animals with long, rather flat tails and hind legs about three times the length of their front legs. They are not at all like the rats many of us are familiar with; these are really cute and interesting to watch as they leap about in desert places.
There are about 50 varieties of them, mostly in the deserts of the southwestern United States and Mexico. They are well named, for they look like miniature kangaroos as they hop about on their long, powerful hind legs, with their long tails trailing behind them.
Large ears are almost flat against their heads and large eyes are prominent on their sloping heads. They have long, black whiskers on either side of their noses. Most are about ten inches long, plus a fur-covered, long tail. The tops of their bodies are provided with dark fur to camouflage them from birds of prey, such as hawks, falcons, ravens and owls, which are always trying to capture and eat them. In contrast to the dark top fur, the undersides of their stomachs, legs and tails are white, perhaps the Creator's way of protecting them from snakes that are crawling over the light-colored desert sands.
One species has a pretty, reddish-tan coloring with a few white stripes. This gives them good protection from the eyes of their enemies as they gather their food in grassy areas and carry seeds and plant material in their cheek pouches into their burrows. Others have different colorings as well, but all blend with their surroundings, which are mostly hot, open, sandy deserts.
One of these, known as the hammertain, spends its life in hot desert areas and has been provided by the Creator with a digestive system that does not need a drink of water. It gets all the moisture it needs from the seeds it eats. On days when the heat is too uncomfortable and it wants to get cool, it crawls backwards into its burrow and pulls a pile of sandy soil over the entrance, leaving itself temporarily in total darkness, but at least much cooler than outside.
Kangaroo rats come out at night when it is cooler to search for food. They can see well in the dark with their large eyes.
Do you think the Lord Jesus cares about these little creatures living in such hot places? He surely does, as the Bible verse at the beginning of this article assures us. Here is another verse that tells us how He cares for them: "These wait all upon Thee; that Thou mayest give them their meat [food] in due season.... Thou openest Thine hand, they are filled with good" (Psa. 104:27-2827These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season. 28That thou givest them they gather: thou openest thine hand, they are filled with good. (Psalm 104:27‑28)).