A white European hare narrowly escaped an enormous avalanche in Russia as the rabbit ran right through it in a nail-biting moment that's resurfaced online.
The video was shared to Reddit in the subreddit "Next F**cking Level," titled, "Snow rabbit runs over an avalanche to safety." Since being posted on Sunday, the video has garnered 93,900 upvotes and over 1,000 comments.
The European hare, also known as the brown hare, can be found in Europe and parts of Asia, according to One Kind Planet. They're herbivores, eating mostly grasses and herbs, and for the most part, are nocturnal creatures that spend one-third of its time looking for food.
According to an episode of the series Outrageous Acts of Science, which highlighted the video, Matt Parker, a mathematician, revealed hares have feet that are quite large, allowing them to spread their weight out over a larger area, which then reduces the pressure they put on the ground.
Adam Ruben, a biologist, added that hares can run up to 45 miles per hour. Their back legs also have extremely long tendons, as pointed out by Carin Bondar, a biologist. Those tendons hold energy, which releases as the rabbit moves in the video. The hare doesn't spend much time on any portion of snow.
Redditor @Samir391 shared the viral Reddit post, which features a 34-second clip. The video was originally shared online on Vimeo by user Helipro, or the Russian Heli Project on June 5, 2015. The video occurred in Kamchatka, Russia, where a film crew was capturing footage for a snowboarding movie.
Snowboarder David Carrier Porcheron ended up causing an avalanche, according to Yahoo at the time. In the video, he can be seen snowboarding down a snowy mountain as the avalanche chases behind him. The song "Run Rabbit Run," by Flanagan and Allen played in the background as he moved off to the right and out of the way.
However, a European hare wasn't so lucky, which hopped right towards the oncoming rush of snow nearby, falling in the snow at first. However, it managed to catch its bearings coming back up to the surface, hopping through the avalanche along the top of the snow toward the other side, which was dozens of feet away.
The rabbit hopped along, crossing the treacherous avalanche as it got closer to the other side. Despite a moment in which the rabbit isn't visible with all the snow falling around it, it manages to make it out, landing safely on the other side of the bank.
It thankfully survived the incident, according to the original uploader, although the Reddit clip cuts short just before the rabbit makes it out.
Numerous people commented on the post, and theories abounded about why the hare chose to run toward the avalanche. "Looks like it got freaked out and was trying to run away," a Redditor said. "Maybe scared of the snowboarder."
Some people mentioned how the rabbit could be feeling during the tense moment of avalanche surfing. "Looks like he's having a blast while doing [it] too," a viewer said. "Like he's trying to break his previous record or something. Nice."
Others weren't quite sure the rabbit made it, however. "Actually, the video ended before safety verification," a Redditor wrote. "Now, I'll always wonder whether he made it."
Meanwhile, other commenters saw the humor in the situation. "That rabbit is the greatest avalanche surfer today," a viewer wrote. "His name is Bucky Slides, AKA Fur Surfer in the rabbit world. Looks like he is practicing for the next big event."
Newsweek reached out to Redditor @Samir391 for comment.
This isn't the only recent viral animal moment. A golden retriever was caught on camera last month carrying a bag through a Victoria's Secret store. Meanwhile, a cat fell asleep instantly while lying in a bowl earlier this month in a hilarious clip. In addition, a puppy fell asleep while getting out of its bed in a Reddit post.
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