A Winter Wonder Anti-freeze Jumper

What living being thrives on the snow, has anti-freeze-like abilities, and a spring-loaded jumping system?  A snow hare gone mad?  A white-tailed deer dodging some crazy driver?  No – it’s a fascinating creature God made called the snow flea. Actually, snow fleas aren’t fleas at all.  They are tiny like a flea (1/16th of an inch long), but they are harmless and do not fly.  Rather they jump around, like Mexican jumping beans. These curious critters are springtails, in the class Collembola.  Another name for them is springtail.  They live year-round but are more visible in the snow.  Wondering how they hop around?  Believe it or not, they have a very unique catapult system!  That’s right, a catapult system. Basically, two “tails”...

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