On a hot day in a scorching desert in the Middle East, TikTok user K8m14 had a sweet run-in with one of the region’s most adorable locals.
It was a small, hopping rodent called a jerboa — and she arrived with a humble request. Evidently, she was thirsty.
According to K8m14, the temperature that day reached a sizzling 107 degrees Fahrenheit, so it might not seem surprising that the little jerboa was in search of a refreshment.
But interestingly, this may very well have been the first sip of water she’s ever taken.
Turns out, jerboas are so well-suited for life in the arid regions of Asia and north Africa where they live that they are typically able to derive all their water requirements solely through the food they eat.
“Foraging primarily at night, the jerboa eats plants, seeds and insects, depending on its food to meet its need for water,” Jay Sharp of DesertUSA writes. “It may never actually drink free water throughout its life.”
When water is provided to them, however, jerboas are known to drink it. So, with any luck, the thirsty jerboa K8m14 met that day left thoroughly quenched, having found a source of shippable water in the desert — and a little human kindness.