🐿️🐿️ TIL: Squirrels Are Immune To Heights 🐿️🐿️

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Here's a really fun fact I learnt today that involves squirrels.

Squirrel_in_Seurasaari_autumn.JPG
source

Now, I couldn't find an actual case study verifying the math and I guess it's better this way 😂

So, it turns out that, at least in theory, squirrels are immune to death from falling off, regardless of heights. This is thanks to their body shape.

This combined with their natural instinct and fluffy hair results in a terminal velocity that is low enough to pretty much guarantee their survival. In simple terms, terminal velocity is the max speed that can be achieved during a fall, so it really doesn't matter if our hypothetical squirrel falls from a really tall tree, a skyscraper or even a plane. Well, ok, if the plane is high enough extreme temperatures and/or lack of oxygen may be fatal but that's not the point.

Terminal velocity is the maximum velocity (speed) attainable by an object as it falls through a fluid (air is the most common example). It occurs when the sum of the drag force (Fd) and the buoyancy is equal to the downward force of gravity (FG) acting on the object. via Wikipedia

Anyways, here are the math I found on a website, assuming we have a squirrel that weighs 330 g with and has an under surface of 500 cm2:

Screenshot_20240414-180513~2.png
*source

That's a terminal velocity of 10 metres per second, achieved in about 3 seconds after the fall starts. Now that's fast.. but chances are a squirrel would survive this, perhaps with some damage.

Disclaimer: Results may vary depending on species. Please don't try this at home 😂

For comparison, the human body has a terminal velocity that is over 5 times that, at about 53.6 metres per second.

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And let's not forget gliding squirrels!

These fuckers can definitely survive falling off from any height 😂😂

Ok friends, hope you enjoyed this piece of useless yet fun information.

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24 comments
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You received an upvote of 99% from Precious the Silver Mermaid!

Please remember to contribute great content to the #SilverGoldStackers tag to create another Precious Gem.

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Amazing. The wonders of Mother Nature never cease! A squirrel that appears to be a regular animal.

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Cuteness is not it's only super power!

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Does the math include if he’s eating your nuts at the time of the fall???

🤣🤣🤣

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Depends if da nuts are still attached. Attached nuts would increase weight, surface area, and hence terminal velocity. However if nuts were detached at the of the fall, then it may be smooth sailing. !LOLZ !BBH

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It's not just the terminal velocity, but also the weight of the animal falling. Humans are heavy. Bigger animals have more mass, and more mass means more kinetic energy as velocity increases. When you hit the ground with a high mass this creates exponentially more force as your cells ping pong off the floor. Your own weight crushes you.

There are plenty of videos of cats jumping down from a height of 30 feet and being totally fine and running off. You could probably throw a squirrel out of a plane and if it landed on grass it wouldn't even be hurt in the slightest.

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You could probably throw a squirrel out of a plane and if it landed on grass it wouldn't even be hurt in the slightest.

I'd like to see that, but with a blue whale

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I forgot how much I missed my college Physics classes... Fun with numbers!

Interesting, but a fall at that speed should be survivable for a squirrel. I'm not sure I would go skydiving without a parachute though, that could end really ugly for the guy the guy who has to clean up the mess!

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That would be a lot of mess to clean 😂

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It's interesting to see how animals react. However, I do wonder if it depends on where they land and just how far up is too high up. Then again, I wouldn't want to hear that people were experimenting with it.

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