Squirrels on Olympics: How These Bushy-Tailed Rodents Leap But Don't Fall

Olympic gymnastics judges would certainly give fox squirrels high marks. Still, they won't budge if they can't accomplish the perfect leap.

Researchers said squirrels perform flawless leaps as they travel through trees and other barriers. They published the study, titled "Acrobatic Squirrels Learn to Leap and Land on Tree Branches Without Falling," in the journal Science.

Squirrel Basic Training Day: Here's How They Parkour!

Researchers examined how and why squirrels jump like they're in the Olympic Games. Hence, they made a "squirrel basic training day." Live Science said the research team went into their campus grove. They prepared with peanuts and a squirrel-sized contraption with fixings for the animals to climb over to recruit their bushy-tailed study participants. For the squirrels to leap from, the device might be equipped with various rods that resemble tree branches. A landing perch with an attractive cup of peanuts was attached to the opposite end of the device. The squirrels quickly jumped from the rod to the landing platform to get to the peanuts. So the researchers added the distance between the rod and the perch to make it more difficult for the rodents.

The study discovered that the squirrels swiftly changed their leaping method when confronted with rods of variable bendiness and gaps of varying lengths. Nathaniel Hunt, one of the study authors, said squirrels choose where to jump off depending on the branch and how far they must leap.

When launching from a relatively rigid rod, for example, the squirrels began their leap closer to the end of the rod to reduce the distance between them and the peanuts. However, squirrels leaped earlier when jumping off from an adjustable rod that curled under their weight. Probably they'd take off from the most vital point on the "branch" and decrease the bending action.

The squirrels performed an incredible parkour maneuver by ricocheting off the rear of the climbing device - a flat, vertical wall - and rapidly reorienting their bodies to land firmly on the peanut perch.

Why Squirrels Seldomly Fall From a Tree?

Researchers said none of the squirrels ever slumped despite shaky leaps and over- or undershot landings. That's because squirrels have some of the most outstanding physical characteristics. Scientific American said. These creatures have a flexible spine, sticky paws, and grabby claws. Squirrels aren't only daredevil acrobats; they're also great students!

The study authors explained in their paper that squirrels continuously assess their limb's springiness, gauging the distance to the next branch and changing their motions exceptionally quickly. This might be because squirrels believe that their claws will help them, Phys.org said.

The UC Berkeley team, according to Ars Technica, will continue to research squirrel biomechanics and how it relates to cognition in the hopes of one day creating a robot that can leap like a squirrel.

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