A squirrel obstacle source

james_davis_nicoll recently found an intact squirrel corpse, and the question was posited whether or not not squirrels could fall to their deaths.

I recently watched a video putting squirrels through an obstacle training course - yes, really - which included a catapult if they stayed on a platform too long. And according to this video: no, they cannot. They don't have enough mass to hit a terminal velocity is the most important aspect, and their fur is an automatic speed brake. They fluff out their tails to act as a drag parachute, they turn their eyes to lock on to where they want to land and maintain that orienting lock, then they move their arms and legs in and out to control their rotation and orientation. At the last possible moment, they extent their legs to act as shock absorbers when they land, then they scamper off.

Presumably the guy who invented the obstacle course - who is an engineer who worked for NASA and invented the package thief glitter/stink bomb/GPS tracker - did some serious research on the subject. And since it appears on the internet - in a video, no less! - it must be true.

On to the video, which is quite an amazing way to spend 22 minutes of your life.

Watch on YouTube