How squirrels leap from tree to tree | Science News

To better understand how squirrels leap from tree branch to tree branch without falling, researchers trained free-roaming squirrels to jump through a series of tests in an artificial forest obstacle course. High-speed camera footage showed that these rodents can learn to stick landings in just a few jumps, and that squirrels consider both branch bendiness and distance when deciding to leap from a limb. Read more: // CREDITS Story Jonathan Lambert Production Helen Thompson Video Nate Hunt/UC Berkeley N.H. Hunt et al/Science 2021 Music “By the beautiful blue Danube” by Strauss Craig Austin/Worldwide Public Domain/Storyblocks Citation N.H. Hunt et al. Acrobatic squirrels learn to leap and land on tree branches without falling. Science. Vol. 373, August 6, 2021, p. 675. doi: