• Question: Why do cats always land on their feet?

    Asked by beccawilko to Angus, Christian, Hannah, Laura, Simon on 25 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Angus Ferraro

      Angus Ferraro answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Cats are really acrobatic! They are very flexible and good at twisting in mid-air. They don’t want to land on their back because they could hurt their back. When they get dropped they just really quickly twist their body round so they can land on their feet, which act like shock absorbers.

    • Photo: Simon Holyoake

      Simon Holyoake answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Cats have a non-lethal terminal velocity (the maximum speed an object falls at) as long as they have enough time (they require approximately 7 storeys to do so) they are able to orient themselves and basically ‘parachute’ to ground where they land unharmed

      if cats fall from lower than this, they risk not being able to land feet-first and can suffer injury, so cats always *try* to land on their feet, but sometimes they don’t

    • Photo: Laura Roberts Artal

      Laura Roberts Artal answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Interesting! I didn’t know that, thanks for great answers, Angus & Simon :)!

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