[Sca-cooks] Cat landings WAS [Fwd: [Fwd: Yeah so?]] OT OOP

[WyteRayven at aol.com]

I seem to remember something like this study....but the emphasis was not on the cat turning over, but on the relaxing part. The cat can turn over in a short space, but they took the eight floors to relax. If they hadnt relaxed had time to relax before they hit then injury would occur, if they had relaxed, then they could walk away from the fall without injury (up to a certain point, I would guess). I think I saw it on tv and they were investigating the mystery of why injuries had occured at one distance, but not at higher distances.

Ilia

In a message dated Tue, 15 May 2001  3:28:36 PM Eastern Daylight Time, Chip <jallen at multipro.com> writes:

>As a child, I had that much time.  Through the >gracious cooperation of
>a very laid-back cat, I conducted a similar study.  >When held
>upside-down (front legs together in one hand, back >legs together in
>the other) I endeavored to find out how much vertical >distance a cat
>requires to right itself before landing.  Bear in >mind, this was done
>with utmost consideration for the cat's comfort (I >dropped it onto a
>bed) and it didn't seem to mind in the least because >it kept coming
>back.

>Anyhow, the cat required nowhere near eight floors to >realize what was
>occurring.  It landed on its feet from a yard's >height.  Also from 2
>feet high.  And one foot.  It was down to six inches >off the ground
>(bed) before it couldn't quite get all the way >around.  For the cat to
>actually land on its back took a drop from just one >inch.  Anything
>greater than that & it would at least land on its side >with a high
>probability of having its front feet in their proper >place.  The front
>half seems to twist first, the back half not far >behind.

<snip>