Cat countertop deterrent and the Falling Cat Problem - GIFs and video

[Jon]

Keeping a cat off a countertop with motion-activated air spray. I've found a similar strategy works fine for getting a dog out of my face, even my own dog - just gently blow once toward their face.




Somehow this is related to the cats vs. cucumbers/bananas videos. 2:35 video:

It's not really appropriate to delight in videos of pets injuring themselves. Some may remember the legendary 2009 episode in which the internet vigilante group Anonymous tracked down fourteen-year-old cat abuser Kenny Glenn after he posted videos of himself torturing Dusty the Cat.

However, in this case, the truth is that there's a weird phenomenon (or maybe not a phenomenon, just perfectly normal physics) involving cats' ability to fall long distances without injury. In fact, looking at the data we have, I believe their risk of injury is reduced once they hit terminal velocity. Look what happens when this little guy drops down nine stories -- see him flare out towards the bottom? And then he doesn't exactly limp away after he lands.




I admit I don't fully understand it. And when we don't understand something, there can be only one explanation:




Either that, or something called Cat righting reflex. The physics problem behind it is called the Falling cat problem.




Previously:

Man repeatedly falls into same hole - GIF
Worker catapulted by pallet jack fall - GIF

[ranald]

Pretty sure I seen the cat on the "hot bench" before. It(the others) seems to be about "that wasn't there before & gosh it might hurt or bite" or "WTH" in cat language . Feral cats leap much higher in defence, when startled.

Before my daughter left home last year & took her dog, I regularly made cups/bowls for her from coconuts but her dog would go ballistic over a coconut left on the ground: "that's an intruder" or maybe she had been marooned on a Fiji Island with Tom Hanks.

[Beserkleyboy]

Mate,
Our little guy, Bentley, has forced us to be very tidy in the yard...leave the barrow or anything else on the lawn, he goes nuts! 'It wasn't there before...BARK'....

Jim

[ranald]

Mate,
Our little guy, Bentley, has forced us to be very tidy in the yard...leave the barrow or anything else on the lawn, he goes nuts! 'It wasn't there before...BARK'....

Jim

Bronson is getting used to my culling with stuff everywhere:some to play with, some for burning, some for charity, some for the tip, some for the "toy boys", some for gumtree etc.
not sure if my post on making a dog coat for a wee chap was saved properly but has pics of his growing up. LOL.(I couldn't find it in miscellaneous)
Cheers

[nhengineer]

Jon,

How about a warning that the "...post's contents may show injury to defenseless animals..." or something similar so we animal lovers will know not to open it.

Thanks

[Jon]

Jon,

How about a warning that the "...post's contents may show injury to defenseless animals..." or something similar so we animal lovers will know not to open it.

Thanks

Your point is valid, but this thread doesn't show injury to defenseless animals. The whole point of the physics surrounding the Falling cat problem is the mystery behind why cats aren't injured by falling.

But yes, agreed - the internet-acceptable injury viewable hierarchy is as follows, with the first-listed injuries most acceptable to view:

1. Injuries to humans.
2. Injuries to wild animals.
3. Injuries to pets.

[ranald]

Your point is valid, but this thread doesn't show injury to defenseless animals. The whole point of the physics surrounding the Falling cat problem is the mystery behind why cats aren't injured by falling.

But yes, agreed - the internet-acceptable injury viewable hierarchy is as follows, with the first-listed injuries most acceptable to view:

1. Injuries to humans.
2. Injuries to wild animals.
3. Injuries to pets.

After reading nhengineers post, I was going to rewatch as I hadn't seen any injuries: then I saw this post of yours Jon.

Few of us, me included, would not like to watch injuries to animals but lovely ones like excavator saves deer is heartening.
Thanks again

[Toolmaker51]

I believe there is a movie "Difference between Cats and Dogs". . .
Peel and point a banana at my dogs. They'll sit and wait forever; just for a piece broken off and fed to them.

[nhengineer]

Thanks for your response, Jon. I admit I did not read the text - only watched that poor cat fall 20 feet to the asphalt and then be chased by the dog. Not something I wanted to watch. I'm glad the cat wasn't hurt too bad in the fall but I can't imagine what that dog did to her and I don't want to know.

I can't watch:

1. Injuries to humans, 2. Injuries to wild animals or 3. Injuries to pets.

....but, that's just me.

Regards,
DSLee

[Jon]

What about a perfectly innocent bear being chased by a cat?

I'm OK to watch injury videos, as long as it's a person being injured, or possibly a wild animal, but not a pet. However, I prefer no gore, and at least some sort of educational component or tie-in to safety procedures.

Interestingly, the Falling Cat Problem was addressed in Nature in 1894, and the investigating scientist, Étienne-Jules Marey (who also invented the photography machine to capture the experiment), demonstrated the problem by dropping the cat!