WuMo by Wulff & Morgenthaler for August 17, 2015

There’s a risk that they might break their forelegs and chins on landing, but it certainly wouldn’t kill them, however far they fall, unless they’re very overweight or they land on something sharp. Cats have fallen from the tops of skyscrapers with only minor damage. In fact, falling from a great height is safer than a moderate one, as it gives them time to line themselves up, and also iirc the loose folds of skin on a cat’s sides have a slight parachute effect, like the “wings” on a flying squirrel only not as effective.

The thing is, at a certain length of drop you reach maximum velocity, and after that your speed doesn’t get any faster, however much farther you fall. And how hard you hit depends on how heavy you are, as well as how fast you’re travelling. When I was studying biology at university there was a saying that if various animals were to fall down a 200ft mineshaft a pony would splash, a human would make a human-shaped dent, a cat would be winded and perhaps slightly injured, and a mouse wouldn’t even be bruised.