Anatomy of a Pounce
Odin enjoyed hunting and playing yesterday. Falling leaves mixed with seeds and twigs provided a satisfying crunch and crinkle. But not as satisfying as the squeaking baby mouse he eventually brought indoors.
In a New York minute he went from lying relaxed on his side to his ears pricked to full alert by sounds of movement in the bushes
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All cats including big cats like tigers, leopards and cheetahs can leap and pounce in an elegant heartbeat, thanks to flexible muscles designed for jumping and sprinting. And speaking of pouncing, THIS IS HOW HIGH A CAT CAN JUMP.
A slinky feline spine with 30 vertebrae allows a 180-degree twist, even in midair. But first, they wiggle their butt while digging their heels in the ground (as seen above). Indoor cats who are unable to dig into dirt will just wiggle their butt while using their tail as a rudder for balance. Then, their backs round into the pounce position and their front paws do the work. Their wrist muscles can rotate to catch different sized prey and their forelegs can open wide to grip the prey’s body. In this case, the sounds in the bushes were made by Domino play stalking…sitting quiet as a (fill in the blank).
Odin pounced on him in a blur and it was back to the jungle.
13 Comments
The Island Cats
There’s so much fun stuff going on outside, it’s hard to stay still!!
Max the Quilt Cat
Great pictures of the prelude to a pounce. Have a great weekend.
pawhugs, Max
Abby
We love the butt wiggling!!!
purrs
>^,,^<
♥Abby♥Boo♥Ping♥Jinx♥Grace♥
Julia Williams
This was a great post! Cats all have the same Lion spirit just a smaller frame. I love the butt-wiggle part of the pounce~!
Brian
Ya make me wanna pounce!!! Happy weekend everyone!
Cheysuli
The butt wiggle always makes the Woman laugh just a little bit.
CATachresis
I love the wiggles, but not the reason for them sometimes 🙁 In fact just about to put a post up about it!!!!
I’ve said before that Odin seems very much like Austin 🙂
Fuzzy Tales
Did the mouse survive? Mom says poor mousie! We say way to go, Odin!
BTW, our mom loves our wiggles. 🙂
boomermuse
Yes, the mouse survived for now.
Marg
It is so much fun seeing Dom and Odin having such a good time with each other. Yup the pounce is quite the athletic move. Cats are so athletic. Take care and have yourself on heck of a week end.
Ingrid King
Great photos! I love watching the “butt wiggle” phase of the stalk and pounce sequence.
Pam Kimmell
I love watching Sam when he stalks one of his toys…..I “get” that it’s the wild man in him doing that and it always makes me smile. Little lions and tigers at heart!
Pam
Kitcaboodles
Oh this is Sookie and Darcy all over… although they are only able to pounce and stalk each other, no mice allowed! They LOVE tall grass and slink across as if they’re in the Serengetti. I love your pictures, especially the infamous butt wiggle!!