What Animal Can Leap the Greatest Distance?
The galago, or flying lemur. This singular animal is a native of the Indian Archipelago. It is from 2 ft. to 3 ft. in length, and is furnished with a sort of membrane on each side of its body connecting its limbs with each other; this is extended and acts as a parachute while taking its long leaps, which measure about 300 ft. in an inclined plane. The kangaroo can leap with ease a distance of between 60 ft. and 70 ft. and can spring clean over a horse and take fences from 12 ft. to 14 ft. in height. The animals that can leap the greatest distance in proportion to their size are the flea and the grasshopper, the former being able to leap over an obstacle five hundred times its own height, while the grasshopper can leap for a distance measuring 200 times its own length. The springbok will clear from 30 ft. to 40 ft. at a single bound. The flying squirrel, in leaping from tree to tree often clears 50 ft. in a leap. This animal also has a broad fold of skin or membrane connecting its fore and hind legs. A steeplechase horse, called The Chandler, is reported to have covered 39 ft. in a single leap at Warwick some years ago. Some species of antelopes can make a leap 36 ft. in length and 10 ft. in height. A lion and a tiger each clear from 18 ft. to over 20 ft. at a bound while springing on their prey. A salmon often leaps 15 ft. out of the water in ascending the falls of rivers.