I guess “cat-like reflexes” really are a thing…
Regardless of if you are a cat person or not, our feline counterparts can be pretty impressive. You might be reading this and looking over at your pet cat that has been sleeping for five straight hours and disagree, but remember that all cats belong to the same family.
With that being said, a lot of the big cats that we know like lions and tigers generally have a tougher life than the traditional house cat. I would venture to say that a pet cat doesn’t have to worry about life and death as much as, let’s say, this lynx in the video below.
In the clip, a lynx is traversing its way through a winter wonderland scene (I’m ready for cold weather, I don’t know about you). The big cat comes across a frozen stream that it needs to cross, and has to get creative to get to the other side.
A fallen tree that reaches about halfway across the partially frozen waterway is the option that the lynx decides to take, and it walks very carefully down the snow-covered bark until it reaches the ice. The cat appears to see the camera that is filming it as it steps out onto the ice, and the audience might have distracted it a bit from the task at hand.
As the lynx looks over towards the camera, for a moment it forgets that it is stepping out on the thin ice. Once it hears the ice crack as its weight is almost fully transferred from the tree, it stops dead in its tracks (literally) and looks around to analyze the situation.
From the video, it looks like the lynx realizes that some water just to its right that has replaced the sheet of ice that once sat on the surface could be the culprit for the cracking. The big cat slowly takes its weight off the ice and puts it back onto the fallen tree it initially utilized to get to the position halfway across the stream.
This is where the athleticism and jumping ability of a lynx really comes in handy. Many other animals would have been forced to risk their lives to get across the icy waterway, or even be forced to turn around and find another way. The lynx, on the other hand, just stops for a second to look over at the bank on the other side and say:
“Yeah, I can make that jump.”
And it can. Lynx are known to have the ability to jump around 20 feet in lateral length, and sometimes even further. The big cat sized up the distance, figured out how much power it needed to kick in, and effortlessly flew from the fallen tree to the other side of the water.
After it lands softly (and made the whole thing look way too easy), the lynx climbs up the snow covered bank and continues on its journey through the wilderness. Luckily for us, someone was apparently there to get it on video.
Take a look:
X users were blown away by the showcasing of the lynx’s intelligence and leaping ability, leaving replies below the video saying:
Dude said: I’m not getting wet today 😂
— BigCrafter (@BigCrafterTv) August 1, 2023
Look at those spring-loaded legs
— Kosmokazee (@Kosmo1978) August 1, 2023
Stop. Look. and listen before crossing. All mothers teach the same lesson.
— Pat Weatherman (@Cowboy1942) August 1, 2023
I wonder if it knows instinctually or from experience
— B.Drew (@Bdrew5991) August 1, 2023
He is probably wondering why he didn’t just jump from the beginning
— daveGPT (@calitofarm) August 1, 2023
