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Some people love getting high, but how do they measure up to the best jumpers
in the animal world?
Find out as our top 10 countdown of the most extreme jumpers on the planet
takes us to surprising new heights.
It╒s easy to keep one jump ahead of the field when leaping is taken to its
most extreme.
Earth is a planet of extremes, extreme places, and extreme animals.
But some animals are more extreme than others.
Join us as we count down to find the most unusual, the most extraordinary,
The Most Extreme.
Leaping straight into the countdown at number 10 are animals born to be
jumpers.
Rabbits and hares can╒t walk.
They can╒t trot.
They have to jump all the time.
They kick off the countdown because those big back legs are incredibly
powerful.
Watching a bunny hopping gently in a field, you╒d never guess the extreme
distance it can leap.
You have to see them sprinting to discover how far they can jump in a
single bound.
The rabbit╒s back legs are like coiled springs.
They power the leaps that can carry the rabbit ten times its body length.
That╒s a jump of nearly six meters.
Compare that to the distance Olympic athletes can jump.
If you could leap like a rabbit, you╒d jump twice as far as any human in
history, more than 18 meters.
Our leg muscles are about the same strength as a rabbit╒s.
So how can they jump so much further than us?
Well, it all comes down to body weight.
The heavier you are, the harder it is for those muscles to push you off the
ground.
That╒s why lightweight bunnies are such extreme jumpers.
But which bunny is the best of the best?
Well, to find out, these people are attending a most unusual race meeting.
Competitors have traveled here from all around Sweden and are highly
trained athletes.
These pampered pets are here to compete at the Kaninhop, the
Scandinavian sport of rabbit jumping.
To find the next contender in our countdown, biologists Dave Riherd and
Paul Hahn have hopped down to Little Mexico in Los Angeles.
For hiding somewhere in these market stalls is the most unusual animal in
the countdown.
Our number nine is truly extreme because these guys first have to find
a plant.
Well, a bean actually, but no ordinary bean.
These are Mexican jumping beans.
But surely jumping beans are just a joke, a novelty you╒ll only see in old
comedies.
But do Mexican jumping beans really jump?
Ah! Look at 'em go.
Is it jumping?
It didn╒t take long.
Look at that.
That one is really going.
Wow! That big one is really hopping.
For these beans, jumping is no joke.
It╒s a matter of survival.
But how do they do it?
What makes a bean jump?
To find out, you need to take a look inside at the most unusual jumping
device in the world.
It╒s a caterpillar.
Welcome to the world.
These are larvae of little bugs and what they do is they crawl around
inside of the fruit or the bean and they eat it and that sustains them
until the spring time, when they hatch out.
And it╒s this caterpillar that makes the bean jump because it hates getting
hot.
It will throw itself around inside the shell to get the bean on the move.
The Mexican jumping caterpillar is just trying to get its house back in
the shade.
For a bug in a bean, this is a pretty extreme jumping ability, but our
countdown of the most extreme jumping animals on the planet is just warming
up.
Forget about bouncing bugs and hopping hares.
Coming up are creatures that will get you screaming for more, while others
will get you hopping mad or even diving for cover.
That╒s coming up next on The Most Extreme.
How do you like to live on the highest mountains in the world?
It╒s a land of ice and precipice.
And it╒s home sweet home for the Tibetan bharal, a mountain sheep that
lives life on the edge.
Bharal are number eight in our countdown because they are
extraordinary rock hoppers.
They have to be.
When you live above 4000 meters in these mountains, one slip can be
fatal.
Male bharal are extremely confident in their jumping ability.
In fact, once their testosterone starts pumping, they show off by
trying to knock each other off the cliff.
Bharal maybe happy bouncing off rocks, but most humans try to hang on for
dear life.
We use ropes, crampons, anything to get a grip on the cliff, but not the
bharal.
All their climbing equipment is packed into their feet.
Those hooves are rubbery to increase their gripping potential and they are
flexible.
They can spread their toes out to grasp the ground and to act as brakes
when sliding down an icy slope.
And since human mountaineers can╒t tiptoe down the rocks like bharal,
they╒ve had to come up with a different way of getting down the
mountain.
It╒s a little extreme, but a lot faster.
This is the extreme sport of base jumping.
You find a cliff and you jump off.
Kids, don╒t try this at home.
But of course, this is home for bharal kids and these kids don╒t have a
parachute if they fall.
These impossibly high cliffs are a dangerous place to grow up.
In fact, only half of the kids born each year will celebrate their first
birthday.
Those sure-footed babies that survive really are extreme jumpers.
In fact, sometimes they seem to take as much pleasure in leaping down the
mountain as any adrenaline junky with a parachute.
From mad mountaineers, bouncing beans, and racing rabbits, we╒ve bounded
through three animals in our countdown.
But coming up is a whole army of extreme jumpers.
These are the hoppers from hell and they are next on The Most Extreme.
Number seven in our extreme countdown maybe small, but what it lacks in
size, it makes up for in sheer numbers.
These are locusts.
It╒s a good old-fashioned biblical plague of horrible hoppers.
Locusts are a kind of grasshopper and they can really hop over a lot of
grass.
The locust╒s huge hind legs can kick them over one meter or 20 times their
body length.
Image if a basketball player could jump like a locust.
How do you like to be able to jump 90 meters for the ultimate slam dunk.
Basketball players would kill to have legs like a locust.
That╒s because in addition to the mass of muscles in its thighs, the locusts
has elastic bands in its knees.
These bands are like stretchy springs that store energy.
They work a bit like our tendons which store enough energy to let us snap our
fingers.
When you push your thumb against your finger, the tendons of the muscles are
stretching, storing more and more energy until.
That rapid finger movement has mostly been powered from energy stored in the
springy tendons and that╒s how the locust╒s springy knees power those
magnificent jumps.
But believe it or not, grasshoppers can also have trouble scoring.
When you are in long grass, it can be hard to see a prospective partner, no
matter how high you hop.
That╒s why grasshoppers have another string to their bow legs.
Males make music with those bulging thighs.
Males advertise how strong and sexy they are by rubbing those long jumping
legs against their body.
Their inner thighs are lined with a row of pegs that lets them scrape out
their high pitched love song and the better the music, the luckier the
male.
At number six in the countdown is an animal the Western world only
discovered when European explorers first arrived in Australia.
According to legend, when they first set foot on this bizarre new land,
they saw a strange animal hopping about.
So they asked a local aboriginal what it was called.
The aboriginal said kangaroo.
Unfortunately, in aboriginal, kangaroo doesn╒t mean large jumping animal, but
translates as ╥I don╒t understand your question.╙
So now Australia is home to more than 60 species of ╥I don╒t understand your
questions.╙
But no matter what they're called, kangaroos are extreme athletes.
It╒s not just the fact that they are incredible jumpers; they are also
extremely fast.
A sprinting kangaroo would clean up at the Olympics.
It travels twice the speed of the world╒s fastest sprinters.
That means it would win the Olympic 100 meter sprint in a time of four
seconds and then over in the long jump pit, every 9 meter bounce would win an
Olympic gold medal.
But the really amazing thing about these extreme athletes is that the
faster a kangaroo travels the less energy it uses.
When we want to run faster, we have to increase the number of strides we take
each second.
All this extra effort means we burn much more energy sprinting than
walking.
But kangaroos are different.
To go faster, a kangaroo doesn╒t take more steps.
It simply increases the length of its jump.
And the further the kangaroo jumps, the more energy it╒s able to store in
the mass of tendons of its legs and tail.
In fact, it╒s so good at storing jumping energy that it╒s actually
easier for a kangaroo to run than to walk.
But some people have made use of a different method of storing energy for
a high jump.
In the frozen lands of the Arctic, hunters had a problem.
The sea ice was so flat that it was really hard to get high enough to be
able to see things in the distance.
Their solution was to get 50 friends and a really big blanket.
The blanket toss is now a favorite event in the Eskimo Indian Olympics.
Judges award points according to grace, height, and smoothness of
landing.
But once this wasn╒t just a sport.
It was an old hunting technique to give the added elevation needed to
spot prey far across the sea ice.
We use this similar jumping device today, but not to spot whales.
And instead of a blanket, we use an invention that was inspired by a very
different kind of festival.
In Iowa, back in 1930, 11-year-old George Nissen loved watching circus
trapeze artists bouncing to the safety nets.
It started him thinking.
Over the next few years, he developed the idea of stretching canvas between
springs, but he still didn╒t know what to call his invention until he
traveled to Mexico.
He loved the sound of the Spanish word for diving board and that╒s how we get
el trampoline.
Unfortunately, no amount of canvas and springs can match the power and the
amazing legs of the kangaroo.
But coming up next on the countdown is a kangaroo copycat.
What animal jumps like a kangaroo, looks like a rate, and stayed one jump
ahead of the German army in World War II.
Find out next on The Most Extreme.
We are halfway through the countdown and our search for the fifth most
extreme jumping animal on the planet has taken us to the heart of Mongolia
and the Gobi Desert.
The kangaroos of Australia are half a world away, or are they?
This is a kangaroo.
Well, it╒s actually a kangaroo rat, a rodent that uses those long back legs
just like a kangaroo.
But the kangaroo rat takes hopping to new extremes because a single bound
can carry it over four meters.
That╒s an incredible 45 times its body length.
Imagine if a tall football player could jump that far.
It╒s hard to defend against a player that could leap from end zone to end
zone.
Such extreme jumping hasn╒t gone unnoticed.
In fact, these desert athletes once caught the eye of an army.
In World War II, a division of the British army was proud to be called
The Desert Rats.
Come out of here, gentlemen. Let's go.
This is the story of Tobruk and the men who made up its garrison.
Of the fight they made against the pick of Africa Corps, and of the
nickname they bore with pride: "The Desert Rats."
The nickname came from German propaganda that called the soldiers
rats, hiding in holes in the desert.
It didn╒t take long for the division to adopt the kangaroo rat as their
mascot.
As The Desert Rats continued fighting, they took with them their mascot, the
kangaroo rat painted on the sides of their vehicles.
The kangaroo rat may have been popular with the troops in World War II, but
coming in at number four in the countdown is an animal that would be a
star on any stage in the world.
Ballet dancers are the most graceful professional jumpers in the world.
They train for years to stand on the very tips of their toes.
But our next animal in the countdown has been jumping on tiptoe for
millions of years.
This is a klipspringer, the ballerina of the rocks.
This dainty little antelope lives high on rocky outcrops that jut up from the
plains of Africa.
Early Dutch settlers named them klipspringer.
It literally means rock jumper and it╒s easy to see how they got their
name.
Their extreme jumping ability is also useful to keep out of the clutches of
Honolulu zookeeper, Greg Hamilton.
Like any ballerina, the klipspringer dances lightly on the tips of its
amazing toes.
In the middle of this hoof, this split hoof is a fleshy area that allows them
to grip fairly readily to rock surfaces and allow them to maintain
their positions on the rocks.
Their ability to escape basically is to get into areas that are
inaccessible to other animals.
These guys can land on a shelf that is about the size of a quarter and stay
there.
But what makes these rock hoppers different from other mountain goats
are their extreme leaps.
The klipspringer maybe tiny but it can leap 15 times its own height.
That╒s more than seven meters.
The best Olympic high jumpers can╒t clear even twice their height, but if
they could jump like a klipspringer, they could leap from the shoulder of
the Statue of Liberty and soar more than 20 meters right over the torch.
It╒s no wonder that looking after such extreme leapers can be a bit of a
challenge.
One day I came in here and spooked the male Zulu, and he started doing laps
around the exhibit.
Came through this area, bounced off of this rock right here, and was about at
least three feet above my head.
So I am 6' 3" so that was at least 9 to 10 feet in the air and he sailed
with perfect ease.
So it was really amazing to watch him jump to that height.
We could never rock hop like a klipspringer but there is one
invention that sure makes it fun to try.
The pogo stick continues to entertain kids today, but its origins go back
more than 100 years.
There was once a poor farmer in the country formerly known as Burma.
The farmer invented the prototype jumping stick to help his daughter
dodge muddy puddles on the path to a temple, and the name of the farmer╒s
daughter? Pogo, of course.
Even though klipspringers have four built-in pogo sticks, they are still
only number four in our most extreme countdown.
It seems incredible that anything could leap ahead of klipspringers,
desert rats, or kangaroos.
But coming in at number three in our countdown is an animal that can jump
so far, it╒s frightening.
That╒s coming up on The Most Extreme.
If you are frightened of spiders, just wait till you see what these guys can
do.
Leaping in at number three in the countdown are the jumping spiders.
These guys are the lions of the spider world.
They have exceptional eyesight which means they can spot their lunch from a
long way off.
Then like a big cat, they╒ll slowly sneak upon their prey and pounce.
And what a pounce it can be?
The jumping spider can really jump.
Those eight legs can push it almost two meters.
That╒s 100 times its body length.
A human athlete who could jump 100 times his body length might as well be
flying.
It would be like leaping clear over two jumbo jets, nearly 150 meters.
You╒d think that to jump such enormous distances, the spider╒s legs would be
amazing.
They╒d have to have bulging thighs packed with muscles.
That╒s what human jumpers need.
That╒s because human jumpers need well-developed thighs and firm butts
to get their bodies up into the air and to absorb the shock of the
landing.
But you don╒t need a firm butt to look for jumping spiders.
You just need good eyesight.
Luckily, Canterbury Museum spider expert, Simon Pollard has a good set
of glasses, a firm butt, and an excellent understanding of how spiders
and humans move.
The way that we use our muscles is we tend to have two pairs, we have
muscles that do this and we have muscles that do that.
But in case of spiders, they have muscles that do this, but they rely on
fluid under pressure to push the muscles out and the leg out.
So when it comes to jumping, what these spiders do is they increase the
pressure of the fluid in the back legs, making them go straight and
because they're so small, they can jump from A to B and they can do it
very, very well.
Being able to go from one leaf to another to catch prey which of course
is what spiders do, they catch things
And a lot of what they catch to fly away and so by being able to jump
across this space it's effectively like flying and then they can catch a
flying insect that could if it detected the spider fly away.
The best part about being a jumping spider is that it doesn╒t matter if
you miss your landing zone.
These guys spin their own safety harness out of silk.
But it╒s not just spiders that use a safety line when making death-defying
leaps.
On the Pacific islands of Vanuatu, young men have been making huge leaps
of faith.
These guys don╒t use silk safety lines.
They leap with nothing but two slim tree vines tied around their ankles.
The land divers of Vanuatu jump as part of the celebrations associated
with the traditional festival of the Yam harvest.
It╒s a celebration that╒s caught on elsewhere but not using tree vines.
Here we go, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Bungee jumping uses a latex rubber cord instead of tree vines or spider
silk.
But the advantage spiders have over bungee jumpers is that once they╒ve
made their death-defying leap, they can eat their silk safety line.
But safety lines are not enough for our next contender in the countdown.
There is one animal that jumps so high, it needs a parachute.
At number two in our countdown is an animal that lives in some truly
disgusting places.
Frogs are legendary jumpers.
Anyone who has taken a good look at a frog knows that its leaping ability
lies in its long, long legs.
When scientists compared the power available in the frog's leg muscles to
the distance they jumped, they discovered a frog can leap up to seven
times further than was thought physically possible.
So the scientists took a closer look at the frog's legs.
They discovered a trigger mechanism that allows the muscles to stretch the
tendons, store the energy, and release it in that explosive leap.
High in the forests of Southeast Asia lives a tree frog with a difference.
It╒s a frog with extra webbing between its toes.
So when it leaps out of the tree, it opens four little parachutes.
These flying frogs can glide more than 15 meters between trees.
Imagine being able to jump 150 times your body length.
You╒d be able to leap clear over the Titanic, a distance of nearly 300
meters.
Then you really would be king of the world.
But the incredible frog is still only number two in our most extreme
countdown.
We╒ve seen nine contenders.
They are the best of the best.
Only one animal has more extraordinary powers.
It╒s number one and it╒s coming up next on The Most Extreme.
You don╒t have to travel far to find the most extreme jumper on the planet.
In fact, it╒s often too close for comfort.
It can spend months waiting patiently for entomologist like Ruud Kleinpaste
to return home from holiday.
Vibrations on the floorboard signal the time to leap into action.
A leap of 30 centimeters maybe one small jump for a bug, but it╒s one
giant leap for mankind.
We are talking a leap that╒s 220 times your body length.
With the superpowers of a flea, we╒d be able to clear the Brooklyn Bridge
that╒s nearly 400 meters.
But a flea can also jump more than 150 times its own height.
That╒s like jumping over not one but two statues of Liberty, more than 200
meters.
So what makes flea such extreme jumpers?
Well, they don╒t use muscle power like we do.
Their legs act more like a catapult.
You see, the flea stores its energy in a pad with resilin.
That is one of the most elastic materials known on this planet and it
winds this pad up and when it pulls the trigger, it releases all this
energy at once and the flea jumps away.
With such incredible powers, it╒s no wonder that people are prepared to pay
to see performing fleas.
Roll up, roll up to Maria Cardoso╒s Traveling Flea Circus and here are the
stars; 300 highly trained fleas.
Training begins by looping a tiny wire around the body for no fleas are harm
for this performance.
Once harnessed, the fleas are natural performers.
They can be trained to follow the carbon dioxide breath of their
trainers, jump towards the heat of a lamp and even sway to the vibrations
of the tango.
It╒s lucky that fleas are used to traveling at enormous speeds.
And like performers the world over, at the end of the show, the fleas like to
kick back, put their feet up and have something to drink.
Love them or hate them, you just can╒t help being impressed by the flea.
That╒s because when it comes to jumping, the flea really is The Most
Extreme.