Essentially, Squirrels use their tails to steer in the air by using the fluff as air resistance. by flattening their bodies and using their tails as a rudder, they can reduce their terminal velocity so much they can fall from any height unharmed.
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Mark Rober has a 3 part series all about squirrels and how they jump where he builds an obstacle course for them. He has a pretty good explanation of how squirrel's tails factor into their jumping begging at 16:10 in this video: https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg.
JustcallmeKai t1_iued5fv wrote
Reply to ELI5: Why do squirrels spin their tail before jumping? by twitter001
Essentially, Squirrels use their tails to steer in the air by using the fluff as air resistance. by flattening their bodies and using their tails as a rudder, they can reduce their terminal velocity so much they can fall from any height unharmed.
​
Mark Rober has a 3 part series all about squirrels and how they jump where he builds an obstacle course for them. He has a pretty good explanation of how squirrel's tails factor into their jumping begging at 16:10 in this video: https://youtu.be/hFZFjoX2cGg.