Doug Velting
Frog
When people think about animals that are great jumpers, frogs are a common animal on the list. God has given frogs powerful hind legs that propel them into the air to escape the many predators that would love to eat them for dinner.
The American bullfrog can jump 7 feet, but the frog champ is the South African sharp-nosed frog, with the capability of jumping 17 feet. This frog inhabits the wetlands in many parts of Africa south of the Sahara Desert. Its life cycle is typical of most frogs, but its hind legs are even larger in proportion to its size than most frogs, giving this frog an added boost to its jumping power. What is most amazing is that this amphibian can jump 90 times the length of its body.
Kangaroo Rat
Another great jumper is the kangaroo rat of the southwestern United States. God gave these rodents the perfect adaptation to live in the desert, allowing them to obtain the moisture they need from the seeds they eat.
These desert rodents spend their days in a cool burrow, coming out at night to feed. Their excellent hearing helps them detect an approaching fox or even the silent wing beats of an owl. But their greatest skill is their ability to jump up to nine feet. God has created these small rodents with powerful leg muscles and extremely large feet that aid them in their fantastic leaps.
Jumping Spiders
Our next jumper is very small at only 0.3 to 0.98 inches. Jumping spiders have the most species of any spider family, a whopping 6,380. They all have a fuzzy coat and excellent eyesight. These arachnids have the typical spider’s four pairs of eyes, including a large, forward-facing pair that gives this spider good depth perception. This spider needs good eyesight because it doesn’t make a web for insects to become trapped in; it jumps on them, killing them with a venomous bite.
Despite their tiny body size, they can jump an incredible 6 inches. They often spin a little silk and anchor it at the launch point to help stabilize them in case their jump is off a bit. God created the jumping spider’s jumping abilities to hunt and capture prey and to escape predators.
Caracal Cat
The next great jumper of the animal kingdom is a wild cat from Africa and Asia called the caracal. This is a medium-sized cat with a shoulder height of 17 inches, a head and body length of 28 inches, and a tail of 9 inches. The caracal has a light brown coloration with ear tufts.
This cat has a nickname of the “desert lynx” and, as this implies, is a cat of semi-arid regions. It avoids true sandy deserts and tropical rainforests, inhabiting brush and savannah areas. Although not as fast as the cheetah, the caracal is a speedy runner, having a slim body and long legs.
It is considered one of the best jumpers in the cat family. It uses this ability to catch birds, especially pigeons, by leaping at them as they take flight and knocking them down with their forepaws. The greatest witnessed jump of this cat is ten feet. In fact, the people of Iran and India were so impressed with the caracal’s jumping abilities that they had captured young kittens and raised them for competitions to see which of these cats could knock down the most tame pigeons. Ten birds were usually struck down before the rest flew out of reach.
Conclusion
God has given his creation special abilities to survive and thrive in this world. And one of those abilities is to jump.
But ask the beast, and they will teach you; the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or the plants of the earth, and they will teach you; and the fish of the sea will declare to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? (Job 12:7–9)
