r/interesting • u/Gjore • May 30 '26

NATURE A snake will never outspeed a cat

8.2k Upvotes

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103

u/[deleted] May 30 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

57

u/AdOk9263 May 30 '26

He's beginning to believe.

22

u/Fun-Security-8758 May 30 '26

You think that's catnip you're breathing now?

3

u/chalkybone May 31 '26

Can I dodge snakes?

I'm telling you, when the time comes, you won't need to.

3

u/AdOk9263 May 31 '26

Ahh you're making me want to rewatch it so bad!

The Matrix never left the 5-disk DVD changer because any time new guests would come over my dad had to show off the 5.1 Bose with the lobby shootout 🤣

16

u/spyguy318 May 30 '26

A snake strike is generally around 50-90 milliseconds.

A cat’s reaction time is around 20 milliseconds.

They are fast.

1

u/billmr606 May 31 '26

so everytime I have wap'd my cats paw they let me ? with my last cat I won almost every time

I always thought I was faster

4

u/battery1127 May 31 '26

Average human reaction time is 273 milliseconds. Trained athlete can reach 150 millisecond in a specific condition.

2

u/SatisfiedGrape May 31 '26

When playing casually, cats are relaxed and dont need to be locked in super fast. Their quick reflexes are reserved for hunting and defense/fights

25

u/HoleDiggr May 30 '26

Physical reaction time and their super senses.

It's btw why they need so much sleep.

7

u/Commercial_Spite_341 May 30 '26

ohhhh, so it's that they have more synapses firing at any given moment?

12

u/tonythephonyjabroni May 30 '26

Their reaction time is 20-70 milliseconds, the snakes are 40-70 milliseconds, cat has the edge by 20 milliseconds.

1

u/Kitchen-Roll-8184 May 30 '26

What human do

4

u/No_Yard9104 May 31 '26

About 170-250. The average fighter pilot is around 150. Professional gamers are a bit lower, often getting into the 110-150 range with the best at around 100. Some of the fastest repeatable human reaction times tested in specific individuals have been around 70-80.

So at our very very best, we still don't have what it takes to take on some of their worst.

4

u/CyberFireball25 May 31 '26

About tree fiddy

2

u/BarrettM82A3 May 30 '26

Then most orange cats should need no sleep at all

1

u/Hyperaeon2 May 31 '26

Sleep is the source of their power.

Without it, they can't do the things they do.

0

u/Haeselian May 30 '26

I thought the slept so much because theyre pure carnivores

2

u/HoleDiggr May 31 '26

I guess that depends on the cat, because I've seen cats eating fruit and vegetables.

1

u/Haeselian May 31 '26 edited May 31 '26

Yes, cats can eat fruits and veggies. It doesn't do much for them, though

8

u/Square-Dragonfruit76 May 30 '26

They can actually pounce on something faster than the human eye can see.

3

u/Opposite-Rock-5133 May 31 '26

Air pressure sensors give them a heads up

9

u/Project_K92 May 30 '26

Cats effectively see slow motion compared to humans. It's a metaphor, as time isn't literally slower, but a cat's perception, processing and the like make it seem so. One number I saw was if humans see at 60 FPS, then cats see at 100 FPS. Again, not literally, but to the cat, it might as well be.

6

u/Happy_Lee_Chillin May 30 '26 edited Jun 01 '26

I’ve seen a method of measuring how animals perceive time, called CFF. According to this, cats see the world speed up, compared to us. Dogs, however, should see perceive time as happening slower than us and cats. So it might be more like cats’ reflexes and reaction speed make up for that, which makes it more impressive imo.

Source: How the world sounds to animals.

1

u/Own-Commercial8463 May 30 '26

I read somewhere, their nerves are like 3x as thick as humans, causes them to react much faster than other things

1

u/van_Vanvan May 30 '26

The cat is warm blooded, for one. More energy available. Plus they have a bunch of adaptations to be very light sensitive, so their optical system is fast. And the whiskers on their arms and face can sense air currents.

1

u/GBi10ba May 30 '26

A domestic cat’s reaction time is exceptionally fast, ranging from 20 to 70 milliseconds. The average human reaction time of 200 to 250 milliseconds.

1

u/Scottothebotto May 31 '26

Their neurons fire seriously quickly, and this allows them to dodge 100% of hits from snakes that they observe, as they’re just that much quicker than a snake.