Four paws off the ground

June 29, 2013 5:04 AM

Slow motion HD Vimeo video of five cheetahs in the Cincinnati zoo. Music is New Seeds from Tomorrow's Harvest by Boards of Canada; video footage by Nat Geo.

From 1878: Sallie Gardner at a Gallop, where Eadweard Muybridge took 24 photographs in rapid succession of a horse in motion.

posted by Wordshore (8 comments total)

Spoiler alert: Koosh ball prey successfully outpaces its predator.

I can only imagine the kitty thinking, "WTF HOW IS THIS THING FASTER THAN ME DOESN'T IT KNOW I AM CHEETAH?"
posted by lizzicide at 5:40 AM on June 29, 2013

What's striking tome is how little the cheetah's head moves, how steady it is. The rest of his body is in motion, but his head is steady as a rock.
posted by Daddy-O at 5:45 AM on June 29, 2013 [5 favorites]

The legs and paws and core and head are, like, terrifyingly brilliantly choreographed, or whatever the word is. Is that five different cheetahs? They must be quintuplets.
posted by thinkpiece at 5:55 AM on June 29, 2013

Now that's a forefoot strike.

(Why yes, I am heading out the door for my morning run, inspired.)
posted by Balonious Assault at 6:17 AM on June 29, 2013

According to the top left timer, the first 1m 50s of the video consists of less than 2 seconds of real time footage. Or, it's slowed down to roughly 1/60 of the real speed. Am trying to get my head around the seeming impossibility, how quickly the cheetah runs, of this.
posted by Wordshore at 6:20 AM on June 29, 2013

he almost gets the koosh, and his face is all 'YOU'RE MINE NOW'.

also cheetahs are pretty lanky dudes.
posted by fuzzypantalones at 6:25 AM on June 29, 2013

I found the left-right-right-left (clockwise, viewed from above) foot strike pattern interesting. I wonder if all cheetahs exhibit this pattern or if some are "lefties."
posted by workerant at 6:42 AM on June 29, 2013 [2 favorites]

There are a few additional "making of" footage moments in the clip from the previous thread.
posted by ceribus peribus at 7:14 AM on June 29, 2013