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It’s their strength and balance that makes climbing so easy for them. If they lose their balance, they use their long tail to counteract this loss of balance and regain control.
Despite their size and relative weight when compared to humans, bears are unbelievably skilled climbers. Their claws make it easy for them to grip the necessary surfaces to make their way up.
Sloths are one of the slowest animals in the world, but they are still incredibly effective at climbing.
They survive by munching on leaves, twigs, and buds high up in the trees they pick while dangling from branches. When sloths climb, they use their arms and legs to wrap around the tree, and they also grip it with their sharp claws.
Some monkeys and baboons even live high up on sheer rock faces, which they come and go from by climbing. They live high up in these cliffs so that most predators can’t reach them.
Raccoons are another animal that is not only skilled in climbing in nature, but has also adapted to being able to climb man-made objects like houses and fences quickly too.
Like cats, monkeys and baboons’ tails also help them stay balanced while swinging around high up in the trees in jungles. Their toes also work just as well at gripping as their hands.
Whatever the size or breed of cat, they will be natural-born climbers. This goes for climbing almost anything, even man-made structures.
The mountain goat climbing a sheer rock face seems to make no sense. Usually, they climb up these rock faces to reach minerals on the surfaces of the rocks above, which can be vital for their survival.
They have excellent control over their hundreds of vertebrae with excellent muscle control, and they can also extend scales on their underside to increase grip.
Goats in Morocco’s Argan Forest have been trained to climb trees to graze, which they wouldn’t otherwise do. Farmers teach them to eat argan fruit when the nut inside is ready to be harvested, because after it passes through their bodies it’s easier to open.
Squirrels are well known for climbing trees, but they can also climb up vertical concrete walls by clutching onto them with their sharp claws.
They can suspend themselves vertically by gripping a tree with their long claws. They have very little weight and flexible fingers, which help them maneuver while climbing.
Logically, you might think that if you are being attacked by a bear that your best bet is to climb a tree, but this would not save you. Even grizzly bears with their thicker and longer claws can climb trees faster than humans by wrapping their long limbs around the trunk.
The coconut crab is one of the only crabs that can climb trees. Found on islands in the Indian Ocean, they are about three feet (0.9 m) across and feed mainly on fruit and vegetables.
Ever wonder how spiders and other insects can climb straight up walls and hang upside down on ceilings? Well, wonder no more. It’s the presence of electrostatic attraction.
Spiders have tiny tarsal claws that can grip small surfaces on textures that appear smooth to the naked eye, and their hairs stick to it.
Geckos are also one of the more well-known species that are master climbers. Similar to spiders, the tiny micro hairs on their feet help them run up walls vertically.
The hairs, called setae, adhere to Van der Waals forces, which cause molecules to attract to each other.
Disk-winged bats, native to Central America and northern South America, have disk-shaped suction pads on the base of their thumbs and the soles of their feet.
Possums can climb straight up smooth surfaces, too, like sheets of glass. This is down to the pads at the top of their toes.
Inside these pads, there are multiple layers of cells, which look like ridges and grooves. The surface of the pad has a layer of sweat, which helps them stick to surfaces.
Sources: (Survivopedia)
They also have highly mobile ankles that can turn around backward, helping them climb and hang from trees and other surfaces.
Snakes climbing trees is pretty common knowledge, but did you know that they can also climb vertical walls if they need to? They do this using locomotion, where one part of their bodies stop and grip while another forces it upwards.
It’s the mountain goat’s toes that have to wrap around toenails that allow them to catch on to tiny cracks in the rocks. There’s also a little 'traction pad' on their hoof that can support their weight as they climb up.
They use their long, spiny legs to wrap around tree trunks and cut coconuts down with their claws, which they collect from the ground and carry away for their coconut crab feast.
Although the trees are typically around 30 feet- (9 m-) high, their branches can support the weight of several goats, which climb it by gripping the branches between their toes.
Climbing in the animal kingdom is a method of survival in terms of reaching food or escaping predators. Many different animals have evolved to have their way of climbing and descending in relation to what they generally need to climb in their habitat. These animals seem to defy nature’s physical laws in how they, to our eyes, effortlessly climb trees and rocks with techniques that humans could never duplicate.
To learn more about the fantastic climbing abilities of animals, click through this gallery.
This allows them to, like a plunger, cling to and climb smooth surfaces. A single disk can support the entire weight of the bat’s body.
How the world's best climbing animals do it
Did you know some crabs climb trees?
LIFESTYLE Nature
Climbing in the animal kingdom is a method of survival in terms of reaching food or escaping predators. Many different animals have evolved to have their way of climbing and descending in relation to what they generally need to climb in their habitat. These animals seem to defy nature’s physical laws in how they, to our eyes, effortlessly climb trees and rocks with techniques that humans could never duplicate.
To learn more about the fantastic climbing abilities of animals, click through this gallery.