dr angela horner is the world’s leading
expert in ferret locomotion
ferrets are really neat it’s almost as
though you have an animal in liquid form
they have a really well adapted body
design to move rapidly through a tunnel
and change direction quickly
and has to be small enough to enter a
tunnel but large and powerful enough to
overpower something when it encounters
that in the tunnel
this unique body shape is crucial for an
animal that spends 90 percent of its
time underground
but being subterranean makes studying
ferrets hard
this perspex tunnel will allow angela to
see how their bodies transform as they
enter a burrow
so what i’m looking at here is a special
setup designed to let me see what’s
happening during the transition from
above ground conditions to below ground
conditions we haven’t really seen yet
how this is happening from the animal’s
perspective so that i’m really excited
to try this out
by filming the ferret in slow motion
angela can see exactly what the ferret
is doing
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when they’re moving around above ground
they have an arched back posture
and as they enter a tunnel they
seamlessly lower that posture in their
back until their spine is stretched out
this flexibility in their spine is due
to a unique set of back vertebrae
in other animals protrusions known as
processes on each segment of the spine
stop it from moving too far
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in ferrets these processes are thinner
creating flexibility and movement
so their spine can stretch out when they
go underground making their body 30
percent longer
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this footage shows how easily the
ferrets can transition from above to
below ground
but these animals are predators so what
impact does this maneuver have on the
ferret speed
the black and white card helps angela
determine how fast the ferrets are
traveling across a set distance
when the footage is lined up it reveals
something completely unexpected
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the ferret barely loses any speed at all
when running underground
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their shorter than average limbs allow
them to still be able to move very well
and they aren’t restricted in the limb
movement in that position
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in most carnivores the legs and body are
about the same length
but in burrowing mustelids like the
ferret their legs are only half the
length of their body
this means they can run in enclosed
spaces without tripping over their own
limbs
their limbs have to become more crouched
to get into that position but they can
manage it just fine in fact they do it
so well that they barely decrease speed
when they’re making that transition from
above ground to underground and that’s
incredible
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the ability to shift so seamlessly
between these environments is just one
of the remarkable ways that mustelids
have refined their agility to catch prey
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