What's faster, man or hampster?

[Chronos]

This is very much true. Assuming we are talking about specimens of the same species of quadruped.

I know of a counter-example. Of the cats which have cohabited with my mom, one happened to be bipedal (due to a birth defect in her back legs-- she actually walked around balanced on her front legs, with her butt in the air). Another of them was (and is) a fat, lazy slob, and is now arthritic to boot, but still has all of her appendages. In a race between the two of them, my money would be on the two-legged one, every time.

[jackdavinci]

@Chronos

Part of the prevalence of “hampster” on the Internet might be due to the popularity of the old classic Hampsterdance website. And that site was in turn spelled that way by inspiration from the webmaster’s pet, Hampton.

Or has he evolved into a bigger, better meme? Witness:

What’s faster, man or dramatic hampster ?

[Sapo]

@Chronos

I know of a counter-example. Of the cats which have cohabited with my mom, one happened to be bipedal (due to a birth defect in her back legs-- she actually walked around balanced on her front legs, with her butt in the air). Another of them was (and is) a fat, lazy slob, and is now arthritic to boot, but still has all of her appendages. In a race between the two of them, my money would be on the two-legged one, every time.

:rolleyes: one more reason to hate cats.

[Guy_Betty]

@Chief Pedant

I saw a great nature show that had this African guy running down a kudu until it just collapsed and waited for him to spear it. Unbelievable.

Meh. The cameraman did it too and he was toting all that filming gear.

[Blake]

@psychonaut

It’s certainly no illusion that I can’t catch my ferret when we’re both running in a straight line—we’ve had many races in long, narrow hallways with no room to weave and dodge. Upon restrospection, perhaps the problem is that the ferret can accelerate faster than I can, and that, were the racecourse to be longer, I would eventually overtake her.

I suspect the problem is that you weren’t sprinting and your vermine was. In a sprint you are fully upright, your legs land shoulder width apart and you have no capacity to stop swiftly. If you actually sprinted in a narrow hallway you would almost certainly step on your vermine. Instead you were holding yourself back, and probably running hunched over to try to grab the animal.