• Question: how fast is it?

    Asked by samuel05 to St Kilda Wren, Scotch Thistle, Common Crane, Hazel Dormouse, Emperor Dragonfly, Catshark, Brown garden snail, Barn Owl on 3 Nov 2017. This question was also asked by 10zmcalpine, jack874, Harry769, emjh210605, jeffrey, samq, sgirl100, khilditch, bmiller373, hannahannah, rosscoeweir.
    • Photo: St Kilda Wren

      St Kilda Wren answered on 3 Nov 2017:

      The St. Kilda wren has been recorded at 12 mph (19 kmh). This isn’t as fast as the spectacular dive-bombing peregrine falcons, which can reach up to 200 mph (320 kmh), but it’s no slouch for a small bird which makes its living by darting around the undergrowth.

      For comparison, the average human can run at around 15 mph. This is faster than a wren, true, but not by much. And remember, humans are over 320 times bigger!

    • Photo: Common Crane

      Common Crane answered on 3 Nov 2017:

      We can fly faster than 75 mph (120.1 kmh), but in general try to preserve our energy and stay at about 45 mph (72 kmh).

    • Photo: Lesser-Spotted Catshark

      Lesser-Spotted Catshark answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      Catsharks hunt by stealth rather than by speed. I don’t know of anyone who has actually measured the swimming speed of catsharks but if I had to guess based on other fishes with similar habitats that have been measured I would say less than 5mph.

    • Photo: Tomeu the snail

      Tomeu the snail answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      Faster than you would think. http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/23815582

    • Photo: Scotch Thistle

      Scotch Thistle answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      Thistles done move once they have put down roots but their seeds can travel on the wind so i guess as fast as the wind!

    • Photo: Emperor Dragonfly

      Emperor Dragonfly answered on 7 Nov 2017:

      An Australian Dragonfly was clocked at ~90kph backin 1927 (and it is in the Guinness Book of Records as the fastest insect) but some people are not so sure this is accurate. I’ve seen Brown Hawkers (another tyoe of large British dragonfly) keep up with cars around 30mph, at least briefly so they are pretty fast. All I am sure of is that they are way faster than me on foot!

    • Photo: Hazel Dormouse

      Hazel Dormouse answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      A normal mouse can run about 8mph (although it feels more like 161mph because of their size)! Hazel Dormouse can run about the same, but it feels even faster for them! However, because they are so small a nimble they are much faster prances between branches than scurrying on the ground.

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