Published February 12, 2018 by Tom Porter

Nature Moments: Leaping Snow Fleas

What animal can jump 100 times the length of his body—without using any of his six legs? Take a walk in the snow on a sunny February day and look closely in your boot prints.

In this latest Nature Moments video, Bowdoin’s Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Professor of Natural Sciences Nathaniel T. Wheelwright pays tribute to that unsung winter Olympian, the snowflea.

If you want to make your own natural history observations, The Naturalist’s Notebook by Wheelwright and Bernd Heinrich (Storey Publishing, 2017) provides guidance and a systematic format, with 100 percent of royalties going to conservation and environmental education.

Enjoy more Nature Moments.