ELI5: Why can small animals survive falls from heights that would kill humans?

Small animals can survive huge falls because they are very light and push against the air like tiny parachutes, meaning they hit the ground with very little force.

Here is how it works in everyday life:

• The Air Acts as a Brake: When anything drops, the air pushes back against it. Because tiny creatures like ants, mice, or squirrels have very little weight spread out over their bodies, the air slows them down quickly. They reach their top falling speed—called terminal velocity—almost instantly, and that speed is very slow. A human falls like a heavy brick, but a mouse falls like a dropped autumn leaf.
• The "Splash" on the Ground: Think of dropping a wet sponge compared to dropping a heavy watermelon. A watermelon is heavy and smashes into pieces because all that weight hits the floor with huge energy. The sponge is light, so it simply bounces. In science, your weight creates the impact force. Small animals have so little mass that when they stop falling, the ground barely pushes back on them.
• Super-Springy Bones: Even though a mouse has tiny bones, those bones are actually very thick and strong compared to the tiny amount of weight they carry. When a cat or squirrel lands, its flexible legs act like shock absorbers in a car, easily soaking up the small bump.