this post was submitted on 28 Jan 2026
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I recently learned that kangaroos are soft, which surprised me as I always imagined them like weird deer and deer are not soft. I feel like this needs to be a list I can look at somewhere.
Stroked many a roo, wallaby and other macropods and they're not soft everywhere. More interesting is that there's no real give to their softness. They're solid muscle below the skin so you don't really want to poke them too hard. Does depend on the species too though - I ain't touching a red. A quokka and bettong are quite pliable and have that give when you stroke them, like a cat.
Domestic cat that is. When I stroked a cheetah it was all muscle and smooth but not soft, more like a deer
Like a shark.
Are you looking for the Animal Smoothness Scale?
I think they're looking for the Animal Softness scale
The two together form a two dimensional chart though
I wonder where humans lie on that scale. There's such a range between ages, hormone levels, and even seasons (my hands are normally soft, but dry winter air is currently interfering with that.)
Animals vary from one to another as well though. Even in the same litter, you can have one with rough fur and one with fine soft fur. That's besides the fact that there are many breed of deer.