Nearly as far up as he had planned to go, Benjiro pauses to catch his breath and let his arm muscles recover. Nearer now to the chicken, he can see how thin the branches are by the meter or so distance out where it perches. He won’t be able to crawl along the same branch the chicken is on without a high risk of it breaking away under his weight. The two below, however, look like they might suffice. Of course, the further out he goes, the wider apart his stance will have to be and -

Russell’s comment draws his attention to look back downward. “Really? I think you’d be here. It’s always faster after the first couple of branches, and you have a better point of leverage.” That height difference between them would matter here.