system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
If the gravity of the moon is strong enough to create tidal waves, why doesn't it lift up things like tree leaves or small animals?
gpt
Surprisingly no one has gotten the right answer to this yet! Mass plays a role in tidal forces but what's really important is more often size, not mass. The reason you have a tide at all is the difference in the pull of the tidal body from one side to another. We get a tide on the earth because the side of the earth on the opposite side from the moon experiences less gravitational pull from the moon than the near side that is close to the moon. This makes a net force on the object which stretches it out toward and away from the object generating the tide. Not everyone realizes this but there is actually a high tide on the side of the earth close to the moon as well as the side on the far side from the moon. Low tides are at 90 degrees from the moon on either side. 

The only time tidal forces can act on small objects is when the masses involved are extremely compact. Spaghettification in a black hole is actually caused by tidal forces. Basically your head and feet are getting a high tide while your waist is getting a low tide!