You don’t often see a badger, a predatory animal of the mustelid family, as it likes to sleep, hidden from prying eyes. In summer he sleeps around the clock, and in winter - day and night. In his rare waking hours, he begins to wander through the forest in search of food. This mainly happens during periods of heavy rainfall, when water begins to flood his burrow.
The noble couch potato, even after waking up, does not like to go far from his home. The badger is a very neat and clean animal.. Remains of melted snow, mud and puddles are not conducive to long-distance excursions.
At the very beginning of spring, the badger is ready to feast on almost any food. He is content with various roots pulled out of the ground with his strong and tenacious paws. Also, a lot of edible food can be found in the soil and rotten stumps. For example, mice, snails, worms and various larvae are for the badger. The predator easily digs up the ground with its tenacious claws in search of food. Its claws also serve it for defensive purposes, but the badger rarely enters into fights with other animals. His character is peaceful and calm.
The badger's body length is about a meter and is considered quite large. Long neck ends with a small head, and powerful and short legs - with sharp claws. In quiet times, the badger is very slow, however, if necessary, it can run quickly and deftly grab its prey. The badger is also distinguished by its digging qualities; in pursuit of a field mouse or mole, it can dig a tunnel at a speed of more than a meter per minute.
Only at the end of spring, when the badger has accumulated strength, is it ready to move 5-6 km away from its hole. The animal returns home from hunting, usually at dawn. It is rare to see a badger making its way to its hole in daytime, only if something delays him. In such rare cases, the badger can find a temporary home where it spends daylight hours.
The badger is considered one of the cleanest and neat animals. There is always order around his hole, he takes branches and garbage away. Several times a year, the badger digs new passages in its hole, so it is deep and has many branches. The badger has been preparing for winter since the fall; it eats and accumulates a lot of fat. Its food is beetles, larvae, worms, lizards, frogs, that is, everything that comes across, just like in the spring.
Considering all the diversity of living beings, it is quite difficult to determine which of the representatives of the fauna is the cleanest animal. Several candidates are vying for this “title”.
If you choose by the frequency of washing, then, oddly enough, one of the cleanest creatures will be considered... a fly. Indeed, this small, annoying, always buzzing insect is a big fan of the “hygienic procedure”.
As soon as a fly sits down somewhere, it immediately begins to wash itself and does this up to 100 times a minute. Like many insects, the taste organs are located on its legs in very sensitive papillae. With their help, the fly determines what is under its feet.
In addition, the fly does not have eyelids, and dust and dirt constantly settle on its eyes, so washing is a vital necessity for it. But, since the microorganisms shed after cleaning (scientists have counted 63 species, including dysentery and typhoid fever) are dangerous for other creatures, it is incorrect to recognize the fly as the cleanest animal.
If we determine cleanliness by another criterion, by the amount of excretion of waste from its vital activity, then, of course, this is the original inhabitant South America- sloth. An amazing, strange and even phantasmagoric animal spends its entire life hanging on a tree. Only once every 47 days the sloth descends to the ground to free itself from the remnants of digested food. At the same time, sloths do not like to wash themselves and clean up after themselves. Therefore, sloths can receive the title of “the cleanest animal” based on only one minor characteristic.
None of these animals listed solves the issue of waste disposal. However, there are creatures on our planet who solved the issue of sewerage long before people appeared on Earth. These are always perfectly clean and responsible builders of the smallest in size, but largest in the number of inhabitants of megacities - ants.
Equipping special chambers for waste, having at their disposal special ants - scavengers, they are not satisfied with just processing sewage. It was the ants who created an extraordinary cleaning agent that kills harmful microorganisms. Ants produce a natural disinfectant - formic acid and special enzymes. Perhaps the ant could have claimed the title of “the cleanest animal” if not for one more candidate.
These are macaques that live in the mountainous areas of Honshu in Japan. Japanese macaques, the most curious and intelligent animals in the world, are true neat freaks. They, according to many zoologists, should be called the cleanest animals. Living in packs of 20 or even 100 individuals, these animals have elevated cleanliness to a real cult. Not only do they wash their food before eating, but they are also regulars at the spa. These are the only wild animals that love to wash themselves and use hot springs for this.
All their free time from searching for food they are busy with water procedures and cleaning each other. And cleaning among macaques is also a recognition of dominance and an expression of love. Japanese macaques can get so carried away by this process that even a carelessly approaching roe deer or deer can become the object of their cleaning. The funny thing is that a tick or flea found on these “victims” will become a real asset for the Japanese macaque. She will immediately try to transfer it to herself so that her relatives will clean her again and again. That is why Japanese macaques are the cleanest animals.
Representatives of the rich world of wildlife have different approaches to the issue of hygiene and cleanliness. Some people constantly wash themselves and clean their bodies, while others care primarily about the cleanliness of their home. Which animals can be considered the cleanest?
Fly
One thing that cannot be suspected of having a special desire for hygiene is the insect. However, in fact, the fly is a real champion in the number of washes. As soon as she lands somewhere, she immediately begins to wipe herself with her paws, making up to 100 deft movements per minute. This behavior is due to the structure of the fly's body. The insect’s huge eyes have no eyelids that could protect them from dust and debris, and the fly has to clean the eyes “manually.”
Toque
Pig
Despite the offensive opinion about pigs as dirty, this animal is very careful about its cleanliness. A pig will never make a toilet where he sleeps or eats. Wild boars They set up special baths, where, lying in the ground and mud, they free the skin of lice and fleas.
Ants
These highly organized insects create real sewer systems in their anthills. Special workers - scavenger ants - clean the home. A special substance secreted by ants - formic acid, is capable of killing germs and is used by them for disinfection.
Badger
Maintains perfect order in its hole. He often changes the bedding from fragrant hay, and takes his waste to a specially dug hole, up to half a meter deep. Thanks to this work, there is no smell at all near the badger’s home.
Beaver
It is also a clean animal, keeping order inside its hut. In addition, nature provided each beaver with its own personal comb. One claw on the beaver's front paw is forked and resembles a small comb, with which the animal carefully and with pleasure tidies its fur.
Finding out why pigs wallow in mud seems not only interesting, but also useful in creating conditions for their keeping. Everyone knows the opinion about the pig as the dirtiest and most unscrupulous creature, “a pig will find dirt.” Even in the Christian religion, sinners are likened to dirty sows; in Islam and Judaism it is forbidden to eat pork. Let's try to figure out whether pigs are really such haters of cleanliness and lovers of dirt.
Not dirty, but clean
Anyone who has been involved in pig farming for a long time will most likely say that a pig is the cleanest animal. The pig loves order and divides its home into several zones - a bedroom, a toilet and a dining room. She will never defecate in the resting and feeding area. Even baby piglets crawl away from the sow for “big” and “small” needs.
It turns out that pigs are good swimmers and enjoy swimming. On the other side of the planet - on pacific islands Diver piglets live. They descend to a depth of 15 meters for fish.
Pigs accurately determine the degree of contamination of water; these clean-living creatures are very sensitive to its quality.
It is unlikely that a pig, as a dirty animal, could become sacred, as it was, for example, in Ancient Egypt. Pig figurines decorated with precious stones were found in the sarcophagi of the pharaohs.
The ancient Romans and Greeks also loved and respected pigs.
Dirt as an escape from the heat
The theory of cleanliness is called into question when you see pigs in the mud near a farm. Wild boar also loves muddy puddles. However, this is not a question of cleanliness, but of thermoregulation - the ability of animals to maintain body temperature at the same level. In pigs it averages 38.5 degrees.
Unlike other animals, the piglet is very sensitive to heat stress. Its physiological cooling capabilities are limited. The reasons for this are:
- underdevelopment of sweat glands;
- small lung surface;
- structural features of the nose and head;
- low ability to dissipate heat;
- sparse coat in most breeds.
It should also be taken into account that heat in the body is produced by muscles. Pigs accumulate a large layer of fat under the skin, which is an obstacle to the transfer of heat to the environment.
Overheating is deadly
Signs of heat stress in piglets include increased water consumption, urine production, wallowing on the floor, slowness, rapid breathing, stupor, trembling, and convulsions.
On hot days, pigs lose their appetite, which leads to a reduction in average daily growth (up to 100 g or more).
Heat stress often reduces the reproductive capabilities of sows, the percentage of fertilization, the size of the litter, and increases the mortality of newborn piglets.
Hot weather causes oxidative stress in pigs at the cellular level, damaging important proteins and lipids, which impairs immunity.
Vascular and heart failure is also observed. All these processes are associated with the reaction of the piglet’s body to elevated temperature, his attempts to adapt to stress.
Walking pigs in the heat often leads to heatstroke with a fatal outcome.
In the absence of a river or pond, pigs are forced to wallow in the mud. Mud bathing creates a refrigerator effect, slow and effective. Mark Braquet wrote about this. He tried to turn the theory around as to why pigs love dirt.
In his opinion, pigs first got used to mud baths, and only then, because of this, their number of sweat glands decreased. Looking at the relatives of the piglets - hippopotamuses and whales, the scientist concluded about their hereditary craving for water.
In addition to the desire to cool off, other reasons for this behavior are also attributed to a pig wallowing in the mud. For example, with this she can change her smell and camouflage herself from predatory animals. This may be part of the process during courtship.
It also hardens the body. Swimming sow birds are less likely to suffer from various diseases. However, it is forbidden for a hot herd to immediately enter the water - they may catch a cold, and pregnant females may abort. Pigs should rest for 1-1.5 hours before bathing.
Some farmers hose down pigs - this also seems dangerous, especially for pregnant pigs.
If there are no natural reservoirs in the pasture, it is necessary to organize artificial ones: wells, pools. Well water preheated in the sun in containers up to 15-20 degrees.
Before farrowing, females are not bathed in ponds. They are washed in the shower warm water(20-25 degrees) or washed every 3-5 days. After this, the pigs need to be protected from the wind and scorching sun rays. It turns out that they are similar to people; after reading the article, you will find out exactly why.
Please write a comment expressing your opinion about the cleanliness of pigs.