Questionable animal habits that would make us blush with shame (8 photos)

Shame and morality are human inventions; nature works on the principle “what is natural is not ugly.” Therefore, many species of animals have habits that, from a human point of view, are at least indecent.





Let's start with something simpler: the aye-aye lemur eats its boogers. In words it doesn’t sound so bad; each of us did this in childhood. Even among primates, this is not a unique case; in addition to the lemur and humans, 10 more species of primates feast on mucus from the nose.





Yes, it's not a stick, but a lemur's middle finger.

The whole problem is that ai-ai performs the operation with the help of a huge middle finger, which reaches right up to the throat. Just the thought of someone scratching their throat through their nose gives herds of goosebumps.



Using computed tomography, scientists were able to understand how deep the hand is capable of sticking its finger into the nose. Science is amazing!

It’s not entirely clear why they (and we) do this—there is depressingly little research on the topic of cohabitation. There is indirect evidence that mucus reduces the likelihood of tooth decay, and the process of picking itself reduces stress levels. And that is all! A blatant oversight on the part of the researchers!



Mom, it's okay, I didn't do anything like that...

Whether it's bubbles from the nose - scientists understand everything about them! Echidnas have learned to blow sniffles. But not in order to impress a girl from a parallel kindergarten group with her abilities: the animal has practically no sweat glands, and it does not cool itself by breathing, like dogs. Therefore, the bubbles play the role of radiators. When they burst, they moisten the surface of the nose, which allows excess heat to be removed.



I’m already hot, but they also put me on a jacket...

But the vast majority of repulsive habits are associated with waste products. Almost every animal uses urine to search for its own kind or determine the boundaries of territories. Only wombats stand out from this category.



Joyfully runs to do abominations.

They prefer feces as marks. The digestive tract of marsupials dries food so well that at the exit it turns into neat square briquettes. You may not be able to build a boundary wall from such bricks. But it is very convenient to leave signs around your home using this form - the cubes will not slip off even the most uneven surfaces. So, following a trail of dried excrement, one wombat will always find another. Just please don't try to repeat after them.



All that remains is to draw the numbers, and you can play dice!

Some animals went further; it was not enough for them to simply smell other people's secretions. Horses, for example, taste the urine of mares. A chemical laboratory built into the oral cavity determines the content of hormones and makes it possible to draw the most important conclusion for a young, full of energy male: when is it time to mate? Yes, unhygienic and disgusting. But effective.



To be fair, horses are not always registered as a sommelier. Sometimes it is enough for them to use the Flehmen reaction - to raise their upper lip. It is under it that there are passages to the receptors that perceive hormones.