Cleanliness is next to godliness
One thing that I always assumed about animals is that they all need to keep clean. This is fairly logical as being dirty means carrying more weight or having an unwanted scent. In some cases, they may want to remove unwanted parasites. To keep clean, animals will have to bath in water and/or groom themselves.
It turned out that water baths are overrated with animals. Most animals can withstand water or they would have been extinct due to either wet environments or rain. However, some animals live in arid conditions where water is not readily available. At this point, the animal can choose to wallow in the mud or take a dust bath. A dust bath involves finding an area with sand or loose dirt and then rolling or digging into the ground. Dust baths turn out to be popular with birds too. Once the dust bath is completed, the animal will shake off the dirt and if possible, groom or preen itself.
If the animal is flexible enough, it can groom itself. Large animals like elephants or even cows are not able to bring their tongue/mouth to all parts of their body. They also lack fingers which would allow them to groom each other. In those cases, only a water or dust bath will really clean the animal.
Grooming standards differ hugely in the animal kingdom. Sloths have moths and algae growing on its fur. As a result, there is less grooming as the flora and fauna make up part of their diet. If you kept most animals in the same condition, they would itching all over.
It turned out that water baths are overrated with animals. Most animals can withstand water or they would have been extinct due to either wet environments or rain. However, some animals live in arid conditions where water is not readily available. At this point, the animal can choose to wallow in the mud or take a dust bath. A dust bath involves finding an area with sand or loose dirt and then rolling or digging into the ground. Dust baths turn out to be popular with birds too. Once the dust bath is completed, the animal will shake off the dirt and if possible, groom or preen itself.
If the animal is flexible enough, it can groom itself. Large animals like elephants or even cows are not able to bring their tongue/mouth to all parts of their body. They also lack fingers which would allow them to groom each other. In those cases, only a water or dust bath will really clean the animal.
Grooming standards differ hugely in the animal kingdom. Sloths have moths and algae growing on its fur. As a result, there is less grooming as the flora and fauna make up part of their diet. If you kept most animals in the same condition, they would itching all over.
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