Fact Friday: "Sweat Like a Pig"

Have you ever heard someone use the phrase “Sweat like a pig”? Well, as with most phrases associated with pigs, this is completely misleading!

As mammals, just like us humans, pigs need to cool down when their body temperature becomes too high. One of the ways we and some other animals (particularly horses) cool our core temperature is to produce sweat. Pigs cannot do this and so must find other ways to cool themselves in the warmer weather! So, how do pigs cool down?

Have you ever seen a pig wallowing in mud? When pigs lie down and roll around in the soft mud, they benefit from the cooling temperature as the area under the earth’s top surface is much colder since it is protected from the sun.

When we sweat, the moisture released from our sweat glands evaporates on our skin, helping to cool us down. Pigs may also submerge themselves in water to mimic this effect. If the water is cold, it will help reduce their body temperature, and the water evaporating off their skin will help to cool them down in a similar manner to sweating – that said, all pigs are different and we have known pigs who have loved refreshing cold showers under the hosepipe and long baths, while others would run straight to bed with the slightest rainfall and avoid stepping in even the shallowest of puddles. They’re all individual, just like us!

Pigs are often thought to be dirty animals and you might think this after seeing them covered in mud, but this really couldn’t be further from the truth, they’re simply using nature’s cooling pack (oh and that mud has the added benefit of protecting their very delicate skin from the harmful sun rays, and even smothering any nasty parasites that might be trying to hitch a ride on them too!).

We had to teach our lovely Bonny how to wallow when she joined us, but she soon got the hang of it!

Be sure to watch out for Harry and Hermione cooling down next time you visit on a warm day – or see if you can spot the evidence of their last bath, there’s a reason they have so much mud in their paddocks! They are the lucky ones, as pigs without ready access to mud and water to wallow in may sadly be forced to use urine and faeces for the same purpose - something these naturally clean animals would want to avoid at all costs, which is why it is so important to understand the needs of the animals we care for and give them the sanctuary they deserve.

Fact Friday: Donkey Ears

Thank you so much for your positive feedback to our first Fact Friday! This week's fact is in honour of Jackie, one of our wonderful supporters who inspired us with her lovely profile picture featuring our handsome donkey, Duke!

The French composer Camille Saint-Saëns called them the “Persons with long ears”, and he wasn’t wrong! Horses are famous for their long faces and while their appearances are similar, there’s no missing the difference between the long ears of a donkey in comparison to a horse. So, what is the reason for these lengthy auricles? (The visible part of ears outside of the head).

Can you see the big difference between Duke & Callum's ears?

Wild asses such as donkeys originally evolved in arid locations in Africa and Asia, and their bodies adapted to life in this environment! As you might expect, these large ears serve them superbly for hearing, and living in the desert this means they are able to hear other donkeys calling over the wide expanse of the area – particularly useful as unlike horses who tend to graze in herds; donkey herds spread out to graze due to the sparsity of grazing areas available across the dry desert land. A donkey is said to be able to hear another donkey’s call from as far as 60 miles (96.5km) away in the desert! This is also particularly useful when alerting each other about the presence of predators in the area who might be creeping up on them.

They can move their ears in different directions to pinpoint where a sound is coming from, and they are also able to use them to communicate how they are feeling, just like your dog might – what might both ears straight up and alert mean? Ears flat back?

What you may not know is that their ears are also perfectly adapted for helping them to keep cool as well, another nod towards their original desert home! The larger surface area helps to dissipate heat by releasing warmth from their body into the air by the presence of blood vessels across their ears.

Their ears are so sensitive, they can even hear your heart beating when you are near them. This keen hearing ability means that they can pick up on subtle messages that your body will give out to them without you even realising, such as being able to sense if you are agitated or nervous as your heart rate increases. So, remember this as you approach a donkey! Try to stay calm, be quiet and gentle and help them to feel your kind intentions towards them with their amazing senses, because you are literally sharing your heart with them.

So, next time you see Duke’s big floppy ears, remember, those ears are highly evolved for several purposes, and just two of the things that make him so very special!

Fact Friday: Sheep Vision

We thought it would be fun to introduce Fact Friday to you and teach you a few snippets about some of our amazing residents! We're constantly learning about the animals and would love to share some of our knowledge with you, and of course, if you’ve got a burning question, send it our way - maybe we can make yours our next Fact?

So, today’s Fact: Sheep have excellent peripheral VISION. Have you ever looked at one of our sheep friends and noticed their eyes at the sides of their heads? This gives them monocular vision and allows them to see around 270-320 degrees (to put that into some context, we can see around 155 degrees on average). In fact, they can see behind themselves without even turning their heads! That said, they do also have a small blind spot directly behind and in front of themselves, so do bear this in mind when approaching a sheep as you can easily spook them! Talk calmly to them as you approach to let them know you are there and try not to approach directly from behind them or straight in front - petting them on the head may also startle them if they don’t know what you’re doing. Take your time, be patient, gentle and respectful.

You may have also noticed that sheep eyes have rectangular pupils, and this also aids their peripheral range of vision, however this affects their depth perception too. You will often find that prey animals have these horizontal rectangular pupils aiding their awareness of their surroundings and predators creeping up on them, while predators tend to have circular pupils or vertical slits (have a look at your cat’s eyes!) that limit their peripheral vision but instead give them the ability to easily gauge distance and speed that their prey is travelling at.

Most prey animals, like our sheep, have monocular vision. Whereas predators tend to have binocular vision (next time you visit, look at the owls and where their eyes are compared to the sheep!)

Look at my horizontal pupils

Look at my binocular eyes

Oh, and here’s something for you to try at home. Keep your head down and roll your eyes up to the ceiling and see how long you can hold them like that. It doesn’t take long before it becomes uncomfortable for you, does it? Sheep can do this for very long periods of time! As sheep spend up to seven hours a day grazing, it’s important for them to be able to look up at the same time and be aware of their surroundings too - remember, they’re prey animals and they don’t want a predator creeping into that blind spot while they’re munching! Sheep can rotate their eyes upwards 50 degrees and comfortably hold them for long periods, unlike us.

We’ve just scratched the surface of sheep sight here and this is just one of their amazing senses. There’s so much more to these animals than you might think at first glance, and we hope you enjoy learning more about them, as we do all the time!