About Animal’s Baths

Q & A: How do animals take baths?

Q1: How does an elephant take bath?

A1: An elephant takes a bath by spraying water over its back.

Q2: How do pigs take baths?

A2: Pigs take their bath by soaking in thick, brown mud.

Q3: How do birds take baths?

A3: Birds take baths by showering under sprinklers or waterfalls. Besides showering in the puddles, they preen their feathers. 

Q4: What do ducks do after a shower?

A4: After showering, ducks spread oil on their feathers, so that they will not be soggy or cold.

Q5: How do bears take a shower?

A5: Bears take a shower by rubbing against a tree, by rolling in dirt, and by swimming and splashing in a wide, cold stream.

Q6: How do lions take baths?

A6: The lions take baths by licking on their fur, and by licking on their paws then rubbing it over its head and ears. 

Q7: How do chimpanzees take baths?

A7: Chimpanzees take baths by biting and pulling bugs and leaves from their family’s and friend's fur.

Q8: How do giraffes and oxpeckers help each other?

A8: Oxpeckers help giraffes by pecking away ticks off giraffe’s body, and giraffes help the oxpeckers by getting them a meal. 

Q9: How do hippos and fish help each other?

A9: Fish help hippos by nibbling algae off the hippo’s skin, and hippos help fish by providing them a meal.

Q10: How do big fish and cleaner fish help each other?

A10: The cleaner fish helps the big fish by biting tiny pests off the big fish’s scales, and big fish helps cleaner fish by giving them food.

Q11: How do shrimp and moray eel help each other?

A11: Shrimp helps moray eel by picking and eating food off the moray’s teeth, and moray eel helps shrimp by giving it food.

The photo essay “Splish! Splash! Animal Baths” written by April Pulley Sayre is about how animals take baths. Some animals take baths by themselves, like elephants, pigs, birds etc. Some other animals get helpers to clean,  like giraffes get oxpeckers to help, hippos get fish to help, big fish get cleaner fish to help, and moray eel get shrimps to get them clean. The animals get cleaned, while the helpers get a meal. 

Different animals have different ways to clean themselves. Some clean by themselves, and others get helpers to clean. In the photo essay, some animals like elephants take baths by squirting water on their backs; pigs take baths by soaking and slogging in thick, brown mud, and so on. Some animals, like giraffes get helpers, they get oxpeckers to help picking off ticks; hippos get fish to help get algae off its body, and so on. Animals get themselves clean regardless of their type or size, by themselves or getting helpers. In our nature,  animals use various and different ways to clean themselves.

Animals get help from other animals to clean themselves is a win-win situation. The animals get cleaned, and the helpers get food. According to the photo essay, big fish wait for a cleaner fish to bite off pests on their body, and a moray eel waits for a cleaner shrimp. The animals help help each other. The animal getting cleaned by offering the helpers food, and the helpers get the animals cleaned. The animals work in perfect harmony, they are in a compatible relationship, everyone is getting what they want. 

Humans and animals all live together on our planet. We should maintain a harmonious relationship with the animals. A lot of animals are weak or fragile, this is why we study about them and their habitats, so we can know how to better protect them. In the photo essay, we learned about how animals clean themselves. Some animal helpers and the animals getting cleaned are also in a harmonious relationship. This means the helpers aren't food for them. Even though humans also eat some of the animals, we and most of the animals on earth should live in harmony. 

From this photo essay, I learned about how animals take their baths. They use different ways to clean themselves. Some clean by themselves, and some get helpers. I also learned about how animals work together like the giraffe gets cleaned with the help from the oxpeckers, and the oxpecker gets food. Lastly, I learned about how we can live in a harmonious relationship with the animals, and we should protect the animals and their habitats. Not only can we protect the animals, but also protect the environment.