Combs and tooth brushes

Monkeys don't love water, but that doesn"t mean at all that they don't care about the cleanliness of their bodies. They spent a lot of time doing toiletry: they untangle the tan-gled fur of each other, extract splinters and spines, and then begin the traditional "flea hunt". This daily ritual is done with a particular enthusiasm and dedication. With dexter-ous fingers a monkey combs the fur of its cohort that is frozen from satisfaction, finds a "flea" and... eats it. Earlier it was thought that monkeys do indeed search out fleas. How-ever, it was discovered that these animals almost don"t have parasites, and in each other's fur they seek out not fleas, but little salt crystals, which are true treats for the monkeys.

Sometimes a single monkey struggles to comb with its weak fingers the tangled mane of the old fighter - the troop's chief. Then it is assisted by its cohorts. Among the baboons, the troop"s chief is daily combed by several monkey barbers. They give him a "fashionable" haircut, carefully combing and smoothing the tangled hair.

One scientist told that he saw with his own eyes how a male macaque plucked a female's eyebrows with its teeth and trimmed the too-long facial hairs, also it evened the female's sideburns, and that female left the "cosmetic cabinet" looking much better.

If the monkeys had any kind of toiletry instruments - even such simple combs as those of a kangaroo or a beaver with which they comb their hides, - they, probably, would've achieved even greater art in the barber's profession.

In the beaver's case, the claw of the second toe on the hind legs is notched as a comb. When a beaver wants to fix its hair, it acutely bends back the toe with the comb so that it protrudes sideways, sits onto its tail and uses this comb on its precious hide. Simultaneously, special glands secrete "pomade" - a smelly liquid to nurture the hairs.

It must be said that the animals in general are quite enamored with perfume. Their own musk and other strong-smelling glands aren't enough; they also saturate themselves with other smells. Everyone, of course, knows the attraction of carrion to the dogs and of catnip to cats (also to jaguars and leopards!). South American monkeys delight in rubbing themselves with lemon peels. The bears use tree tar for perfume. They can rub themselves for hours with a piece of cotton wetted in wood polish, if they can get it. The Malaysian sun bears adore... onions. Grasping an onion between two claws they, growling from enjoyment, rub and rub themselves with this bulb. Tears drop from their eyes, saliva from their mouths; merely looking at them, people want to weep themselves, but the bears won't desist until they rub the entire bulb against their fur. Then they also roll on its remains.

The kangaroo has the same, as the beaver, comb-claws and not just on one, but on two toes of each foot - on the second and third fingers.

Many mammals use horns combs, toiletry brushes and scrappers: a cute, squirrel-like animal called the forest dormouse, the bear-like marsupial koala, the Australian echidna, the lizard-like pangolin, the hyrax, the tarsier, the mane rats, several lemurs and even bats. In bats" case the external fingers on each paw are fringed with stiff bristles - a two-sided brush is formed with which they comb their fur.

The most, perhaps, unusual in its construction comb is used by the "flying lemur" colugo that lives in the primeval jungles of Indonesia. Its six lower incisor teeth are inverted externally and their tips point not upwards as the other teeth in the lower jaw, but straight forwards. Each tooth is separated by vertical ridges and looks like a miniature comb.

No one in the animal kingdom has such universal teeth as the colugo does. It can use them not only to scrap away at the soft flesh of the fruits, but also comb itself.

During the day a colugo hands somewhere on a tree, grasping it tightly. Its hide, covered in greenish-yellow powder is completely unnoticeable on the background of tree bark. This powder is produced in plenty by special "powder" glands on its body. If a colugo is touched, then one's fingers turn yellow. By sunset the colugo grows livelier and begins to clean its fur, to comb and clean itself. Then, spreading its "wings" - skin webbing between its hind and front limbs - like a big paper kite it glides from tree to tree in search of fruits and juicy leaves.

A colugo combs many times during the night. Therefore its comb quickly gets overrun with broken ends of hair. A colugo, however, isn't stopped by this. At the tip of its tongue it has many horny bumps. By very quickly licking its teeth, a colugo frees its comb from the hairs.

Did you notice that all the healthy animals always have very clean teeth? (In the rodents case they just appear dark because of the yellow enamel.) How do they manage to keep their teeth in order without dentists?

On the internal side of their cheeks and lips, and in some cases on the side of the tongue, there are small bumps. It's a natural "toothbrush". Every time, when, say, a dog opens or claws its jaws the "toothbrushes" slide up and down the teeth and clean them. The teeth don't rot and are always clean.

Human infants, when they are newborn, have the same toothbrushes in their mouths. The child grows and they disappear. Therefore even the little kids must have their toothbrushes bought in a pharmacy, as well as tooth paste to better clean the teeth. For a human cleans his or her teeth only once or twice per day, and any animal, perhaps, hundred times per hour.

Combs, toothbrushes, scrappers, powder-puffs and ointments for fur and horns - the animals have plenty of it.