Animal communication
Like this is anything new -- from
Science Blog:
New form of animal communication discovered: Sniffing
Researchers have long observed how animals vigorously sniff when they interact, a habit usually passed off as simply smelling each other. But Daniel W. Wesson, PhD, of Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, whose research is published in Current Biology, found that rats sniff each other to signal a social hierarchy and prevent aggressive behavior.
Wesson, who drew upon previous work showing that, similar to humans, rodents naturally form complex social hierarchies, used wireless methods to record and observe rats as they interacted. He found that, when two rats approach each other, one communicates dominance by sniffing more frequently, while the subordinate signals its role by sniffing less. Wesson found that if the subordinate didn�t do so, the dominant rat was more likely to become aggressive to the other.
My Llamas do this all the time to Lulu and me and to people visiting the farm. People really like it -- very gentle souls...
Posted by DaveH at March 8, 2013 9:01 PM