Blood Sweat

[Teton Chuck]

We thought this hippo might be dead, but that was not the case. If you look at its back you can see that another hippo inflicted some pretty nasty wounds. It was probably recovering from the confrontation. The following form the San Diego Zoo website explains the pink color. "Hippos have unique skin that needs to be kept wet for a good part of the day. Staying out of the water for too long can lead to dehydration, so hippos try to remain in water during the day. They don’t have true sweat glands; instead, hippos secrete a thick, red substance from their pores known as "blood sweat," as it looks like the animal is sweating blood. But not to worry! The blood sweat creates a layer of mucous that protects hippo skin from sunburn and keeps it moist. It is thought that this mucous may also prevent infections; even large wounds don't seem to get infected despite the filthy water wild hippos sometimes live in." The birds on the back of the hippo are oxpeckers.

[Mike Buckley]

Fascinating, Chuck! What would bring hippos to attack each other?

[Shadowman]

Interesting capture and explanation.

[John 2]

Nice image and interesting. Even better when you learn something at the same time. Keep them coming.

[Wavelength]

Nice story and image

[Teton Chuck]

Thanks to all for the comments. Mike, hippos are territorial and a dominant bull hippo has a harem that he defends from other males. Their big teeth are used to scare off intruding bulls or to fight with them if necessary. The teeth are also used to attack other intruders in the territory, including crocks and humans. When we were on the rivers with the hippos we were careful not to get to close to them in our boat for fear of an attack. One interesting fact about hippos is that they cannot swim. They just "run" across the bottom of the water they are in. At one point we watched the bubbles of a hippo that walked under out boat. It got our attention.

[bnnrcn]

Thanks for the interesting image and the explanation

[IzzieK]

Very interesting fact about hippos with your shot...I am always tuning to your learning channel...it is most educational. Thanks for sharing your shots again, Chuck...

[thegman]

Chuck, very nice shot and excellent explanation. As they say ''everyday is a school day''

[NorthernFocus]

I'd have thought it was dead for sure. Though I guess somewhat larger birds would show up. Thanks for the interesting shot and the explanation.

[Rita]

Now that's a shot we don't see everyday. Love the explanation, learned something new here.