Do pigs sweat? Read on and find out on this Moment of Science.
Ever wonder why pigs roll in the mud? You’d never see a human doing that, unless of course they were mud wrestling. When pigs roll around in the mud, they’re actually trying to keep cool. When they start to sweat, they take to the mud!
Humans get rid of excess heat by sweating. When the sweat evaporates it carries heat energy away from your body, which is why a sudden breeze feels cold when you are wet. Pigs don’t have sweat glands. They have to add moisture to their skins in order to get it to evaporate and take away heat.
And luckily, mud has moisture in it; otherwise it would be dry dirt. Mud may be a pig’s only option if it’s inside a pen. If there were water to splash in, the pig might choose that to cool off.
