Okay, so today I wanted to mess around with something called “flehmen horse.” I’d seen pictures of horses doing this weird lip-curl thing and was always curious about it. So, I started by looking up what it even was.
Turns out, it’s not just horses that do it – other animals like cats and even rhinos do it too! It’s basically a way for them to get a better sense of a smell. They’re trying to get the scent to this special organ they have in the roof of their mouth, called the vomeronasal organ or Jacobson’s organ.
My Little Experiment
I don’t have a horse, obviously, so I had to get creative. I decided to see if I could get my cat, Whiskers, to do it. Now, Whiskers is a pretty chill cat, but he’s also a bit of a scaredy-cat, so I knew I had to be careful.
First, I tried just showing him a picture of a horse doing the flehmen response. No reaction. He just looked at me like I was crazy, which, fair enough.
Then, I remembered reading that it’s often triggered by strong smells, especially urine. Now, I wasn’t about to go collecting pee, so I opted for something a little less… intense. I grabbed a sock that I’d worn all day (don’t judge, it was for science!).
- I waved the sock near Whiskers’ nose, not too close, just enough for him to get a whiff.
- At First, he just sniffed it normally.
- Then He made a kind of funny face, but not really the full lip curl I was hoping for.
I think my sock maybe just smelled normal and Not strong enough, It’s also possible he’s just a weirdo who doesn’t do the flehmen thing. Or maybe I wasn’t doing it right. I watched a few videos of cats doing it, and it seemed like they really lifted their upper lip quite high.
Conclusion (For Now)
So, my experiment wasn’t exactly a roaring success. Whiskers didn’t give me the dramatic flehmen response I was looking for. But, it was still interesting to learn about! I might try again another time, maybe with a different smell. Maybe I’ll try and find some catnip or something. It’s all a learning process, right?
