This goat’s goofy face is actually a sophisticated smelling technique
I recently found one of the funniest examples of the Flehmen response I’ve seen. Check out this goat at the No Regrets Farm Sanctuary in Monroe, Oregon — nose in the air, lips all aquiver. He looks goofy as can be, but I love him. The sanctuary posted the video asking, “What in the alien heck is happening?” and explained it helps animals identify different smells.
As we reported a decade ago, the Flehmen response causes the animal to close its nostrils, allowing pheromones to be drawn through a duct behind the upper front teeth into the vomeronasal organ. Megan Shersby at BBC’s Discover Wildlife explains that one common use is by males sniffing a female’s urine to assess whether she’s in heat. While most species sniff the ground, “it’s a long distance for giraffes, so males will nudge the female to encourage her to urinate directly into his mouth.”
The response looks different across species. Lions and zebras curl their upper lip and wrinkle their nostrils. Cats do open-mouthed inhaling. Elephants touch an object with their trunk, then insert the trunk tip into their mouth. According to the Tsavo Trust, it’s not just for males — female sable antelopes use it to synchronize their reproductive cycles, ensuring they conceive and give birth around the same time. Synchronized births give the herd a better chance of survival.
Both funny AND functional! If you want to see a rhino’s version, here you go.
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