All posts tagged: hose

Watch elephants use a hose to shower themselves – and prank others

Watch elephants use a hose to shower themselves – and prank others

Elephants are masters at using a hose – considered a complex tool because of its flexibility, length and the physics of flowing water. Researchers studying three Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) at Berlin Zoo were surprised to see how nimbly they manipulated a hose to shower themselves and seemed to understand how to get the best use out of it. They even appeared to play pranks on each other by stopping the flow mid-shower – either by kinking the hose or compressing it with their trunks. To reach more distant parts of the body, the elephants used a lasso-like technique, holding the hose further from the end and swinging it over their backs. Michael Brecht at the Humboldt University of Berlin says the elephant behaviour around hoses reminded the team of the way children might play together. “Elephants are exceptionally good with hoses and we very much wonder if this is related to the functional similarity of trunks and hoses,” he says. Just as humans are either left-handed or right-handed, African and Asian elephant individuals are …

Watch a clever elephant use a hose to get clean

Watch a clever elephant use a hose to get clean

A pair of elephants at the Berlin Zoo have figured out how to use a hose as a make-shift flexible shower head. Not only do they use the water to get clean, but they have been observed turning the water off, potentially as a kind of prank. The behaviors are yet further examples of tool use in non-human animals and are detailed in a study published November 8 in the Cell Press journal Current Biology. Tool use known throughout the animal kingdom. Chimpanzees use sticks as tools to get to various grubs and honey. Crows also use sticks to probe for hidden sources of food. Humpback whales catch fish in “bubble nets,” which some scientists consider to be a type of tool use. Now, it appears that some elephants at the Berlin Zoo in Germany like to use hoses–particularly an Asian elephant named Mary.  A video abstract for the 2024 Current Biology paper on elephant water hose tool use.CREDIT: Urban et al./Current Biology VIDEO: A video abstract for the 2024 Current Biology paper on elephant …

The best garden hose of 2024, tried and tested

The best garden hose of 2024, tried and tested

  How do you know what size hose pipe you need? Opt for a length that will comfortably cover your garden size. Find out if the hose needs to be cut to create a connection to the tap before you buy, because this will instantly reduce the advertised length. Also think about any obstacles on your lawn that will limit the stretch. And if you want the hose to reach both your back and front lawn via the side of your house, you’ll need to calculate a length that will comfortably reach before you buy. ‘So you can move around comfortably when watering, measure the length from the tap to the furthest point and then add a little bit on,’ says Love Your Garden’s Camilla Basset-Smith. ‘Don’t be tempted to go for a much longer hose than needed as this will add weight and can reduce pressure.’ What is the best hose pipe to choose?  Choose from expandable, retractable and manually-reeling hose pipes. ‘The most durable hose pipes are made of rubber or metal and …