Sometimes I can remember the steps that led my thoughts. Lynn has said a couple of times that birds don't have saliva. She implied that means they can't taste hot seasoning put in some bird foods to discourage squirrels from eating the food meant for birds. I had my teeth cleaned yesterday and the hygienist said that I have good saliva flow and that helps my mouth and tooth health. I don't tend to think of saliva as something my body makes but I do realize that all four times I have had my DNA analyzed, the first step was to wet a toothbrush-like implement and send it to the analysis company. We had that chipmunk bothering things in our garage and he made his biggest mess on top of Lynn's kiln by disturbing some small potted plants sitting there and knocked soil from the plants all over. That is another substance I don't tend to think about but surely spring is a time to see that soil houses and nourishes plants that nourish me.
I thought of titling this post "saliva and soil", after two substances that I don't tend to see but that are important. When I learned of the book "Believe It or Snot" by Caruso and Rabaiotti, the title was too good to pass up. In looking up books, titles and subjects related to saliva, I found the subject "anal syrup", the stuff I learned to call "ink", as squirted by octopuses and other animals. This book and others are about modifications that may not be well known but matter to the life of an animal.
I learned that the giant pangolin, the giant anteater, has sticky saliva and a tongue that can extend 70 centimeters. It lives on ants and its tongue is evidently its main tool for getting food. I did buy Believe It or Snot and I imagine I will learn all sorts of surprising aspects of animals.
