In Sumer forest of Kumbhalgarh Wildlife Sanctuary of Rajasthan, the summer is very severe and the day temperature is unbearably high. During May end, hot and dry winds blow constantly all day long.

On May 29, 1999, we were sitting near a waterhole in a hide in Sumer. At 2.25 pm, a jackal waded into the water in the waterhole and started lapping it. After drinking, it looked around, wetted its tongue in water and inserted the dripping tongue into its right nostril. It repeated the process four times. Then it wetted its left nostril by inserting the wet tongue into it thrice. After this it trotted away.

Due to severe heat and dry wind, the nostrils probably became dry and hard causing discomfort and the jackal inserted its tongue into the nostril to moisten the inner side of its nose. A photograph was taken of the jackal wetting its nostril.

The sublime and the ridiculous are often so nearly related that it is difficult to class them separately.

One step above the sublime makes the ridiculous; and one step above the ridiculous makes the sublime again. – Thomas Paine

Published in Journal of Bombay Natural History Society: Tehsin, R. H. (2000) Wetting Of Nostril By Jackal Canis aureus Linn., Carnivora, Family Canidae. J. Bom. Nat. Hist. Soc. 98(1): 97