Three blind rats, see how they run

Your average brown rat has long hairs sprouting from the nose, the cheeks and the eyebrows and there are rows of shorter ones along the sides of the mouth. Studies are being done on how they use these sensors to get around.

ARE you ‘the cat’s whiskers’? If so, you have a lot to live up to; feline facial bristles are extraordinary. Whiskers, like other hairs, are just shafts of dead cells growing from skin follicles but they are far from passive. Cold weather gives us goose pimples; our hair ‘stands on end’ when we are frightened.

Follicles, supplied with blood, have tiny muscles which trigger these reactions. Breezes produce a tingling sensation in the scalp; clearly, follicles have nerve connections to the brain. Still, while we can’t consciously move our hairs, the way pussy flexes her facial ones — cat whiskers — help him or her move around safely. Even in broad daylight, pussy won’t enter a narrow space unless the whiskers tell her she won’t get stuck. Most mammals are active by night, relying on touch-sensitive hairs to keep them out of trouble.