Ask McFartnuggets: “How Come Animals Mark Their Territory With Urine?”

"This is MY tree!"

Dear McFartnuggets: 

My dog pees everywhere and my grandma told me it’s because he’s marking his territory. How come animals mark their territory with urine? -- Beverly from Fort Collins, Texas

Dear Beverly:

Urinating to mark territory is something that animals have evolved to do. Typically if you have a territory and zone that you inhabit you’re going to be urinating a lot in it so dogs pee to show other dogs where their zones are. Unfortunately because most dogs are kept as house slaves these days they don’t get to roam free and set their own boundaries with urine so they wind up peeing all over the place in a blind attempt to claim land for themselves. And it’s not just for dogs either, peeing is a great way for anyone to mark your territory. You don’t want someone sitting on your couch? Pee on it! If you want to save a seat at the movie theater for your friend? Put a little pee on it! (Then don’t tell your friend obviously, they’ll just assume someone spilled a little soda or something, but everyone else will know because they saw you peeing on it.) And if you’re on a crowded bus or subway and you need a seat, just start peeing and watch how fast people get out of your way. Humans are animals too, never forget that. Thanks for the question, Beverly!

Lewis and Clark peed A LOT.

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