I watched the birds in our garden and was wondering if they feel cold being outside all day. Then I wondered about polar bears and sperm whales too, we always say “their feathers/fur/fat keeps them warm”, but let’s say they didn’t have these factors: Would they feel the same sensation of “cold” like we do or would they not even notice it, does their skin have less sensitive temperature receptors for example?
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Another way to think about this question is how animals cool themselves.
Humans and horses (partly) cool by sweating. That means they will feel humidity as being hotter than animals that don’t sweat and feel cool breezes as being cooler.
Dogs cool by panting (they sweat a tad through their paws, but not enough.) The cooler external air goes into their lungs and transfers heat there. Evaporation also plays a part, but less. This means dogs will not feel humidity as much as humans.
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