It is a matter of common experience that when we feel cold or frightened, tiny bumps, causing a tingling sensation, appear on our skin. These tiny bumps are called goose pimples. Do you know why these occur?
The ‘goose pimples’ get their name from the actual bumps which appear on a goose’s skin when its feathers are plucked.
If you have a close look at the bumps, you will see a hair in the middle of each bump. Attached to each hair inside your skin is a tiny muscle. When you get scared or chilled, messages go shooting off from nerve endings that pick up the feel of cold. In a flash, signals come back to the muscles and as a result each of these muscles tightens up and gets taut. The skin around each hair is also pulled up. The result is little bumps.
This action of the hair standing on its end – actually keeps the outside air closer to the body and helps to keep it warm in case of chill. If you rub your skin the goose pimples disappear due to the warmth produced by the rubbing.
The fur of the animals also rises up due to the same reason. The erector muscle of each hair automatically contracts and the hair stands upright. This is why a cat looks bigger on cold days. This serves a definite purpose in case of animals having fur on their skin. When our ancestors, millions of years ago, had more hair on their body, probably the hair helped them in keeping their body warm.