Itchy rhino calf gets interrupted by his mother while enjoying a body scratch

During a recent safari in the Kruger National Park, we came across a family of white rhinos all covered in mud. White rhinos love wallowing in the mud, cooling themselves down and getting rid of pesky insects on their bodies at the same time. Once a rhino finished wallowing in the mud, the remaining mud becomes dry and hard on the skin. Numerous ticks and insects are trapped in the cakes of mud still stuck to the rhino’s body. Their skin then becomes very itchy, forcing the rhino to find an object against which it can scratch its body. Old tree stumps and rocks are popular rubbing or scratching posts. The video shows how the mother rhino and her young calf were using a big fallen tree stump as a rubbing and scratching post. It was clear that the young male rhino was very itchy after his mud bath and needed a good scratch badly. While scratching his belly, the young rhino calf became super excited. It was hilarious to see the little rhino jumping and bouncing around. The relief of the itch was clearly very satisfying. The rhino calf made for very entertaining viewing, scratching its belly from all angles while standing in the most amusing and awkward positions. While the calf was having a blast rubbing his belly against the stump, the mother rhino was standing next to him, patiently rubbing her horn against the stump. Suddenly the mother decided that her calf enjoyed enough belly scratches and that it was her turn to get a good body scratch. The mother rhino gently pushed her calf to the side while moving herself in between him and the rubbing post. To our amazement the young rhino reacted by pushing and shoving his mother in an attempt to move her away and reclaim his rubbing spot. The calf’s mother was not going anywhere. After his funny and very unsuccessful attempts, the rhino calf decided that it was better to let his mother enjoy her scratch and moved away. We couldn’t believe the cheeky attitude the young male rhino showed towards his mother. The calf’s belly must have itched so much that not even his own mother was welcome to use his rubbing post.