This thing would never wash away fleas! You will notice that the lower primates 'groom' each other by picking vermin from each other's hair and they eating the 'finds'. This type of 'grooming' and eating is a sure way to get protien and it is much easier than going out and working for a meal. What the creature is problably doing is 'cooling' itself. Since the 'white' bwana has been dumb enough to dig a well for this tribe, they no longer have to make the trek to the nearest dung and urine infested water hole to drink and cool off with the other 'beasts' of the jungle. By having a well in the middle of his mud hut metropolis, he steps out of his dung heap, goes a few steps to the well, and returns back to his hut and proceeds with what this primitive does best. Procreation.