Ah, there we go! I was hoping for something to show what the confusion was. (just to clarify the point you made War Machine, radiated heat from the rock will be at the same temperature as the rock or less, it cant go higher than the temperature of the rock itself. Much like the moon can never be brighter than the sun)
But you did just tell me what the base issue was, which is that it
feels hotter as a surface. Now that is a different thing altogether, and actually makes a case for the opposite of what you were initially suggesting. Like I said, the 200 degree wood and the 200 degree rock are the exact same temperature. However, we feel them differently based on numerous variables like surface texture and porosity. If you were to sand that same piece of wood perfectly smooth or give it a lacquered finish, it would feel pretty close to the same as that rock. Not because it got hotter, but because you feel it differently on your skin. In other words, its the interpretation of that temperature on your skin that makes you perceive it differently, not any actual difference in temperature. Burns are caused by temperature though, not perception.
In this case, having a 200 degree rock might actually feel hotter to the animal and thus might make the animal use it less as a result of that perception on the skin, even though it was no different in temperature. That should actually protect your animal rather than be problematic for it. Although, I would guess its a slight difference either way.
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