Did you know...

That turkey vultures, unlike almost all other birds, have an incredible sense of smell and can smell carrion for up to a mile away. I learned that today. Fascinating.

Never knew that.

Grizzley bear can to.

Really? I learned two things today.

Dirtydog, thank you I'm having it tanned as it's my first. Very cool critters

Its the reason natural gas smells like it doez. If there is a leak they can look for birds in the area.

I caught one in a cage last February. I had baited it with fermented egg 3 weeks earlier and caught a few skunks as well in that cage. 15"x14"
Iv seen where ravens dug at Dholes through the snow.

Ravens have a great sense of smell,a lot of birds do.Look at a birds skull and you can tell the ones with a good sense of smell from all the olfactory openings (and size) behind the beak.

I still know that.
I think Ravens have a pretty good sense of smell also.

Learned that lesson the hard way on a dirt hole with slightly tainted road killed rabbit, lol. Easy to release though.

Ravens can find a tainted beaver carcass under a canopy closure of 100% with the carcass hidden. Don't ask me how I know this.

The mammal with the best sense of smell going by scientist is the bear.

^^^^^
That doesn't surprise me at all. They have an amazing nose.

Yeah we all know bears and canines have great senses of smell. Not arguing that. Just found the fact that turkey vultures can smell carrion over a mile away interesting.

Birds in general are an interesting bunch, most of them are about as stupid as you can get. However, birds like ravens are almost uncanny in the intelligence that they display.
It's no wonder that some native Alaskans think that ravens are their deceased ancestors.
I once witnessed about 20 ravens figure out how to remove a pallet that was covering a few frozen beaver carcasses.

It wouldn't surprise me that vultures are pretty intelligent too. I just haven't observed them like I have ravens.

I did know that Wild Idaho
Thanks for the reminder

Oh yes. Fun to watch while sitting in a deer stand. I used to count in excess of 50 circling.

I understand they go to Hinckley OH.

[quote=charles]Oh yes. Fun to watch while sitting in a deer stand. I used to count in excess of 50 circling.



Maybe ya should move around a little bit while on stand.
Sorry, it's an old joke

Wait until the wild hogs move into your country.

The wild pig's sense of smell is well developed (much better than both their eyesight and hearing) and they rely strongly on it to detect danger and search out food. They are capable of sensing some odors 5-7 miles away and may be able to detect odors as much as 25 feet underground!

Or take a shower once in awhile.

It was actually stated in one of the Jurassic Park movies.

I was watching the second one the Lost World today and that's where I heard it and started researching it from there. Once in a while Hollywood actually is educational rather than propagandal.... if that's a word.

Sounds like the wolverine of the south!

They say a canine's sense of smell is 100 times better than humans. If that's so, why do they have to get so close to sniff each other's arse?

This is why I can't sleep at night!

Because they smell THAT good

That doesn't surprise me that they have great great noses. They stink so bad themselves it is unbelievable. I know of a spot where they roost every night and if you are close to the spot and the wind is right you can smell those birds. They have an awful smell and I dislike them very much.

I'd imagine that anything that spends its time burying its head in a rotten road killed carcass, can't smell too good itself.

Not to split hairs with you, but I worked in the field the last tweny years before retiring, and when we looked for a leak, we looked for dead vegitation over the leak and used "sniffers".

Natural gas has no oder naturally, they add Mercaptain to it to give it the rotten egg smell it has. Most major pipelines have none added till it is branched off for use.

Never once in twenty years did I ever hear of birds used to find a gas leak!

I have a hypothesis that they can't smell an otter carcass. They don't ever touch them.

Did you know that TV protect themselves by vomiting on there victims.

Thank you, i stand corrected. I always wondered when they added the smell.

The turkey vultures, we call them buzzards here, do have a keen sense of smell. How much better than other birds would be up for discussion.

My get a way place is 4.5-5 miles from a mid sized river that has a few buzzards roosts. It also has a few eagle nests in the same area. When we put out carcasses for shooting yotes it is usually the eagles that get there first to feed at it. The crows are always present and come from every direction. The buzzards are last in line.

The yotes feed mostly at night along with the possums and occasional mink. With this cold snap I expect to see a few yotes during the day though.

Two weeks ago I seen my first golden eagles around these parts. I wasn't sure till I talked to a few others that have been seeing them also.