Ogden Daily Standard | 1903-06-20 | Page 4 | Odor a Protection for Animals Section

ODOR A protection FOR ANIMALS that the strong odora emitted by many living creatures may play a protective role in their lives has been often suggested writer in the revue tide lakes up this point and concludes that although chii is the case with some animal odors others have different functions says this writer as translated for the literary digest A considerable number of animals as is well known emit strong odors which are generally unpleasant at least to man and naturalists natura lists hava often considered cheso odors as playing an important part in the biology of the animal the odor protects it and serves to drive away possible enemies it is certain for example that the skunk whose disagreeable odor is so strong that ib rc mains from autumn to spring in a place chero one of the creatures has been killed is very generally respected by carnivorous animals but some other odors are hardly protective it is true that they then play another part they constitute a secondary sexual characteristic te often limited to one sex by which the males and females find each other out at the mating season and which disappears when this is over there are some months that exhale an odor of musk only the males have it and these only at the mating season an australian duck emits a marked odor which is restricted to the male and is strongest in spring but with many animals there are strong odors that seem to have no sexual character and to confer no particular protection against other animals in addition it would that certain odors attract enemies crows seem to have a special liking for insects with a strong odor certain birds have a taste for those that exhale a marked odor of prussic acid perhaps we must conclude from these facts that the tastes of animals so far as smells are concerned differ sensibly from ours there are also marked differences of taste between the different races 0 men many savages like odors that civilized man regards as repulsive tha odor of a dead crocodile is delectable to