I Can Smell A Rat

[twofortheroad]

I've been gifted with a very useful talent which only became apparent when I started living in Chiang Mai. I can smell a rat. If there is a rat within 20 metres of where I am sitting, I can smell it , espescially when it is recently deceased. An enviable talent, I'm sure you'll agree. In the last few days, I wonder whether I have become aware of an equally important skill, namely my ability to smell a snake. For at least three days I have been bothered by a strange odour in my kitchen at home. Like every Thai woman, my wife eats some strange and smelly foods. Despite the fact that there was some grilled sqid on the table and durian in the fridge, I still had this notion that the strange smell wasn't them, or even the combination of the two smells.

This morning (more like afternoon actaully, having watched the late game last night) I was awakened by my daughter-in-law calling me with a definite air of alarm. When I asked what was the problem, the answer was 'ngoo', or as we might say 'snake'. I made my way down stairs to find my frightened son and his wife pointing to behind a cupboard. Equipped with the usual armoury of a long brush, I opened the nearby back-door, moved the cupboard away from the wall and coaxed the indignant snake out. Problem over, snake removed and my esteem increased, all before breakfast.

Munching on my breakfast a thought came to me - could that odious smell have been the snake? I'd like to think it was, as it would be another feather in my cap and a further entry on my CV but I'd never heard of snakes having a smell. Am I giving myself too much credit, or do snakes really have a noticeable odour?

[lovelomsak]

Sorry to say but I donot have the keen sense of smell you have. Could you do me the pleasure of telling me what rats and snakes smell like? Is it offensive? Is it pleasant? Can you describe it please. I am very interested to know.

[rixalex]

I don't think it requires a keen nose to sniff out dead rats. Live ones, yes. If you can do that you must be cross-canine!

[twofortheroad]

Sorry to say but I donot have the keen sense of smell you have. Could you do me the pleasure of telling me what rats and snakes smell like? Is it offensive? Is it pleasant? Can you describe it please. I am very interested to know.

I'm still not sure that the smell in the kitchen was a snake, hence the post.

I can detect dead rats, sooner than most other people around me can, but live rats odour mostly comes from their urine which is quite unpleasant. You would only notice it near their nest. In the past, I've had to remove a dead rat that was stuck behind a partition (as I pulled on it, it fell apart revealing a mass of maggots    ), and I could only do it with a lot of vapex rubbed around my nose. Even then it was so bad, it had me gagging. One of those smells that you just won't can't get rid of.

If you want to test your skills there are plenty of rats around the moat late at night, espescially after the bars/restaurants have left their black bags of rubbish out.

[NancyL]

In a former life Hubby and I had a greenhouse/nursery operation in an area with many similar businesses. Nearly every facility had a resident terrier for critter control. Rats, mice and voles, especially voles can wreck havoc with plants very quickly. The value of the terrier isn't in their killing ability -- actually they can mess up plants pretty badly in their effort to get to a critter. Their real value is in how they patrol an area, sniffing and become very interested once they detect the odor of a rodent. All we had to do was watch the dog to knew when and where we needed to apply fresh rodent bait. So, I'm sorry twofor, I'm not overly impressed with the ability to sniff out dead rodents given that I've lived with a dog who could detect the odor of live ones.

The dog totally ignored snakes and toads. They didn't cause crop damage so that was OK. However, it would have been nice if she'd shown interest in rabbits -- but I guess we needed to employ a dog of a different breed for that problem!

[angiud]

Can you try with truffles?

[rebo]

I bred pythons 30 years ago. They don't have any inherent smell but their excrements stink horribly.

[Donnyboy]

the thai government would truely be after your olfactory talents as theres one (dont know if its a rat or snake) thats keeps escaping their reach

[realthaideal]

I can almost smell some koala right now..... Blinky ?! Any comments on this unlikely ability ?

[IanForbes]

I can also smell rats, and I do believe it is their urine. Two years ago I had rats coming into my house from the plumbing entrance under my sink and even after killing all the rats I can still smell them when I open the cupboard door... even after washing out the area with bleach.

I'm comfortable handling snakes of all varieties and can't say they have a lot of smell attached to them, but I'm certain some mamals can smell them... dogs for instance. There is a certain smell attached to snake farms but I'm not certain it's the snakes or just the environment they are living in.

[greasemonkey]

I also can smell live rats from a fair distance, and dead 'uns from even further. Dunno is it their urine, or some kind of stuff that oozes from their skin to keep their fur healthy. Speaking of fur, I cannot help but wonder why Mr Forbes is shaving a rat. Is it still alive, has its fur any comercial value? If so, where can I sell it? Coz I'm doing battle with the varmints in my mobile home.

Or does he use fur for making fishing lures.......?

Just a guess.

[kawtot]

IanForbes:

White vinegar is supposed to neutralise urine odour.

I had rats in a wooden cupboard once - washed it out with 20% eucalyptus oil and water, then sprayed it with Mr Sheen (furniture polish) with never a hint of rat thereafter. Hmm... don't know if you can get either product here, though...

[lingnoi1977]

Scent of a woman - I can smell what they are wearing.

Just call me Al

[IanForbes]

Scent of a woman - I can smell what they are wearing.

Just call me Al

Ah, that's another story altogether. I'm the same and it's amazing the effect it has on a man. I might be thinking of something entirely different and a woman with nothing more than bath soap scent goes by and my brain clouds up instantly. Whenever I buy soap at Tescos I always ask one of the pretty staff what soap they would choose... and I do the same. It's not that I want to smell like a woman, but my lady friends like it when they come over.

And yes, I was shaving that rat for its fine fur used in making trout flies.

[rixalex]

I can detect dead rats, sooner than most other people around me can, but live rats odour mostly comes from their urine which is quite unpleasant. You would only notice it near their nest.

Seems like what you are smelling then is piss and crap, rather than the animal itself.

I dare say we all know what a human turd smells like, but we don't go around claiming ourselves able to smell humans, do we?

(that said some humans do of course carry a scent )

[gotlost]

I can detect dead rats, sooner than most other people around me can, but live rats odour mostly comes from their urine which is quite unpleasant. You would only notice it near their nest.

Seems like what you are smelling then is piss and crap, rather than the animal itself.

I dare say we all know what a human turd smells like, but we don't go around claiming ourselves able to smell humans, do we?

(that said some humans do of course carry a scent )

Just walk down Loi Khro or go by Spicy at night:lol:.

Edited June 13, 2010 by gotlost

[Donnyboy]

Scent of a woman - I can smell what they are wearing.

Just call me Al

Hooah

[Lizard2010]

Sounds like a lot of fishy smells to me!!!

[BigWheelMan]

When I lived in Africa out in the bush, I obtained a sixth sense.

Could smell a lion from a mile off, especially the red ones.