On last week’s puzzler, you had a 50-50 chance. Which way did you go? With the dog or the bear? Who has the better nose?
If you said the bear you are correct! While it is true that dogs have an AMAZING sense of smell, the sense of smell in bears is even greater, which is hard to believe, but that’s what research says.
A black bear and a grizzly bear (also called a brown bear) has a smell that’s 7 times GREATER than a bloodhound! They have over a billion scent receptors in that giant nose of theirs and though their brain is just 1/3 the size of a human’s, the olfactory bulb region of the brain is 5 times larger. That’s because unlike people, bears rely on their fabulous sense of smell for survival. They find food, keep track of their cubs, find mates and “look out” for predators–all with their nose. Some estimates that I found online suggested that bears can smell a dead animal 18 miles away, but I can’t say with certainty that this is not an exaggeration. I can say however that their sense of smell is MUCH better than a dog’s–and that’s saying a lot!
Now on to the next puzzler!
And as always, have a fabulous weekend! See you again soon.