How humans are hijacking animal scent, the universal animal language
Some humans hope to crack the code, and to start leaving our own smell-messages, like Obsession, to purposely influence the behavior of animals fluent in the language of the nose. And that smells like trouble.
ELIZABETH ANNE BROWN: ‘Animal activists knew her as Avni. The Indian government called her T1. But no one knew quite what to do with the tiger, the mother of two cubs who was blamed for 13 mauling deaths in two years. The Indian government deployed a small army to bring Avni in. Hundreds of foot soldiers, infrared drones, paragliders, snipers, and elephants combed the jungle fruitlessly for nearly two months. By October, with wiley Avni still at large, it was time to break out the big guns, the final line of defense, the Hail Mary. It was time for Obsession for Men. The cologne by Calvin Klein…
The plan was to tranquilize Avni and her two cubs for assessment by a vet and possible relocation to a rehabilitation center or release into a more sparsely populated area. That was best-case scenario. But after much debate, India’s Supreme Court had also given wildlife managers carte blanche to “shoot to kill” if the situation turned violent.
As human populations increase exponentially and wild places shrink, animal-human conflict is on the rise — and with it the demand for products to control animal behavior. There’s a whole industry providing natural and synthetic animal smells — from bottled bobcat urine to “ground, aged and preserved otter glands, ”it can all be yours, and with free shipping to boot”…
Musky colognes like Obsession tap into an invisible system of animal communication—the information superhighway of scent. Urine, musk, and other excreta can serve as a stinky form of “message in a bottle” to the next animal that comes sniffing, providing crucial information that they use to navigate the world. Some humans hope to crack the code, and to start leaving our own smell-messages — like Obsession — to purposely influence the behavior of animals fluent in the language of the nose. And that smells like trouble’. SOURCE…
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