Always Useful to Have a Spare Nose
When Copper holds her mouth half open and sniffs (that same pose the family calls the “stink face”), she is using an amazing scent-processing ability made possible by a special organ above the roof of her mouth called the vomeronasal organ (VNO).
Even though you don’t have a spare nose, you can still try out Copper’s technique. Open your mouth about halfway, scrunch your eyes a little, crinkle your nose, and then stick those top teeth way out. Congratulations! You have just done your own version of Copper’s stink face, also known as the flehmen response. You have also really confused anyone who happened to be walking by you.
When you look, you see. When they sniff, you giggle.
What’s that smell? Sometimes you need two noses to tell. But since we don’t have two noses, we humans just have to settle for watching an animal with a Jacobson’s organ, also known as the vomeronasal organ (VNO), put its sniffer to the test. Fortunately, there are many animals out there that have this smelling superpower, so keep an eye out for the stink face on critters like dogs, horses, goats, deer, and of course, cats!
You won't have to turn your nose up to learn more about spare noses.
If you’re sniffing out a trail to learn a little more about the essence of smelling, check out these resources below.
Kids, remember to ask a parent, teacher, or librarian for help whenever you are looking for books or using the Internet. I always try to make sure to share kid-friendly books and resources, but websites are changing all the time, so always check with an adult first.
- This article from veterinarian Dr. Krista Seraydar will give you more than a sniff at how the flehmen response works in cats. https://www.petmd.com/cat/general-health/cat-sneering-what-flehmen-response
- It’s quite amazing to realize how much dogs can “see” with their snouts. Get a whiff of some of the ways they make sense of scents in this video: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-dogs-see-with-their-noses-alexandra-horowitz
- And if you’d like to know all there is to know about your nose, this short little video has lots to tell about how we smell! https://ed.ted.com/lessons/how-do-we-smell-rose-eveleth