The Spice Rack

Every year, around Christmastime, my wife and I go to visit her family in the city where she originally comes from.  This trip is usually associated with some last minute Christmas shopping, and one place that we always, 100% of the time, visit is a spice store that she loves.  Every wall is lined with tiny little jars, some of them very familiar - cinnamon, oregano, curry powder - some of them less so, more exotic spices, or specialty blends of the store.  Whenever we leave, I always find myself wishing that I could just grab a few samples of the stranger ones - but not for me.

One of the simplest, most basic enrichment opportunities is olfactory enrichment, or introducing novel scents to a habitat.  It's appeal varies across taxa.   Most birds, for example, are not going to respond too strongly to it, if at all (though the olfactory ability of many birds is something that appears to have been underestimated).  For more nose-centric animals, such as wolves and other canines, scent can be a delightful treat.  

Reactions to different smells vary.  Anise is said to have an impact on dogs similar to what catnip has on cats.  Some keepers can be a bit lazy with enrichment and just sprinkle some spice in a corner, and then consider that enrichment box checked for the day.  Like any enrichment, the secret is to keep things novel and not use the same scent daily (at least I assume so - there are some spices that I could happily smell all day, every day, others I could leave on the shelf and never miss) - hence my fascination with the variety seen at the spice store.  

Spices aren't the only olfactory option, of course - there are perfumes (best used in moderation, in well-ventilated areas), extracts, and even scent from other animals, vet approved, of course.  I know of one zoo that had a rabbit that used to be brought into the jaguar exhibit, while the cat was locked up in holding, of course, and allowed to hop around while the keepers cleaned.  When they were done, the rabbit was removed, and the jaguar had an interesting scent trail to follow.  I often wonder what the frequent smell of jaguar did to that rabbit...

Scent can also be incorporated with other enrichment objects.  You can spritz some extract on a boomer ball, for example, to encourage the animal to investigate it.  In doing so, it will probably move the toy around, and that initial motion will usually encourage the animal to continue batting it around.  The best enrichment, I find, is one that incorporates a lot of different senses and different activities, so there's really nothing that can't be improved with a little scent added.  A well-stocked spice rack, I would say, is an essential component of any enrichment workshop.