Eweoooo! What was that smell???

[erugs]

Brian and I hiked Garfield on Saturday. We noticed the smell of the new bridges on the road walk in to the trailhead, then after the first ten or so minutes of hiking we began to notice a different, and very "deep" smell. It wasn't a solid "wall" of odor, but was consistent every little while until the intersection with the trail with the bridges (ski?). Then we only noticed it another few times. On the way down, we didn't notice it at all.

It smelled like a combination of skunky mixed with the worst flatulence my "granddog" Penny lets fly.

So what do you think it was?

 

[Tom Rankin]

Brian and I hiked Garfield on Saturday. We noticed the smell of the new bridges on the road walk in to the trailhead, then after the first ten or so minutes of hiking we began to notice a different, and very "deep" smell. It wasn't a solid "wall" of odor, but was consistent every little while until the intersection with the trail with the bridges (ski?). Then we only noticed it another few times. On the way down, we didn't notice it at all.

It smelled like a combination of skunky mixed with the worst flatulence my "granddog" Penny lets fly.

So what do you think it was?

We noticed the Bridge smell a few weeks ago, but no other smell. Maybe there is a dead animal near the road?

 

[Kevin Rooney]

The only smell I associate with FS bridges is creosote, but am reasonably sure they stopped using timber treated/dipped in creosote some years ago.

 

[erugs]

We noticed the Bridge smell a few weeks ago, but no other smell. Maybe there is a dead animal near the road?

The smell reminded me of something perhaps marking territory. Not constant, not near the road, not *that* kind of bad smell. I think the bridge smell was of creosote; reminded me of replacing sills in my antique cape 30 years back.

Brian and I were playfully suggesting that it was of Sasquatch, when all of a sudden, around a bend in the trail, a figure with a full, icy beard approached us. (He and the one other hiker we had met that morning also smelled it.)

 

[erugs]

The only smell I associate with FS bridges is creosote, but am reasonably sure they stopped using timber treated/dipped in creosote some years ago.

Well, then, what would that smell have been?

 

[Kevin Rooney]

Well, then, what would that smell have been?

When I read your first post, my initial reaction was "dead animal", same as Tom's above. Cresote has a deep, pungent, almost overpowering smell, especially if it's within the first few years of building something with it. Of course, the smell of creosote is much stronger in a warm summer sun than a cold, winter day.

 

[erugs]

When I read your first post, my initial reaction was "dead animal", same as Tom's above. Cresote has a deep, pungent, almost overpowering smell, especially if it's within the first few years of building something with it. Of course, the smell of creosote is much stronger in a warm summer sun than a cold, winter day.

There were two distinctly different smells, and they were in two locations, enough distance from each other. I am familiar with the dead animal smell, and it was not that, either.

Do coyote leave a scent? My dad told me many times that bear smell skunky. What was significant about this smell, besides not being pleasant, and something that we couldn't identify, was that it was spotty throughout a 20 minute period of walking along the trail. If you were exhalling at that moment, you might even miss it.

 

[Raymond]

Thirty or so years ago, my friend Bob would have said it was the Androscoggin.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

The only smell I associate with FS bridges is creosote, but am reasonably sure they stopped using timber treated/dipped in creosote some years ago.

We went by that way a few weeks ago. The bridges definitely smelled of creosote. If it wasn't creosote, it was another product that smells the same

The other odor was not there at that time.

 

[Snowflea]

There is an over-the-counter herb called valerian that is used for insomnia. It smells somewhat like what you describe--sort of an old cheese, rotting smell.

I have smelled it--or something very much like valerian--in the forests of the Northeast frequently but never in winter... although the winter back there has been so mild, so maybe...?

As a side note, a couple of days ago I was trail running in the Marin Headlands/Mt. Tamalpais north of San Francisco and kept smelling (I presume) a plant with a urine like scent. Ick. Never smelled THAT on the trail before!

 

[1HappyHiker]

Ellen, this is a point of controversy , but I've been told that during certain weather conditions, there is sometimes an odor emanating from the Bethlehem landfill which is located nearby on Trudeau Road. I've never experienced it, and so I cannot describe the odor. Just thought I'd offer that as a possibility.

 

[Ed'n Lauky]

There is an over-the-counter herb called valerian that is used for insomnia. It smells somewhat like what you describe--sort of an old cheese, rotting smell.

I have smelled it--or something very much like valerian--in the forests of the Northeast frequently but never in winter... although the winter back there has been so mild, so maybe...?

Are you sure it wasn't Stinkyfeet you smelled?

 

[bikehikeskifish]

Sorry, I cannot resist trying out this feature



Tim

 

[Stan]

My guess is that you smelled scentposts left by either coyote, fox or bobcat. I'd rule out deer, being prey animals they don't like to advertise their presence very much except during mating season in October and November, or moose, whose presence would be so conspicuous in other ways.

All three do mark their territories, especially as mating season is about to begin. All three mate in late February and March and, with such a mild winter, they may be early. None go through quite the rituals and battles of bull moose or bucks but they do have territoriality about their food and their prospective mates ... the scentposts are like kiosks in the animal world and have a Valentine's message for females of the species. How romantic!

As to which one, I'd go with a combination of coyote and fox by your descriptions. It would be helpful to know more signs, like tracks and scat. Coyotes and fox will also leave scratch marks on the ground near the scent, not that they are attempting to cover it up like cats, it's their way of wiping their feet.

The scent of bobcat spray would not be unfamiliar to anyone with domestic cats in the neighborhood. The scent of fox has an undertone of skunk. Can't say I've ever identified coyote scent with any certainty but I estimate that some of the scents were coyote by the process of ... shall we say ... elimination.

 

[erugs]

It would be helpful to know more signs, like tracks and scat. Coyotes and fox will also leave scratch marks on the ground near the scent, not that they are attempting to cover it up like cats, it's their way of wiping their feet.

The scent of bobcat spray would not be unfamiliar to anyone with domestic cats in the neighborhood. The scent of fox has an undertone of skunk. Can't say I've ever identified coyote scent with any certainty but I estimate that some of the scents were coyote by the process of ... shall we say ... elimination.

I tried to get some pictures of the tracks. One is of multiple tracks down near where the smell was. The other two were from nearer the summit. The maker seemed set on where it was heading.

 

[erugs]

I might have my answer. Was looking through Tracking and the Art of Seeing. The chapter on red fox described red fox scents. The scent of urine is greatest in January,February and has a skunk like smell. If conditions are optimum the scent can be smelled 30ft away. Coyote smell is faint in comparison. This guide is written by Paul Rezendes. It appears a fox was out marking its territory at dawn which had become faint as evening approached.

 

[Stan]

That would be my guess based on your information and what I could see from the photos, the stride of which seemed too small to be a coyote but of similar characteristic to a bobcat. A big difference with the bobcat is that its retractable claws would not be visible in the print though the age and medium of the fox print might not reveal the claws either.

You said there were two eweoooo odors, was the other the bridge preservative or another animal?

 

[gaiagirl]

Hi Ellen,

Fox scent is indeed quite skunky and probably even more strongly so right now during breeding season. That being said, it has never hit me in the way that you describe, but this may be because it is familiar and I know what I'm smelling for certain. You do have fox tracks in the first picture, hare tracks in the second, and I believe, possibly fisher in the last. The last pic seems to show a "bounder" for certain, which includes all the weasels, which move like a slinky as they leave the ground. It would be hard to know for sure if you were smelling something else as well, but definitely make note of any other instances of this elsewhere, especially during this time of year in late-ish Winter.

Happy Hiking!

 

[erugs]

Stan - the first odor was certainly from the bridge, and then there were the spots after we were on the trail for a little while where it was skunky/stinky. Brian and I each had noticed it but we did not talk about it right away. Then it became a source of humor . I think you and Chris have identified what it was, fox. Now I'm sorry I didn't get better close-ups of the tracks, but at the time it didn't matter more than being of slight interest. John - interesting thought about the landfill gases. I remember the feeling of irony when living in New Boston, visiting my parents in Pierce Bridge, and bringing my trash back to New Boston with us only to have it transported back to Bethlehem, as our town was on contract to have their trash sent there.

 

[gaiagirl]

No close-up pics necessary, Ellen. Those are unmistakably fox tracks!