# Which animal has the most offensive natural odor to humans? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 5, 2013, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529 "2013-05-05T06:44:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/1 "2013-05-05T06:44:43Z")
By “natural” I mean its everyday just walking around, non-threatened smell, not it’s ability to produce an obnoxious smell to defend itself via scent glands or other devices. ---
**Author:** ![David\_H\_Singanas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac8455/32.png) [@David\_H\_Singanas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_H_Singanas)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/2 "2013-05-05T08:18:41Z")
ROACHES. I have walked in the door of some fast food places and have been hit with the smell of dead roaches. The last attack of roaches on the Texas Gulf Coast was in the summer rains of 2007. They were actually getting into the apartment refrigerators and were nesting (laying egg cases) next to the fridge lightbulbs. Then, in 2008, all the roaches disappeared both in Corpus Christi and in Houston. The roach population has been reduced to a few weakened survivors, even unto this very day in 2013. Maybe I am wrong about the roach crash, because I have not seen one single news item that chronicles the crash of this genera. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/3 "2013-05-05T13:32:09Z")
(I think this may be an IMHO question.) I’ll vote for the sea lion - especially the New Zealand variety. I approached a couple of these sunning themselves on rocks to get photos. It’s said to be dangerous to get closer than about 20 ft. No worries about that - the smell is simply unbelievable at 30 ft. Much closer than that would be involuntary gag and retch territory. ---
**Author:** ![Motorgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e36b37/32.png) [@Motorgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Motorgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/4 "2013-05-05T14:13:21Z")
The one I have encountered in person was the Tasmanian devil. Its apparently natural BO smells very skunk-like. I’d say skunk, because they smell foul just walking around, not even spraying, but I don’t know if they naturally secrete that smell all the time or if their foul odor is due to them having sprayed something and gotten some on themselves. ---
**Author:** ![YourAdHere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/65b543/32.png) [@YourAdHere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YourAdHere)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/5 "2013-05-05T14:46:50Z")
Perhaps the musk ox? I’ve never smelled one, but given that they are named for their smell, I figure it must be pretty powerful. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/6 "2013-05-05T20:07:22Z")
Buck goat. Eww. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/7 "2013-05-05T20:12:21Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > Buck goat. Eww. No experience with the rest of the animals mentioned except the goat and the skunk. There is something godawful about the male goat. Skunks themselves don’t smell that bad, it’s the things they spray that smell really bad, like the dumb dog I once had. That and the dead ones in the road sometimes. Maybe it’s just the size, but some dead skunks have a powerful long lasting odor that can be detected over a very wide area. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/8 "2013-05-05T20:12:36Z")
I vote for “other humans”. If not, ferrets. About goats: They piss on themselves. _On purpose!_ ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/9 "2013-05-05T20:29:09Z")
Skunks do smell pretty pungent even when they’re just walking around a few dozen feet away from you. However, apparently that’s just leftover odor from spraying; I’ve read that if you remove a skunk’s anal scent glands and then wash the skunk it doesn’t smell any stronger than any other woodland mammal. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/10 "2013-05-05T21:07:36Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Skunks do smell pretty pungent even when they’re just walking around a few dozen feet away from you. However, apparently that’s just leftover odor from spraying; I’ve read that if you remove a skunk’s anal scent glands and then wash the skunk it doesn’t smell any stronger than any other woodland mammal. I never thought that skunks smell all that bad, their spray is just incredibly powerful. It isn’t so bad in reasonable quantities. Puppy breath smells similar to me. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/11 "2013-05-05T21:13:43Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > I’ll vote for the sea lion - especially the New Zealand variety. I approached a couple of these sunning themselves on rocks to get photos. It’s said to be dangerous to get closer than about 20 ft. No worries about that - the smell is simply unbelievable at 30 ft. Much closer than that would be involuntary gag and retch territory. I’m skeptical of this – unless there’s something really smelly special about New Zealand sea lions. I’ve worked with California sea lions. I don’t think they’re smelly – except their shit sure is, and they don’t have any hygienic compunctions about flopping around in it. (They typically wouldn’t need to care, since they’re aquatic critters.) Rocky areas that sea lions use for their sun decks _are_ stinky, though, due to all the sea lion (and sea gull) guano laying all around. I’m guessing that’s what you smell there. Maybe with an added flavor of rotting kelp too. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/12 "2013-05-05T21:23:57Z")
The North American Gaming Geek, three days into a con. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/13 "2013-05-05T21:28:07Z")
People on the High Street bus in Columbus, OH. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2013, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-animal-has-the-most-offensive-natural-odor-to-humans/657529/14 "2013-05-05T22:17:28Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I’ve worked with California sea lions. I don’t think they’re smelly – except their shit sure is, and they don’t have any hygienic compunctions about flopping around in it. I can’t say much about the source of the bad smell - only about its effect. > [@](#): > > Rocky areas that sea lions use for their sun decks _are_ stinky… The general area had a slightly bad smell. The really severe effect was strongly correlated with how near you were to one of the (impressively large) animals.