How Far Rats Can Smell

The sense of smell is an important part of a rat’s life, especially when it comes to foraging for food. The ability to sense smells from a long way helps them find their prey and gain access to it. It also helps them detect changes in atmospheric conditions, such as cold and storms.

Rats are extremely sensitive to atmospheric conditions, and can smell even very faint changes. During cold weather, they’ll seek shelter and warmth. Since most of the time, they spend foraging for food, their sense of smell is extremely important. They’re able to detect even the smallest changes in temperature, so they can pick up food that’s hidden in places.

Rats’ olfactory sense is so keen, they can even smell the breath of other rats. They’re incredibly intelligent, so much so that they can identify their mother’s scent if she’s a few meters away. Because they can detect up to two thousand different scents, they can even detect the scent of food in plastic bags.

One way to detect a rat infestation is to look for droppings. The scent of a dead rat will likely be pungent and can be traced to the rodent’s hiding place. The odor of dead rats is especially harmful, as they exude toxic gasses and microscopic compounds into the air. These substances can reach the respiratory tract and cause illness.