Can you smell ants?

A ghost, Oreo? There are many things we can’t see but just sense, aren’t there?

Granfromafar
Never put my nose near enough to ants to smell them, but recently have found that I can hardly ever smell roses, which is a great shame. ''

My s-i-l very recently had hearing aids fitted and found to his surprise and pleasure that he can now smell roses again and has a better sense of taste
I read there is some evidence for the interlinking of the senses through the brain

That’s spooky *Oreo

I have come across asparagus pee & can smell freesias & roses but have never smelt ants. I smelt a rat in the garden shed but it was a while before we eventually spotted him.

Occasionally I smell parsnips in the kitchen even when I’m not cooking with them

Asparagus might be the most common reason for stinky pee. The harmless odor is caused by a breakdown of asparagusic acid. Your genes affect whether you can smell these sulfur byproducts. If you can't, that's called asparagus anosmia.

Had to google this so I thought I would share

As I have very little sense of smell or taste, I couldn't smell them anyway.

For the last few months I’ve had no enthusiasm for any work in the house whatsoever which isn’t like me at all.

I have an incredible sense of smell, DP calls me super nose🤣
Only see ants rarely didn’t notice a scent to them.
We have a guest room which now and then smells of cigarettes and old clothes. We don’t smoke, have lived here a while and it’s been decorated twice.it’s an old house but is still a bit weird.You can go into that room 10mins later and the smell has gone.

Nannan2

Elegran- i also have no enthusiasm for household tasks ever 😂...but sadly still have to do them.😞

What a pity we can't swap. I am always full of enthusiasim but outdoors is another matter entirely.

I have three large, bristly hedges that need cutting if anyone can work out a way to swap housework for gardening online!

Personally, I have never smelled ants, but I attribute this to never having had them in my house, only seen them outside.

Mice I have smelled and on doing so taken the matter up with the nearest cat and left it to deal with the matter, unless I could clearly see where the wretched beasties had got in to the house, in which case I block up the mousehole myself. (Not a service housecats offer, after all).

Freesias and every other flower I can smell quite clearly, but then of course how would I know if there was a smell I could not smell?

I am not away of having been asked, "Can't you smell this?"

While we are on the subject, quite often about an hour before dinner-time, I smell cooking. This is clearly imagination, as we live in a house, and the neighbours are just too far away for it to be their cooking I smell.

Do any of you smell things that aren't there?

I never knew ants had a smell, never had that much to do with them - you learn something new every day! I can smell freesias, but can't smell orchids (apparently most people can't). I learned that from a talk at the garden centre from an orchid expert - another school day!

I've never smelt an Ant but I have smelt freesias which are my favourite fragrance in a flower. Had them in my wedding bouquet (Freesias, not Ants!)

Australian Green Ant Gin has real ants in it and they smell and taste of lime

It's a genetic thing, like when people say parsley tastes bitter...
honey.nine.com.au/latest/what-do-ants-smell-like-why-do-ants-smell/f808871b-a965-4094-bdb5-82809fc56126

I ate a lovely lemon flavoured ant when on holiday on one of the Queensland islands, Magnetic island. I had to brace myself because the idea of eating them was nasty but they really did taste nice. They did have a slight lemony smell.

Never put my nose near enough to ants to smell them, but recently have found that I can hardly ever smell roses, which is a great shame.
PS What are household tasks?

MaizieD

How did freesias get into this, OP?

I can smell freesias, but not ants and I have no enthusiasm for anything as it has rained solidly from the moment I woke up (about 6am) and it promising to go on raining all day...

Our heavy rain day was yesterday. I cleaned the fridge and binged watched tv.
You'll probably be back to warm.and grey tomorrow MD😂

Freesias delicious
Ants never got close enough to smell them!

I'm like you Watermeadow. I can't smell much at all. I can taste a little bit but go mainly by texture, thanks to chronic sinusitis.
I know if there's a strong smell by the way it makes my nose hurt inside, gives me a headache or, in the case of my cats' pee, makes my eyes water. My children always say I would be good to work in the zoo because I can't smell the bad things.
PS I never knew asparagus could pee.

There was a time when that was the theory.

But it fell apart when they had the pee checked by those who had not peed it.

Good example of a bad science.

I never knew there were unscented freesias- i thought all flowers were scented..

Elegran- i also have no enthusiasm for household tasks ever 😂...but sadly still have to do them.😞

It's early in the morning, so it took me a few seconds to work out asparagus pee! Anyway, the penny eventually dropped.
I really admire and respect ants, but cannot smell them. Freesias, yes, if they are the scented ones. The ones without scent are pretty, but disappointing. Same with roses, I prefer a rose with a perfume.

Yes - I can smell formic acid .

The worse thing for me are maggots .

One of my neighbours always has a maggots in her food bin .

I've retched before now .

When I disinfect my bins after emptying I also douse her bin for which she is very grateful .

I say nothing about the maggots, but I found out that she has a very poor sense of smell - unlike me !

I took care of my son's formicarium for a year while he was working away. Although it was supposedly sealed one ant came out every day and did a recce around my desk. All the others stayed inside and eventually there were tiny baby ants. One of the most remarkable things I've done, feeding them and keeping them alive and watching their fascinating lives. No smell from them.

I ve never smelt ants even in a nest Freesias yes of course
they re lovely No idea about asparagus pee no one in the family can afford asparagus

I can’t smell anything much but can manage strongly smelling flowers with the sun on them.
I can’t smell bodily pongs like dog poo, cat sick, sweat nor, unfortunately, gas.