\he skull tells us that the ferret is a consummate meat eater: the teeth have moved forward and changed into a sawtooth pattern, and are not those of an omnivore like a dog, but those of an animal who evolved into a flesh-rending machine=97a true land shark. The large cranial cavity tells us the ferret has a large brain-to-body-mass ratio, an indication of intelligence. The convolutions tell us the ferret has a complex brain, yet another indication of intelligence. The large region that houses the olfactory bulb (and associated structures) tells us the ferret's brain is specially adapted to sense odors, an indication of the importance of smell. The large cribriform plate of the ethmoid tells us the ferret has a tremendous number of olfactory nerves passing from the interior of the nasal cavity to the cranial cavity, another indication of the importance of smell. The complex, labyrinthine nasal turbinates packed into an inflated, rounded nasal cavity tells us the ferret has an enhanced sense of smell, tremendous evidence for the importance of odor to the ferret. The large, inflated auditory bulla tells us the ferret has sound-sensitive ears. Overall, this is the skull of an animal that has a good memory, great intelligence, uses sounds to detect prey, homes in on them using odor like a flashlight, overpowers them with massive neck and shoulder muscles, kills them with long canines powered by impressive jaw muscles, then renders them into small pieces with a saw-toothed jaw. It is elegant and impressive, and, I, for one, am really glad polecats do not grow to the size of wolves. The point of showing the photo of the skull was to emphasize the importance of the sense of smell to the ferret. At least a third of the volume of the skull is dedicated to the sense of smell (the nasal cavity and the olfactory region of the cranial cavity). A good portion of the brain is likewise dedicated to the sense of smell. There is NO doubt that ferrets place high importance to the sense of smell, and that makes odor an important tool in ANY enrichment program. Bob C [Posted in FML issue 4233]