Do Bearcats Smell Like Popcorn

Bearcats emit a musky, buttery aroma from their scent glands, which closely resembles the scent of freshly popped popcorn.

Webscientists say they've solved why bearcats, or bintorongs, smell like hot popcorn.

Webwhy do bearcats smell like popcorn?

While the scent in question is unusually pleasant, the source of the scent is less than appetizing.

Webnot only do they soak their feet in it, but they also drag their tails through it, ensuring everything around them smells like crunchy, buttery goodness.

Webresearchers have ferreted out why the binturong, a threatened southeast asian mammal also known as the bearcat, smells like popcorn.

As it moves about, the binturong.

Webthey smell like buttered popcorn.

Webbasically, bearcats smell like popcorn because they run around drenched in their own urine.

Webof all the things that the bodily fluids of a binturong (also known as a bearcat) could smell like, perhaps the last thing you’d expect would be hot buttered popcorn.

Why Do Bearcats Smell Like Popcorn? It's All In The Science — And Their

Special glands on the rumps of binturongs, or bearcats, excrete a chemical that smells like popcorn.

Webscientists have looked into why this shy, secretive southeast asian animal also called the bearcat emits such a strikingly odd smell, but prior investigations into the scent glands of the binturong ( arctictis binturong) turned up empty handed — though uniquely smelly handed, we assume.

And for good reason — the chemical compound that.

Hot, buttered popcorn urine.

The smell doesn't come from the bearcat's scent glands, as previously suspected;