Al Pacino, as blind Lt. Colonel Frank Slade, spoke passionately about the scent of a woman. However, it is the scent of Thanksgiving that has me enamored.

The roasting turkey, freshly baking bread and pies and fruity cranberry relish stimulates my sense of smell, a sense that would be difficult to be without.

Anosmia is the condition that describes the inability to smell. According to the United States Department of Health and Human services, about one to two per cent of people in North America are afflicted. For some, this condition is temporary, caused by illness and for others, permanent. Unfortunately, along with the loss of smell often comes the loss of taste which is a sensory double whammy.

To understand why, consider the human olfactory system. The sense of smell is part of our chemosensory system. Scent, coming from the microscopic particles release by anything with an odor, can enter our system in two ways. One is through our nostrils and the other is through the channel that connects the roof of our throat to our nose. The latter allows chewed food to integrate into that sensory system and explains the lack of taste when your nose is stuffed.

From these entryways, olfactory sensory neurons that are found in a patch of tissue deep inside the nose connect to your brain to decipher the scent. Each neuron has only one odor receptor but, collectively, can smell up to 10,000 different aromas.

The area in the brain that accomplishes this is located next to the area in the brain responsible for memory and emotion so smells ring bells or as Helen Keller more eloquently observed, “Smell is a potent wizard that transports you across thousands of miles and all the years you have lived.”

As serviceable as our sense of smell can be, author, wildlife artist and Boy Scouts pioneer Ernest Thompson Seton lamented, “Of all the animals, man has the poorest nose; he has virtually lost the sense of smell.”

Animals that exceed our abilities include dogs, bears, insects, moles and sharks, to name a few, and not all need a nose for their scent skills. Insects have a variety of methods; some can use their labellum (analogous to lips), others employ their tarsi (feet) or their antennae to smell. Snakes sniff with their tongue and scent is analyzed in their Jacobson’s organ, which is vestigial in humans.

Along with those differences come superpowers and oddities. For moths, distance is little impediment, since they can detect scent from six miles away. Fruit flies are one-smell wonders; their scent receptors are only able to perceive fruity fragrances. Eastern moles, which are blind, smell in stereo, which allows them to determine locations of food and prey.

Like humans, bears and sharks use their noses, but from there, comparisons diverge. Bears can smell a dead animal from 20 miles away. Their olfactory bulb is five times larger than humans, have 100 times more smell receptors than us and, overall, a sense of smell that is 2,100 times better than ours.

Sharks also impress in their watery world. They can detect the scent of prey at only one part per billion and can perceive one drop of blood in 25 gallons of water aided by an olfactory bulb that is two-thirds of their brain.

For now, forget the dangers and achievements of the animals that exceed our sense-abilities and enjoy the smell of your Thanksgiving meal and the days of delicious leftovers. If there are no leftovers, consider that your holiday meal must have had the sweet smell of success.

Suzan Bellincampi is director of the Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary in Edgartown, and author of Martha’s Vineyard: A Field Guide to Island Nature.