DC National Zoo Animals Love Pumpkin Spice [VIDEO]

WASHINGTON, DC — We humans love everything pumpkin spice around this time of year, but it turns out we're not the only species that can claim that. Zookeepers at the Smithsonian National Zoo in D.C. have found that their big cats really enjoy the spice as well.

Kristen Clark, Great Cats Animal Keeper at the Zoo, said in a recent Smithsonian video that she uses the spice in scent enrichment for a variety of cats at the zoo.

Scent enrichment happens twice a week and has a couple of uses: first, it's a new and enriching experience for the animals to get a whiff of scents they're not used to, and second it can also help introduce animals to each other that ordinarily couldn't be placed in the same enclosure.

Clark says she recently put out a giant hay pile for the male lions that had some pumpkin pie spice sprinkled in it.

The zoo also has a medium-sized wild cat called a caracal, which lives in Africa, the Middle East and in India.

"Our male caracal is particularly fond of pumpkin pie spice as well," Clark said.

The bobcats also get some pumpkin pie spice in their enclosures.

How do zookeepers know they actually like the scents? It's by observing something known as the Flehmen response.

"Generally, the first response you see from a cat when they investigate a scent is they either lick it or smell it, and they go into what looks like a grimace," Clark said, describing the Flehmen response. "If a cat seems to really like the scent, they'll rub their faces and heads into the scent, or sometimes throw their whole bodies into it and just roll around in it."

The Smithsonian National Zoo actually invites the public to donate to the zoo's "Enrichment Program," which allows the keepers to buy art supplies, training tools, puzzle feeders, climbing structures and larger toys for elephants and bears.

"By providing unique forms of stimulation such as puzzle feeders, art supplies and training sessions, animals are given a safe and creative outlet to demonstrate their species-typical behaviors," according to the Zoo website. "Along with naturalistic enclosures and proper socialization, these introduced objects, sounds, smells and other stimuli enhance the animals' well-being."

Image via Wikimedia user Martin Doege