You smell something?

WOODLAND, Calif. - Something that smelled like a wet dog that rolled in manure and a report of a pungent, foul odor that has persisted for the last 13 years are among the calls so far to a 24-hour "odor hot line."

The city of Woodland set up the hot line this month to help investigate a recent flood of complaints about nasty smells in a place where urban growth has encroached on areas that once were strictly devoted to farming.

"We have had a couple of issues about odor, but when you live in a food processing area and near sewer areas, you're going to get those problems every once in a while," said Marlin "Skip" Davies, vice mayor of Woodland, which is about 20 miles northwest of Sacramento.

Callers are urged to be specific — noting the time, place and wind direction when the odor was detected — and are asked to use descriptors, such as musty, pungent, compost-like, swampy or smelling of wet hay.