Bombs away!

Have you ever watched a couple of farm kids entertaining themselves outside for the afternoon because their mom has directed them to, “get outside and don’t come back in until supper!”?  

Having been one of those kids, I can assure that this happens.  I can also assure you that some afternoons, after all the trees had been climbed, the dogs were all exhausted and laying on the porch (refusing to run and play anymore), all the good hiding places were exhausted for hide and seek, and there is still an hour or so left until the earliest supper time, some interesting thoughts roll through kids’ heads.

 I can also assure you as a kid that grew up helping raise all kinds of birds and other creatures, some of those ideas involve fecal material.  If you have ever held a baby swan, duckling, heck, even a regular old chicken, while standing near your twin brother, then you are likely well-aware of the ability to “weaponize” that birds biological food processing system.  

Yes, you can “aim” fecal material at your sibling (never at parents as that is a bad idea ALWAYS).  The interesting thing is that some creatures produce greater distance with their exceptional efforts!  Fast forward to today and I had no idea that one could study such phenomenons! And from fish-eating birds!  I mean, there is little that is more odiferous and less desirable as a fashion accessory than fish-eating-bird poop!  

It smells worse than rhea poop, worse than peacock poop, and worse than swan poop - you would be wise to trust me on this!  As it turns out, some penguins are better at launching “bombs” than others.  I am hoping for a follow-up investigation to determine degree of accuracy, total volume, etc., but perhaps I go too far?  Either way, I revel in the satisfaction of the validation and normalization of some of those interesting thoughts that rolled around in my head (and my brother’s) when we were young and waiting for supper time…and now, it’s peer-reviewed...

For more by clicking on the link below:

Penguins