The Scoop On Poop

Around here, we know all about poop, and figured we might as well share.
Of course, if you live with animals of any kind (except stuffed), then you know all about poop, too.
Catlinite knows a little bit about poop, too. Don't ya boy?

But I betcha didn't know that there is a science called: Scatology, did you?
Well now your life has been changed! Now you can brag to everyone you know, that Scatology is the study of feces. Wow! How amazing is that, people?

And another bulky nugget of interest I really didn't care to know about, has kind of stumbled into my lap...so I'm going to toss it into yours:

Coprophilia, also known as fecophilia, is a sexual attraction to turds.(Ewww!)

And Coprophobia, also known as fecophobia, is a strong fear of any kind of poopie or human excrement. (I'd fit into this category, if I really had a choice. But I don't. So, I have to deal with it, buck up, and muck up!)

And let's not forget the oh so delicious practice of:
Coprophagia, which just so happens to involve the consumption of crap, which is normal behavior in certain animal species, but rarely practiced by humans. (Thank God!)

And something a little more saner(if anything in this blog post can be construed as such):
A coprolite is a fossilized doodie.

And did you know that there is a website devoted to nothing but poop?
There really is...go check it out(you just know you really want to):
All about Poop

But this post isn't about human poop, or even fossilized dinosaur turds. It's about the stinky matter that farm animals leave behind for humans to scoop, rake, shovel, scrape, and muck up.

I've been compiling an interesting list of the names people often give to animal poo, and oddly enough they all seem to lead to food names. Why do we do that?
Is it so that the job of mucking and shoveling doesn't seem as unpleasant?

Oh sure. "Look! Some lovely goat berries to harvest" or "How lovely. My adorable horsie left me some pretty little apples to pick."
People are weird, don't you think?

On our little ranch we have a wonderful variety of edible
sounding animal poop, such as:

Horse Apples
Llama (Lima)Beans
Goat Berries
Sheep nuggets
Chicken squirt soup
Cat Tootsie Rolls
Kitty bon bons
Mouse jujubees
Guinea Pig Banana Beans
Lawn sausage (dog)
Meadow muffins (cows/horses)
Rabbit raisins
Dingle berries (poop balls adhering to the hair around the anus)
White wash (birds)

And not far from us are animals with scrumptious sounding poop, too, like:

Buffalo chips
Cow pies
Cattle cookies
Elk duds

Now, doesn't this just spike up your appetite? Let's all run to the store for some Moose Tracks, alrighty?

Ok, let's get down to business. If you have to use the kitty litter box, go now.
Or else, please sit down with that bowl of Moosetracks and read on.

Ever since last winter, I've been having a manure issue with my two llamas. Oh no, you say. "Not those smart little buggers." Well, yes.
They seem to think their living quarters also serve as their potty. I want them to deposit their beans into a neat little pile on the far side of their pen, in the area not covered by the roof.
They don't want to get wet or be inconvenienced in any way. And while I appreciate their feelings, winter is coming and they do need to share their pen with 5 goats and 2 sheep, who probaby don't want to squeeze into the leftover space not covered in a mountain of llama beans.
So, we had a talk.

And they decided to do as I asked.But not without a little grumbling and some coercion on my part.(notice that plastic pet fence back there?)And that upside-down wheelbarrow? Yes, I literally had to block off any areas those two hairy beasts decided to plant some beans. Thank goodness it's only temporary. Looks like the Clampett's junkyard in there.

Now onto other poopie discussions.

If you have a horse, you know how much poop they can create. Oh excuse me: Apples and Meadow Muffins. Sheesh.
It's one thing, if they are usually tidy little poopers, like my mare, Baby Doll, who mostly uses one area or corner of her pen or paddock to leave behind her pretty gifts of chocolate muffins.
But sometimes she gets a little absent-minded while out riding. She'll have plenty of opportunity to scatter poop in the grass, where the poop will melt back into the earth eventually, but instead she'll decide that leaving a trail of her chunky apples in the middle of the road is much better.
"Yes, my pretty painted pony, I am talking about you"


If you have chickens, you also know alot about poop. You know not ever to walk around barefoot where chickens have waddled, unless you like a gooey feeling between your toes. You know that it's quite shocking how much poop a coop full of large birds can contain.

Hey I like that.

Poop Coop. Coop of Poop. Poopie Coopie.

Baby Doll and I prefer to stand outside the coop and enjoy watching our chickens sometimes. She doesn't like chicken doodie on her feet either.

If you have goats, you know that they don't care at all where their tiny doodie berries end up. In fact they will even pee and poop while walking along, as if they aren't even aware they are doing it.
We used to bottle-feed and keep our cute little Mud Pie inside the house. But Moon Pie kept us so busy scooping up little trails of goat berries, that we knew it was finally time for him to lead a normal goatie barn life.
My dear Luna is notorius for stopping and squatting to pee and poop whenever she feels threatened. She will also poop on the hay, so the other animals won't eat it. But then she'll decide that she doesn't want poop on her hay either, even if it is her own, and she put it there.

Cats are another critter you've got to watch out for. If they live outside, they tend to choose your child's sand box to leave stinky presents in, or maybe even your flourishing veggie garden. Mmmmm! Isn't it great to be picking weeds and your knee squishes into a kitty turd?
"No, Catlinite, Oreo is not pooping in your paddock. He has a litterbox in the barn...and he'd better use it"

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this wonderfully educational, and hopefully entertaining scoop on poop.

And yep, you guessed it. This is The End!