It all began with a teenager’s typical and seemingly inconsequential question that stumped a dedicated zoologist: “Do snakes fart?” (The answer, by the way, is mostly yes. But we’ll get to that and more later.)
That zoologist’s name is Dani Rabaiotti, and her brother’s curiosity led her to scour the internet for an answer. This, in turn, spawned the 2017 hashtag #doesitfart, which “spread like a noxious gas” through Twitter. Dozens of noted experts in the science world began to weigh in: Which animals do and don’t fart? If they do fart, how much and how often? What are different animal farts made of? What do various animal farts smell like, and why?
The eventual result of all this investigative work on furry, feathered and other species of flatulence is a hilarious and fascinating new book called — what else — Does It Fart? (Get it at Amazon.com, Kindle $9.99, Hardcover, $13.50, now.)
The tome is an in-depth look into the farting habits of 80 different animals, as masterminded by Rabaiotti, who studies African wild dogs and climate change at the Zoological Society of London, and co-author Nick Caruso, an American ecologist who researches Appalachian salamanders and the amphibians and reptiles of the Florida panhandle. Does It Fart? also includes adorably funny illustrations by Ethan Kocak, because animal fart photography seems tough to capture.
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While we don’t want to spill all the findings of this very important read, rest assured that the most mysterious animal flatulence questions are addressed, including:
- What does a creature need in order to fart?
- Why do clams vomit but not fart?
- Why do hyena farts smell especially bad?
- Why are python farts described as “thick and meaty”?
- Why do turtles “breathe through their butts”?
- What animal has a face coming out of its butt?
- Which animal can die from its own farts?
- Which big cat’s farts smell like dead squirrels?
- Just how bad are dog farts, anyway? (p.s. You can snag that lovely dog fart t-shirt from Amazon.com for $17.99.)
Does It Fart? clearly makes the perfect gift for animal lovers, science geeks and fart-obsessed teenage boys. Sniff one out for the special stinker in your life now.
