1. The average turd is approximately 75% water. (Diarrhea, naturally, has a higher water content and the opposite is true for the other end of the spectrum.) The rest of a typical turd is made up of assorted ingredients such as undigestable content, both live and dead bacteria, and mucus.
2. There is actually a scientific scale created just for measuring the various types of human poo. It is called the Bristol Stool Scale. Poo may range from 1, which indicates constipation, to 7, which indicates diarrhea.
3. Microscopic bits of poop are propelled into the air every time you flush the toilet. Think you can avoid them by avoiding the bathroom? Think again. (Besides, you have to “go” sometime!) These teeny bits of poop are everywhere in the home, but there is rarely enough to cause any remotely significant harm to us.
4. Poop owes its smell to all of the bacteria it contains. (Urine, on the other hand, is usually relatively sterile.) E. coli and cryptosporidium are just two of the nasties that can sometimes be found in poop.
5. Many animals eat their own poop because it takes two times through their digestive tract to absorb all the nutrients they need. Some animals, such as cows, don’t need to poop before giving their food another go, but many do. It is never a good idea for humans to eat their own poop (or anyone else’s for that matter) and doing so could result in that individual becoming very sick. Besides the aforementioned bacteria, poop can spread diseases such as cholera and could also contain parasites such as tapeworms or pinworms.
6. The reason that most poop is brown is because of the bile and bilirubin it contains. Bile is a fluid secreted by the liver and bilirubin is a result of dead red blood cells.
7. Most birds project their poop out behind them so as not to dirty their tail feathers. However, vultures let it run down their legs in an effort to kill what may be harmful bacteria.
8. Think you can really fill up a toilet bowl? Not compared to elephants, who are capable of pooping several hundred pounds worth of turdage every day.
9. There are actual competitions that involve throwing cow patties or camel dung as far as one can.
10. The use of toilet paper started in China. Prior to its development, many people used newspapers, catalogs or directory pages to cleanse themselves after laying some poop.

I hope you’ve learned something you didn’t know (and probably didn’t need to know!)

Now flush.