Farts are simply gas that comes out of the end opposite the mouth

April 4, 2018 11:01 PM

Last year PhD zoology student Dani Rabaiotti and Virginia Tech ecologist Nick Caruso created the Twitter hashtag #DoesItFart (previously). The resulting database informs the just-published book Does it Fart? A Definitive Field Guide to Animal Flatulence. Bonus: Everybody farts. But here are 9 surprising facts about flatulence you may not know. (h/t ChuraChura)
posted by Johnny Wallflower (42 comments total)

Surely kitties do not fart? They are way too beautiful and innocent and precious to do that.
posted by Vesihiisi at 11:23 PM on April 4, 2018 [10 favorites]

I totally embrace that sentiment. But once I’d tried to catch a feral kitten that had been living under the house, with my bare hands, I also embraced the realization that even at so tender an age, they have a dark side. A furious, razor-sharp, dark side. *shudder*
posted by darkstar at 11:51 PM on April 4, 2018 [3 favorites]

Indeed. I cannot recall now who said it or the precise phrasing, but I recall someone once observing that if you if you confront a baby, a puppy and a kitten with danger, the baby will instinctively turn for help, the puppy will cower, and the kitten will brace its tiny body for frantic resistance.

And of course, kittens are needle-sharp at five of the six ends.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 11:56 PM on April 4, 2018 [18 favorites]

Having read that last link, I’m now tempted to introduce a new segment in my class lectures. It would certainly liven up the “Gas Laws” chapter!
posted by darkstar at 12:03 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

the equivalent of half a 2-liter bottle of soda

Is it because they pay by the word? Or do people understand two-liter bottles but not one-liter bottles?

Anyway, Metafilter: gas-tight Mylar pantaloons.
posted by pracowity at 12:20 AM on April 5, 2018 [11 favorites]

Yay! The UK edition came out a few months ago, but I'm excited to finally get my US copy. I am Twitter friends with Nick and Dani, and contributed to the book - some of those primate fart facts are courtesy of me! Primates do fart, and the ones that eat lots of foliage and/or are hindgut fermenters, v are particularly gassy. Gorilla groups are particularly offensive - farts, burps, belches, etc.
posted by ChuraChura at 12:28 AM on April 5, 2018 [13 favorites]

Have you ever dressed a gorilla in gas-tight Mylar pantaloons?
posted by pracowity at 1:04 AM on April 5, 2018 [6 favorites]

After I read this, I farted. Ah, the beauty of biology.
posted by RoboticForest at 1:49 AM on April 5, 2018 [3 favorites]

Metafilter: After I read this, I farted.
posted by Vesihiisi at 1:54 AM on April 5, 2018 [13 favorites]

I took a championship dual-round of antibiotics back around June of last year and my digestion hasn't recovered since then despite all the probiotics and yoghurt and whatever that I keep taking in.

My farts are... special... and often not to be trusted.

We now end this edition of "more than you wanted to know about me".
posted by hippybear at 2:08 AM on April 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

gas-tight Mylar pantaloons

Surely, the top new user name of the day.
posted by GenjiandProust at 2:16 AM on April 5, 2018 [8 favorites]

Novel science-based excuse: "It was only air that I swallowed".
posted by rongorongo at 2:28 AM on April 5, 2018

After I read this, I farted. Ah, the beauty of biology.

Probably a good thing that farting, unlike yawning, is not contagious.
posted by duffell at 2:54 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Surely kitties do not fart? They are way too beautiful and innocent and precious to do that.

Our Nora had to be kept far away from the milk she so desperately craved because the resulting stench could clear the room.
I had thought that cats, lacking obvious butt-cheeks, were silent but deadly, but kitten cam videos have shown me otherwise.
posted by cheshyre at 5:01 AM on April 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

Is farting like yawning? Where just reading the word triggers it?
Just me?
Sorry.
posted by DigDoug at 5:10 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

I cannot recall now who said it or the precise phrasing, but I recall someone once observing that if you if you confront a baby, a puppy and a kitten with danger, the baby will instinctively turn for help, the puppy will cower, and the kitten will brace its tiny body for frantic resistance.

George Carlin
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:24 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Our Nora had to be kept far away from the milk she so desperately craved because the resulting stench could clear the room.

I guess the recommendation not to give cow's milk to cats is based on good reasons! I'm a bit like your Nora in this respect.
posted by Vesihiisi at 5:24 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

"Beans, beans the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot
The more you toot, the better you feel
So eat some beans at every meal."

Sing along.
posted by mermayd at 5:29 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

I'd rather sing along with Bob's Burgers
posted by fings at 5:33 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

One of our cats is a big farter. usually just as he is falling asleep. Once in a while it's so bad he even offends himself and tries to get away from his own stink.
posted by briank at 5:35 AM on April 5, 2018 [3 favorites]

I warned the vet technicians that my chihuahua farts defensively, which gave them a real chuckle until a few minutes later, when through the closed door of the exam room I heard oh my god and the slide of a window opening.
posted by Mary Ellen Carter at 5:40 AM on April 5, 2018 [22 favorites]

Oh believe me, our cat emits butt smell. And you never know until she is right on your lap.
posted by Kitteh at 5:41 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

I guess the recommendation not to give cow's milk to cats is based on good reasons
Depends on the cat. Just like it is for humans, some are lactose intolerant while others can continue to drink milk with impunity into adulthood.
posted by cheshyre at 5:56 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

The potent stink, research has found, is largely due to the 1 percent

It's true in all areas.
posted by Obscure Reference at 6:14 AM on April 5, 2018 [7 favorites]

Can I sound the trumpet for It's a Gas: A Study of Flatulence (Eric Rabkin, 1991)?
posted by doctornemo at 6:21 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

*foghorn noise*
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 6:22 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

This past year for easter (4/1) the Easter Bunny gave wrapped grapes in chocolate egg wrappers and a fine selection of colorful dried beans in place of jelly beans.
posted by Nanukthedog at 6:38 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

7
posted by the quidnunc kid at 6:51 AM on April 5, 2018

Surely kitties do not fart? They are way too beautiful and innocent and precious to do that.

Read this old AskMe - one I have bookmarked for comedic qualities - and enjoy.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:55 AM on April 5, 2018 [5 favorites]

I saw this on my Twitter timeline the other day and immediately went to Amazon to send a copy to my BFF, without telling her, of course. It arrived yesterday and last night I started getting texts from her like "BIRDS DO NOT FART!" and "DINOSAURS DON'T FART ANYMORE!"
posted by bondcliff at 7:03 AM on April 5, 2018 [4 favorites]

Heh, I preordered this for my kids and I am pretty psyched!
posted by Eyebrows McGee at 7:04 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

99% of farts don't smell.
aint that the truth. and it's such a wonderful activity that everyone is so uptight about.
mainly i think because we've made this choice to live in tiny boxes made out of ticky tacky.
posted by danjo at 7:05 AM on April 5, 2018

Heh, I preordered this for my kids and I am pretty psyched!

Stoked or pent up excitement would have been more apropos.
posted by srboisvert at 8:16 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

We have a chihuahua and while I have never noticed her farting as a defensive measure, she's pretty much a farting machine. Our cats fart too. The big orange one went through a period in his first year where he could outdo the chihuahua in terms of pure stench. But nothing, nothing ever matched the black lab we used to have. To be trapped in a car with him was to experience a pillaging of your nasal passages. Now there was a dog who you could blame your own worst farts on and anyone would believe you.
posted by Ber at 8:16 AM on April 5, 2018 [3 favorites]

Can I sound the trumpet for It's a Gas: A Study of Flatulence (Eric Rabkin, 1991)?

Only if it's a butt-trumpet.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:37 AM on April 5, 2018

Heh! I know someone who made and wore gas-proof underwear and connected them to the internet.

Now I can't find it on the internet outside of my video of his presentation.
posted by Pronoiac at 8:52 AM on April 5, 2018

Now there was a dog who you could blame your own worst farts on and anyone would believe you.

Was it a worthwhile tradeoff, Ber?
posted by Emmy Rae at 9:06 AM on April 5, 2018

Emmy Rae, we love our chihuahua but I'd move heaven and earth if it meant resurrecting that black lab. Among our family and friends he remains a legend, the dog everyone aspires to. Despite the farts.
posted by Ber at 9:13 AM on April 5, 2018 [2 favorites]

Ber, that is so sweet. Sounds like a charmer.

I totally did not mean to imply "was the dog worth it"! Just, would you rather have someone to blame your farts on or not have to smell the dog's farts?

However your black lab sounds like he existed outside of such petty hypotheticals.
posted by Emmy Rae at 9:17 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Beans, beans the musical fruit
The more you eat the more you toot

"Avert your eyes, children!"
posted by Atom Eyes at 9:26 AM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]

Dobbs posted a video about some guy's OOBE Yesterday. Same guy's Tribute to Fatulence is somewhat less charming, but I figure it can go here. Apologies.
posted by Trinity-Gehenna at 1:37 PM on April 5, 2018

Based on the book which inspired this thread, Buzzfeed lists 15 Facts About Farting Animals That Will Literally Blow You Away
posted by cheshyre at 3:24 PM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]