The Topeka Zoo is getting a trunk full of cash thanks to its newest gift products: dolls and gifts made from elephants' poop...The process is explained in this video:
Each piece of My Pet Poo sells from around $10 to $25 for custom projects. In addition, each piece is lovingly painted by a volunteer and comes with a certificate of authenticity proving the poop did come from an actual elephant...
And the painted results look something like this (but as the young lady above notes, they come out in all sorts of shapes "from Hershey Kisses to Frisbees" (LOL).
(Top photo viral on web, from source unknown)
Gross. I suppose the staff is getting hazardous duty pay for having to stoop to this?
ReplyDeleteJerry, it's not intrinsically gross. Feces from grass-eating animals is not nearly as pungent or greasy as that from meat-eaters. It's not a whole lot worse than cleaning under the deck of a rotary lawn mower.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet the staff wouldn't say they are "stooping" to do this. People who care for animals have cleaned pens and stalls for generations; the work is just as respectable as that of any other job.
With the high fiber content it can be used for making paper, too. I have a cool little memo book that someone gave me a few years ago with paper made of elephant poop.
ReplyDeleteHey, if people bought the pet rock, I suppose there's a market for this...
ReplyDeleteIf horse apples are a fair equivalent to elephant dung, I still don't think I'd want it in my house. It's like grass clippings, but... brown. And not nearly as nice smelling. It doesn't compare to dog poo, but I still don't want it around.
bunnits, you can buy more of that paper here -
ReplyDeletehttp://www.elephantdungpaper.com/
It's for a good cause as far as I know.
"Oh, great, another crappy Christmas present..."
ReplyDeleteAll that painting makes these looks pretty crappy (hee hee). Years ago there were garden sculptures -- bunnies for instance -- made from cow manure. They did not look gross at all. And the benefit was that they would slowly degrade and help the garden. I made one for a joke for my uncle who was not amused.
ReplyDeleteThanks, MNstan. I can't remember what the note that came with the booklet said about the source. I'll check out your info.
ReplyDeleteI make handmade paper. I thought the elephant dung paper was pretty neat. I also have pet rabbits. Now and then I have considered experimenting with using the rabbits' poop in my paper. What they eat pretty much goes in and comes straight out with little fermentation and there's certainly plenty of fiber. I just haven't gotten sufficiently motivated to try it. I use a lot of junk mail in my paper making and it's a great way to recycle. Maybe I should start recycling the rabbit poop this way.
I have access to lots of caterpillar frass during the summer months...
ReplyDeleteCaterpillar frass--that might work, too. High fiber, simple gut, quick processing.
ReplyDelete