h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Not shrinking an animal, but animals of a normal size for that animal.

Thought of this yesterday while in late night discussion with housemate, I can't remember why it popped into my head. I think it derived from the "if a tree falls and no-one is around, does it make a sound?" discussion, cuz I thought, you wouldn't hear a moth fart, so would that mean it's fart made a noise? Did it even fart at all? Although a moth would know, due to its sentience, whereas a tree wouldn't know (it just 'is' not 'am').

We fart, dogs fart, cats fart... but I've never heard a hamster (or similar sized creature) fart, I assume they must, because they seem big enough too, so do all creatures fart? Or do they get so small that they lose this ability?

"while in late night discussion with housemate"
Were alchohol and boredem involved in this conversation by any chance? hmmm?

I have had pet rats for many years and I have never been aware of any of them farting. I can't be sure if this is beacuse they don't fart, or if it because their expulsions are inaudible and/or un-smellable. I think you'd need some proper research facilities (perhaps in an evil lab) to answer this question.

IMHO, I think that they would be found to fart as they have a digestive tract with the same functions and structures as all other mammals.

However, I can tell you that rats and hamsters do belch when they have been drinking beer!



QB

Icky - no alcohol involved! Tiredness may have played a part, though this is not an essential for my brain to think of these things.

If rats and hamsters burp, then it is reasonable to assume that they also fart.

So no matter how small animal is, could one assume that it has the function to fart, as long as it is mammalian?

Well, they must be able to pass wind whilst quite small, proved by the existance of the expression "A Gnat's fart".

Did you know seagulls don't have a mechanism for breaking wind. One way that kids used to destroy them in the past was to put bicarb. in bread and leave the seagulls to eat it. The acid in their stomach would react with the bicarb creating CO2, which would swell until they explode. Exit one seagull.
It is also the reason why any excess moisture is released from their tear ducts. aren't I?
All mammals will break wind, especially if vegetarians, due to methane being a waste product, except the larger the animal, the more vegetation consumed, the more methane expelled, as wind either orally or anally.
I am not sure about insects, although Ant and Termite mounds release methane, but this may just be vegetation decomposing in their nests.

If you could measure the methane emissions from an ant/termite hill, and see if they rose, after you'd left some curry nearby for the little guys to eat, this may provide the answer on insects?

It seems to have been determined that mammals of all sizes are able to fart. And seagulls cannot - however, does this apply to all birds?

Also, the obvious follow up question would be - do fish fart?

zzooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

Anyone who has had a will be able to assure you, yes they do.
As near as I can make out all mammals do, all others don't except who, because of the environment the live in, have to be able to expel excess water, and air from their bouyancy bladder.

wow, I've never seen a fish fart I want to buy a fish now so I can see if little bubbles come from its bum

What would happen if a blue whale broke wind? How would a Yachtsman be afected? How long would the effect last?

Would be fun to feed ducks cabbage or so, and then see them afterwards speeding off in small bursts.

You know, I'm sure there was someone whinging on the other day about how they thought AskH2G2 had dumbed down.

Can;t see it myself

There's a story somewhere in the Australian Daily Telegraph with a picture of a whale farting , but I couldn't find it

You'd have to boil some cabbages to make bread out of the cabbage water or summat, cuz everybody knows ducks only eat bread... good plan, erm, I mean, experimental idea though

Icky, I believe my question to exactly the type of question put forward in H2G2 of old, as it rises up out of the seriousness mire, and yet provides some helpful information to the community as a whole. I've yet to figure out how this information would be useful, cuz if I knew, I'd be applying for a government grant to study it

Indeed, it will be useful for confusing 'normal' people in the pub.
I had friends of friends looking at me most oddly whilst I was inbforming a friend of how Kangaroo's testicles fry when the weather is really hot which stops them expending energy mating.
I mean, what else do you talk about down the pub?

There has just been an excellent serious series on BBC 2, called Down Under, all about Australia. It was good, because generally these programmes just rehash info that has already beeb covered. However they covered the Sexual propensities of Kangaroos, and due to the heat scenario, Kangaroos have three ypoung in varying degrees of development. A joey of 6months to 2 years old on thin milk, an embryo up to 6 months on rich thick milk, and a foetus in suspended animation, awaiting the eldest Joey to wean and leave, to spark it into life.

that was the one, Wild Down Under wasn't it?
Didn't have anything about drop bears though

Would you believe that I once participated in designing a proper scientific experiment to collect and analyse rat farts?! They were fed radioactive yummies and some of the radioactivity was released in gaseous form. We were trying to determine if it came out via the lungs or t'other end. In the end it was decided that it didn't really matter which end it came from.

drop bears .. heehee, those're the coolest.

the real limit to the "who farts?" question is what you're counting as an animal, since the reason bread rises is the yeast eating sugars and giving off gas ... so that nice fluffy bread is full of yeast farts!