# Does male poop smell different from female poop? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 7, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363 "2013-06-07T08:27:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 8:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/1 "2013-06-07T08:27:34Z")
Can humans tell? Can dogs? ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/2 "2013-06-07T08:34:46Z")
Is this a poll? Is so, I vote…shit smells like shit. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 8:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/3 "2013-06-07T08:37:16Z")
Yes (I only have anecdotal evidence though) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/4 "2013-06-07T08:39:22Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > Yes (I only have anecdotal evidence though) Well? Don’t keep us waiting. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/5 "2013-06-07T09:43:13Z")
I would like to nominate **Reply** to do a scientific SDSAB-worthy study of this, to be posted as a staff report. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/6 "2013-06-07T10:32:22Z")
I would think what you eat overwhelms gender differences. ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/7 "2013-06-07T10:57:02Z")
I have no doubt that a dog can identify an individual from the smell of their faeces - the identifying characteristics would include elements from female hormones (as opposed to male ones). You should be able to train a dog to discriminate between the two, but it would take work, and it there would be areas of confusion (some men do have high female hormone levels, and some women high testosterone levels). Humans don’t have the sensitivity or the discrimination to do so - we don’t have as many odour detectors, and the primary odours in faeces are hardwired to the disgust areas of the brain, and that response overwhelms any other analysis you might be able to perform. ---
**Author:** ![Indalcecio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3bc359/32.png) [@Indalcecio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indalcecio)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/8 "2013-06-07T11:01:11Z")
I remember hearing on the radio about a study that said girls’ farts “smelled worse” than men’s. Basically they took samples of a bunch of people’s farts and found that women consistently had more hydrogen sulfide. (This is beside the point, but the guy on the radio parroting the study made the error of assuming that hydrogen sulfide was the ONLY chemical responsible for the odor of flatus, and assumed that more hydrogen sulfide = smells worse) I’m pretty sure the study didn’t control the variable of what the subjects had eaten, or even adjust for it. Nor any other factors to my knowledge. They did, at least, do the study multiple times with a decent sample size. Granted, since I can’t find the study right now, this is all just my word right now, but if you’re just curious and not trying to write a paper or anything, I hope you’ll trust that I’m not lying. Just wish I could answer the actual question instead of something tangentially related. Heh. ---
**Author:** ![Nitrate\_Silver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7993a0/32.png) [@Nitrate\_Silver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nitrate_Silver)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/9 "2013-06-07T12:19:53Z")
Why don’t you stuff your nose in some faecal matter and find out? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/10 "2013-06-07T12:47:07Z")
Of course it does. Male shit smells like Mars. Female shit smells like Venus. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/11 "2013-06-07T13:39:43Z")
Females poop? I’ve heard different! ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/12 "2013-06-07T13:44:18Z")
Just to mention: when dogs smell each others ass, they’re not asshole sniffing, primarily. They’re zeroing in on the anal sacs, two little side squirters that contain the potent stuff. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/13 "2013-06-07T14:33:08Z")
> [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](#): > > Females poop? I’ve heard different! Yes, but it smells like flowers. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/14 "2013-06-07T14:52:35Z")
I ran across a wildlife management journal article back in the late eighties or early nineties that reported that it was possible to test wild mare poop to determine whether they were going into heat or not. The idea being that a testing program could be set up and at the appropriate time salt licks laced with contraceptives could be placed. So there is a difference, at least at some times. I’m not saying that a dog could detect the difference. I’m not saying that a stallion could detect the difference, although I’d guess that was more likely. But out of all the species in the world, I’m sure there’s at least one, somewhere, in which the male can tell whether the fresh pile he just found came from a female and how receptive she’s likely to be. I’d also expect urine to be more strongly sex-tagged, just because so many animals use it to mark territory. ---
**Author:** ![lance\_strongarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@lance\_strongarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lance_strongarm)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/15 "2013-06-07T15:05:32Z")
Guys eat charred meat and drink beer. Girls eat salad and yogurt and drink white wine. You do the math. ---
**Author:** ![FuzzyOgre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@FuzzyOgre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FuzzyOgre)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/16 "2013-06-07T16:38:59Z")
Nobody nose. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/17 "2013-06-07T17:59:40Z")
This is a difficult question to answer as some women, my first wife for example, insisted her shit didn’t stink. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/18 "2013-06-07T18:23:47Z")
I think females have a different poop and gas storage area, where they can hold everything until a convent time. Or maybe not… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/19 "2013-06-07T18:27:33Z")
> [@Jake](#): > > I think females have a different poop and gas storage area, where they can hold everything until a **convent** time. > Or maybe not… 🙂 How much poop do women have? Nun! ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363/20 "2013-06-07T18:29:25Z")
I know of two girls on the internet that might have an opinion on the taste. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-male-poop-smell-different-from-female-poop/660363.md?page=2)