# Ever been so scared you pooped your pants? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752 "2010-03-08T19:05:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/21 "2010-03-10T14:53:31Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Never heard that one before. I assume it’s the same event as “prairie dogging”? “Gophering” I would understand, but “praire dogging” is what you get when there is a sudden loud noise in the cubicle area in an office and everyone pop up vertically like a prairie dog standing up. Popping up vertically is the key. So if you told me you were “prairie dogging” absent the cubicle situation, I am more likely to think you’re referring to being, um, “excited” rather than being in need of a toilet. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2010, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/22 "2010-03-10T15:05:25Z")
I’ve never pooped myself out of terror, but I have peed. I had an incident where I got into an accident where I never even saw the minivan coming. I was terrified. Like NineToTheSky, I did not even know it until after it had already happened and I looked down and my pants were soaked and warm. I am not surprised, though. God almighty, there were _little kids_ in that car. I could have killed kids! The accident was extremely minor, thankfully, and it happened really close to my house - I was literally pulling out of the parking spot. I wasn’t looking and she was going too fast. So I just went back in and showered and started my day anew. It’s not something I share with everyone, of course. It’s surprisingly not humiliating, though. I didn’t do anything to cause it. I didn’t even feel an urge to go before that. It just happened. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/23 "2010-03-11T02:40:37Z")
Edit to rethink ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/24 "2010-03-11T02:47:37Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > “Gophering” I would understand, but “praire dogging” is what you get when there is a sudden loud noise in the cubicle area in an office and everyone pop up vertically like a prairie dog standing up. Yes, yes, yes, I know that- it’s older than God’s parents. But much more recently I heard it used in the context we’re discussing. > [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Popping up vertically is the key. So if you told me you were “prairie dogging” absent the cubicle situation, I am more likely to think you’re referring to being, um, “excited” rather than being in need of a toilet. I think you’re being far too literal about it. But I’m curious- forget about cubicles for a moment, and tell me how “gophering” differs. Do gophers pop down? Thank you for your cooperation in this important matter. . ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/25 "2010-03-11T15:22:53Z")
Years ago my eldest son, probably 13 or 14 at the time was clearing fallen trees on the path to the creek behind our house. I was working in the garden or puttering around the yard. First indication I had of trouble was the chainsaw reving up and down, interspersed with Dad! Dad! Before I could even react, he came scuttling through the trees, spinning wildly and going crazy with the chainsaw. When he calmed down enough to talk he told me what happened. He’d cut his way up to the creek, set the saw down and rested on a log to admire the creek. As he was sitting there he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise and he turned around to see a mountain lion sitting at attention and eyeballing him just a few feet behind him. When he finished telling the story he got even redder in the face and said, “dad, I think I pooped my pants”. Told him I didn’t blame him a bit, that it was probably a reaction to fear. I theorized that it was a flight response designed to grease the buns and allow us to run faster, so don’t blame yourself, it’s in your jeans. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/26 "2010-03-11T15:49:19Z")
> [@Mesquite-oh](#): > > I don’t know about you guys, but when I am scared and my fight or flight kicks in, I tighten up all over, not loosen up. > > In sports, it is a common observation that when a team gets nervous or scared they “pucker up” (refering to their sphincter muscle) and start playing poorly. I believe a sports commentator once talked about a pitcher who was so tight you couldn’t drive a toothpick up his ass with a sledgehammer. Or maybe it appears in _Ball Four_ or somewhere similar… ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/27 "2010-03-11T18:47:15Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > I believe a sports commentator once talked about a pitcher who was so tight you couldn’t drive a toothpick up his ass with a sledgehammer. Or maybe it appears in _Ball Four_ or somewhere similar… Tighter than a bull’s asshole in fly season? ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/28 "2010-03-11T18:51:41Z")
As far as my knowledge indicates, lots of animals involuntarily pee or poop when extremely frightened. I hypothesize that this instinct is a defense mechanism against predation. If a predator has an animal in its mouth, then said animal unleashes a torrent of piss and shit, the predator may drop the animal as a reaction to this unpleasant sensation, thus giving the prey animal a second chance to escape. In college I wrote a paper about the history of the mafia. My research uncovered a quote by a nasty fellow who had experiences garroting people. The quote was “They (the victims of garroting) always piss. Sometimes they shit.” The quote was said to an informant who was not irked that a murder had been committed at his home, but that the murder had left his home smelling of urine. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/29 "2010-03-11T18:56:38Z")
> [@bare](#): > > Years ago my eldest son, probably 13 or 14 at the time was clearing fallen trees on the path to the creek behind our house. I was working in the garden or puttering around the yard. First indication I had of trouble was the chainsaw reving up and down, interspersed with Dad! Dad! > > Before I could even react, he came scuttling through the trees, spinning wildly and going crazy with the chainsaw. When he calmed down enough to talk he told me what happened. He’d cut his way up to the creek, set the saw down and rested on a log to admire the creek. As he was sitting there he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise and he turned around to see a mountain lion sitting at attention and eyeballing him just a few feet behind him. > > When he finished telling the story he got even redder in the face and said, “dad, I think I pooped my pants”. Told him I didn’t blame him a bit, that it was probably a reaction to fear. I theorized that it was a flight response designed to grease the buns and allow us to run faster, so don’t blame yourself, it’s in your jeans. You can tell your son that in my book, any kid who takes on a mountain lion with a chainsaw is considered a badass, whether he craps his pants or not. ---
**Author:** ![Ibanez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a4c791/32.png) [@Ibanez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibanez)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/30 "2010-03-11T22:35:38Z")
The term “scared shitless” holds alot of creedence. There’s enough accounts of soldiers in combat situations who shit themself. My father was a navigator in Lancasters during WWII, he recounted a few war stories to me. Twice they had to bail from their bombers from battle damage. Both times he told me he shit his pants. I think it has to do with the endorphins pulsing through your body in extreme situations of flight or fight that triggers the muscles in ones bowels to open up the bomb bay doors. ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/31 "2010-03-11T22:44:43Z")
> [@bare](#): > > Years ago my eldest son, probably 13 or 14 at the time was clearing fallen trees on the path to the creek behind our house. I was working in the garden or puttering around the yard. First indication I had of trouble was the chainsaw reving up and down, interspersed with Dad! Dad! > > Before I could even react, he came scuttling through the trees, spinning wildly and going crazy with the chainsaw. When he calmed down enough to talk he told me what happened. He’d cut his way up to the creek, set the saw down and rested on a log to admire the creek. As he was sitting there he felt the hair on the back of his neck raise and he turned around to see a mountain lion sitting at attention and eyeballing him just a few feet behind him. > > When he finished telling the story he got even redder in the face and said, “dad, I think I pooped my pants”. Told him I didn’t blame him a bit, that it was probably a reaction to fear. I theorized that it was a flight response designed to grease the buns and allow us to run faster, so don’t blame yourself, it’s in your jeans. That is fucking bad…ass… ---
**Author:** ![bare](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bare/32/471_2.png) [@bare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bare)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/32 "2010-03-11T23:18:26Z")
I’m going to have to give him shit about it when I see him next. Thanks for the memory. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2010, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752/33 "2010-03-11T23:55:30Z")
I know I “read this somewhere”… women who are about to be raped are often spared if they shit themselves, whether deliberately or involuntarily. I don’t remember if it made any difference in their chances of escaping further attack injuries. . [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-been-so-scared-you-pooped-your-pants/531752.md?page=1)