# It's rainin' poo- Hallelujah! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535 "2004-01-09T00:41:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![\_possum\_stalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b77776/32.png) [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/1 "2004-01-09T00:41:30Z")
[The Chicago Sun-Times](http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-poop08.html) has run an alarming story: > [@](#): > > BY ROBERT C. HERGUTH Transportation Reporter > > It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s . . . > > Actually, it’s probably poop, and whether it came from a bird or a bathroom aboard an airplane, it’s gross, say residents of an Oswego subdivision plastered in recent days with what police describe as “fecal matter.” > > The Ponds at Mill Race Creek subdivision in the far western suburb is under an O’Hare Airport flight path, so some residents initially suspected one or more planes unloaded lavatory waste over the community. > … > But the predominant view seems to be birds were the culprit – although subscribers to this theory say their homes, backyard furniture and driveways have never been hit like this before. > … > Resident Dawn Dabrowski first noticed the apparent feces Friday after getting a call from a neighbor. There’s a pond in the subdivision that attracts geese, but there’s never been a mess like this in the seven years she’s lived there, said Dabrowski, a 37-year-old mother of three. Madame, please describe the feces that attacked you. Be as specific as possible. > [@](#): > > “It was on the back of my house, the side of my house, on my patio chairs, patio table, my children’s swing set, their Little Tikes sandbox, their . . . playhouse outside, it was all over,” she said. “It’s brown and some of it’s long smears, and it’s like circular in some areas where it’s splattered.” :eek: > [@](#): > > While contents of airplane bathrooms sometimes fall from aircraft, that’s probably not what occurred in this instance, said FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Isham Cory. If a plane was involved, the waste probably would be in frozen chunks, and “it’s going to be a blue-ice type of product,” she said. Oh, not to worry. If aircraft are bombing your home with shit, it will be dipped in a Windex-like substance and chilled. What a treat! Have aircraft been dumping crap on us this whole time? What do they mean, “contents of airline bathrooms sometimes fall from aircraft”? Could birds have created the shitstorm The Sun-Times describes with such zest?? ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/2 "2004-01-09T00:57:11Z")
Perhaps I just have never been as, er, fortunate in my bird-crap incidents, but from my experience you _know_ when it was a bird. It is clearly bird crap. I do not have to be heap big woods tracker to know the difference between bird-doo and something-else-doo. Unless giant freaking eagles crap different or something, but I doubt it. Ew. Just ew. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/3 "2004-01-09T01:03:53Z")
Goose poop is pretty large and vaguely resembles dog poop, except for the greenish tint. And yes, occasionally the “blue ice from airplanes” phenomenon will occur, or so I’ve always read. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/4 "2004-01-09T01:08:07Z")
Oh, forgot about goose poop. Correct. And I too have heard about the airplane “ice” phenomenon. But it can’t all be, um, blue. Can it? Also, I do recognize it would be ice when it fell, but one assumes it melts. On a similar note, the last time I was in Europe on a train there was a sudden announcement (right as I was getting up to pee, too) along the lines of “Please do not visit the restrooms for the next ten minutes”. We all went “Huh?” until we realized we were about to go over a great big bridge with a little town in the river valley below. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/5 "2004-01-09T02:10:59Z")
You almost certainly should be pitting the geese. A similar incident in our local news some months ago was positively identified as being avian excrement (ducks, in this particular case). ---
**Author:** ![MysteryFellow63427](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e4f/32.png) [@MysteryFellow63427](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MysteryFellow63427)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/6 "2004-01-09T04:55:55Z")
Yeah, pit the birds, they’re always a safe bet. Anyone else think of the In Living Color feature “Men On Film” with the theme song that went “It’s ah raiiiining men, hallejulah, it’s ah raining men”? Ok, maybe not. Damn I miss that show. ---
**Author:** ![laigle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@laigle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laigle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/7 "2004-01-09T05:29:51Z")
Man, and I thought my town was a shithole. Okay, somebody had to say it. ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/8 "2004-01-09T05:48:35Z")
Maybe it was Mister Hankey dropping by for 12th Night? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/9 "2004-01-09T05:54:03Z")
I think the thread title was a deliberate play on that song, **neuroman**. The song, incidentally, is quite a bit older than “Men on Film”. It was a 70s disco hit by The Weathergirls. ---
**Author:** ![\_possum\_stalker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/b77776/32.png) [@\_possum\_stalker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_possum_stalker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/10 "2004-01-09T06:09:15Z")
“It’s Raining Men” is also Homer’s favorite song in the jukebox at Moe’s. ---
**Author:** ![Aries28](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Aries28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aries28)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/11 "2004-01-09T18:37:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zsofia \* > **I do not have to be heap big woods tracker to know the difference between bird-doo and something-else-doo. Unless giant freaking eagles crap different or something, but I doubt it.** This has to be the funniest thing I’ve read all day long. I’m almost tempted to ask you if I can have it for a sig. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/12 "2004-01-09T18:47:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferris \* > \*\*You almost certainly should be pitting the geese. > > A similar incident in our local news some months ago was positively identified as being avian excrement (ducks, in this particular case). \*\* Thanks, now I have a mental image of carpet-boming waterfowl. ---
**Author:** ![Truth\_Seeker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Truth\_Seeker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truth_Seeker)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/13 "2004-01-09T19:16:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ferret Herder \* > \*\*And yes, occasionally the “blue ice from airplanes” phenomenon will occur, or so I’ve always read. \*\* Absolutely correct. It can be quite dangerous. The fecal matter and the blue lavatory liquid freeze into massive chunks weighing upwards of twenty pounds and hit the ground at several hundred miles an hour. They can kill. It used to be a very serious problem, especially with the rapid growth of jumbo jets flying transcontinental routes. That’s why there are a number of international treaties designed to limit icy BMs. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/14 "2004-01-09T19:31:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Truth Seeker \* > \*\*That’s why there are a number of international treaties designed to limit icy BMs. \*\* _throws his glass into the fireplace and dies a fiery, painful, slow death_ ---
**Author:** ![TheInterruptingCow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9c0ed/32.png) [@TheInterruptingCow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInterruptingCow)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/15 "2004-01-09T19:35:13Z")
I’m going with the bird theory… I live within a few miles of Oswego, IL…and this week, I experienced something very similar. I left my car parked in driveway for a couple of days, and it ended up with an awful lot of 2-inch diameter, chunky brown globs and smears all over it. So I did a little investigation/observation. It ain’t geese. There’s a fair amount of open space and fields around, and there’s a lot of geese, not to mention the heron rookery a few miles away. Which means, basically, that I’ve seen a lot of goose poop. It’s starlings. A lot of fuckin’ starlings. There’s thousands of the little bastards around here. There’s always been a lot of 'em, but this year there’s…well…a shitload. There’s a crab apple tree in my front yard right next to the driveway, and they’ve descended on it like piranha. Unfortunately, crab apples apparently go through starlings like (sorry) goose shit through a tin horn. They don’t seem to make it more than ten feet from the tree before they need to “download a brown load”. Right on my car. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/16 "2004-01-09T19:43:32Z")
Yeah, didn’t Salt Poo hope to limit those icy BMs? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/17 "2004-01-09T19:51:15Z")
Okay, who _didn’t_ expect **lieu** to show up in a poop thread? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/18 "2004-01-09T20:07:12Z")
> [@](#): > > That’s why there are a number of international treaties designed to limit icy BMs. Let me just duck (ahem) into this thread to say, that was brilliant. Simply brilliant. ---
**Author:** ![NutMagnet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@NutMagnet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NutMagnet)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2004, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/19 "2004-01-09T20:29:36Z")
**TheInterruptingCow** > [@](#): > > There’s a crab apple tree in my front yard… which is now a crap apple tree? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535/20 "2004-01-10T01:22:06Z")
My baby sister (the blond, brillant, well-adjusted one) used to rent a house high up on a hill on the Cumberland Plateau of Tennessee. She had regular visitors. **Buzzards!** [http://www.abirdshome.com/Audubon/VolI/00004.html](http://www.abirdshome.com/Audubon/VolI/00004.html) They chased Sis’s Rotweiller, tore the railings of her deck to pieces just by perching on it, & left _horrifying_ poop everywhere! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-rainin-poo-hallelujah/223535.md?page=2)