# What animal produces the most shit? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 5, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639 "2010-07-05T22:16:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Rigamarole](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/77aa72/32.png) [@Rigamarole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rigamarole)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/1 "2010-07-05T22:16:16Z")
I would like to know what animal produces the most fecal matter in terms of: 1. Total volume per day (probably elephants?) 2. Volume per day to body weight ratio That’s all. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/13edae/32.png) [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interconnected_Series_of_Tubes)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/2 "2010-07-05T22:27:50Z")
I’d venture #1 would almost certainly be a whale. Quick googling says a blue whale excretes 3% of its ~180 ton body mass every day. If we assume whale shit is 100% water, that’s roughly 5 cubic meters of shit - quite a lot. ---
**Author:** ![toofs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@toofs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toofs)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2010, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/3 "2010-07-05T22:31:35Z")
_Teaii Partyonis_, aka the Tea Party Shrew. Consumes vast amounts of hyperbole and dogma as part of a red diet rich in irony. Produces a high volume of especially odorous effluent on a daily basis. ---
**Author:** ![PlainJain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5daacb/32.png) [@PlainJain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PlainJain)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/4 "2010-07-06T00:04:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Volume per day to body weight ratio I’m guessing hummingbirds are up near the top. ---
**Author:** ![Fubaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c2a13f/32.png) [@Fubaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fubaya)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/5 "2010-07-06T00:07:45Z")
I’m not sure it would count, but I’d look at sea cucumbers. Some of them scoop up sand, extract nutrients, and send it out the back. I have no idea how much per day, but if you’ve ever seen a video, it looks like it could be as much as, if not more, than their body weight. I think it’s more “processed sand” than “poop,” but it does come out their butts in a shape reminiscent of turdage. > [@toofs](#): > > diet rich in irony. I’m on that same diet. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/6 "2010-07-06T02:24:47Z")
I would like to give the humble shrew an honourable mention for #2. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/7 "2010-07-06T02:35:04Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > I’d venture #1 would almost certainly be a whale. Quick googling says a blue whale excretes 3% of its ~180 ton body mass every day. I don’t suppose it said how they arrived at that number? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/8 "2010-07-06T02:44:18Z")
When we lived out in the suburbs, handlers would sometimes bring their elephants through the neighborhood, and all I know is if you ever run across across elephant boulders … er, I mean droppings, you know they ain’t come from little fluffy what lives next door. ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/9 "2010-07-06T02:45:33Z")
> [@Laudenum](#): > > I would like to give the humble shrew an honourable mention\*\* for #2.\*\* Ahhh I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/10 "2010-07-06T08:59:53Z")
Humans. We give more than we tend to take. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/11 "2010-07-06T12:33:15Z")
Maybe among mammals, the panda for #2. Panda bears actually are bears and they have a digestive system much more adapted to omnivorous living than their actual diet that consists exclusively of bamboo shoots. Apparently they spend all their waking hours eating and pooping. They get about 4% of the food value out of their food. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2010, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/12 "2010-07-06T13:45:02Z")
I know you’re asking about adult animals, but I’d like to point out that baby animals of all types produce prodigious amounts of poop relative to body weight – they have to. They’re building body mass and the digestive system of most animals is woefully inefficient. I used to raise tadpoles, and i was constantly cleaning out the tank. For that matter, I raised MilliCal, and any parent will tell you about the constant diaper-changing. ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/13 "2010-07-07T01:19:14Z")
This guy asserts that geese excrete shit [equal to 11-16% of their body weight](http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/06/amazing_waterfowl_facts_part_i.php) daily. That’s dry weight (of shit), so it would be a much higher percentage of body weight if weighed “fresh.” ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/14 "2010-07-07T01:59:04Z")
Parrotfish can make up to 90kg of sand per year, ok, it’s not fecal matter, or is it? [Parrotfish - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parrotfish) ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/15 "2010-07-07T02:02:38Z")
> [@Dereknocue67](#): > > Humans. We give more than we tend to take. Gives a new meaning to Mandy, it does. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/16 "2010-07-07T12:11:38Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > _Teaii Partyonis_, aka the Tea Party Shrew. Consumes vast amounts of hyperbole and dogma as part of a red diet rich in irony. Produces a high volume of especially odorous effluent on a daily basis. [moderating] Please keep political potshots out of GQ. [/moderating] ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/17 "2010-07-07T12:25:58Z")
> [@cwthree](#): > > This guy asserts that geese excrete shit [equal to 11-16% of their body weight](http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2010/06/amazing_waterfowl_facts_part_i.php) daily. That’s dry weight (of shit), so it would be a much higher percentage of body weight if weighed “fresh.” Goose poo is mostly grasses, and they graze like fiends - at least when driven into settled areas by suburban development. A park with geese in residence can be a real mess. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/18 "2010-07-07T16:04:32Z")
> [@Interconnected\_Series\_of\_Tubes](#): > > I’d venture #1 would almost certainly be a whale. Quick googling says a blue whale excretes 3% of its ~180 ton body mass every day. > > If we assume whale shit is 100% water, that’s roughly 5 cubic meters of shit - quite a lot. [Cecil speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/5/how-deep-is-whale-shit) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/19 "2010-07-07T18:44:24Z")
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#): > > I don’t suppose it said how they arrived at that number? Not all of Jacques Cousteau’s voyages were glamorous. ---
**Author:** ![Chief\_Pedant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a6a055/32.png) [@Chief\_Pedant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chief_Pedant)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639/20 "2010-07-07T19:21:59Z")
> [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](#): > > [Cecil speaks.](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/5/how-deep-is-whale-shit) I really miss Animal Stories. Remember “Sparky the Electric Bull?” Ooooo, Sparky. It’s never been like this before… (Sorry for the Lujack. I mean hijack.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-animal-produces-the-most-shit/545639.md?page=2)