Passing gas isn’t just a human thing—it happens across the animal kingdom too! Who among us hasn’t pondered if certain creatures, like snakes or birds, can actually fart? In 2017, a fun Twitter discussion led to a viral sensation about which animals can toot, inspiring the book Does It Fart? by Dani Rabiotti and Nick Caruso. This curious inquiry gave people insight into the quirky world of animal flatulence. Let’s dive in and find out which animals can and which animals cannot break wind!
Yes, Dogs Can Fart
Anyone with a dog knows that our four-legged friends are quite capable of letting one rip! Dogs fart because, like humans, they digest food that produces gas in their intestines. This gas has to escape, resulting in those familiar (and often smelly) dog farts we know so well.
Cows Fart, and It’s a Big Deal
Cows produce a significant amount of methane, a greenhouse gas, through both burping and farting. Their complex digestive system, with its multiple stomachs, creates lots of gas as they break down grass. This methane is a major contributor to climate change, making cow farts a global concern.
Manatees Fart to Stay Buoyant
Manatees, also known as sea cows, fart for survival. These gentle giants rely on flatulence to control their buoyancy in water. By releasing gas, they can sink or float, allowing them to graze on seagrass or rise to the surface for air.
Snakes Use Farts for Defense
Yes, some snakes can fart! The Sonoran coral snake, for example, uses its farts as a defense mechanism. When threatened, it sucks air into its cloaca and releases it with a popping sound to scare off predators. This unique “cloacal popping” serves as a handy survival tool.
Herring Fart to Communicate
Herring are one of the few fish that can fart, and they do it with purpose. These small fish release gas to communicate with each other. Their farts are at a frequency too high for predators to hear, making it a secret code between them.
Cockroaches Can Fart
Even cockroaches fart! These resilient insects have a digestive system that creates gas as they break down food. While it might not be as smelly as a dog’s, cockroach flatulence is a natural part of their biology.
Bolson Pupfish Must Fart to Survive
This tiny fish, found only in Mexico’s Cuatro Cienegas Reserve, has to fart to survive. It eats algae, which produces gas in its stomach. Without farting, the pupfish would float to the surface, making it easy prey for predators.
Hyenas Can Definitely Fart
Hyenas, with their strong digestive systems, are notorious farters. As scavengers, they consume a wide variety of food, which leads to gas buildup in their intestines. Hyena farts are loud, smelly, and completely natural.
Bats Don’t Fart, Surprisingly
Despite having the ability to fart, bats don’t seem to do so. Their food passes through their digestive system quickly, preventing gas buildup. Even though they have the necessary biology, their rapid digestion might keep them from joining the farting crowd.
Birds Generally Don’t Fart
Most birds don’t fart, and there’s a simple reason for that: their food passes through their digestive systems too quickly to produce gas. Also, their gut microbes are different from mammals, producing less gas overall.
Sloths Absorb Their Farts
Sloths, those slow-moving mammals, don’t fart in the traditional sense. Instead of releasing gas through flatulence, they absorb the methane their digestive system creates and exhale it through their breath. It’s a slow and silent process.
Rabbits Fart Like Champions
Rabbits, with their herbivorous diets, are frequent farters. They consume lots of fibrous plants that create gas in their intestines, leading to regular flatulence. In fact, a rabbit that stops farting might be experiencing digestive issues, which can be dangerous for these little animals.
Elephants Fart—A Lot
With their massive size and equally massive appetites, elephants produce a lot of gas. They fart frequently as part of their normal digestion. Given their size, you can imagine that an elephant fart is anything but subtle!
Spiders Don’t Fart
Spiders lack the digestive system necessary for farting. Since their bodies don’t process food in a way that creates gas, they are one of the animals that truly cannot fart. Their simple digestive systems keep things relatively quiet.
Portuguese Man O’ War Cannot Fart
The Portuguese man o’ war, often mistaken for a jellyfish, is technically a colony of specialized organisms. This unique structure means it doesn’t have the digestive system necessary to fart. Instead, it liquefies its prey with tentacles and absorbs nutrients directly.
Now You Know
From dogs and cows to snakes and manatees, animals have all kinds of fascinating ways of passing gas. Whether it’s used as a defense mechanism or simply a natural part of digestion, farts play an important role in the animal kingdom. Now that you know which animals can and can’t fart, you’ll never look at the animal world the same way again!
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