Authors: Nick Caruso and Dani Rabaiotti
Illustrated by Ethan Kocak
In 2017 Zoologist Dani Rabaiotti’s teenage brother asked her a most pressing question: Do snakes fart?
Stumped, Rabaiotti turned to Twitter. Consequently, it grew to a Twitter hashtag #doesitfart and it spread like a noxious gas. Dozens of noted experts began weighing in on which animals do and don’t fart, and if they do, how much, how often, what it’s made of, what it smells like, and why.
These notes eventually took physical form, this book.
Turns out we are not the only ones in the Animal Kingdom that “break wind’. Phew!
Each page of the book is devoted to, one animal and one question: Does it fart? However, its not just a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’ list. It’s a super fun,silly book which also gives information about their eating habits, gastrointestinal working, and their fauna.
The illustrations follow the distinctive style of the text, they are simple and funny, down to their expressions.
Some interesting facts we learnt:
- Herrings fart to talk to each other!
- Goats have 4 stomachs packed full of methane-producing bacteria, and give off a lot of gas. In 2015, a plane full of 2000 goats was forced to land, a fire alarm was set off by the copious amount of gas produced by these goats.
- Bolson Pupfish feed on algae in the rivers of South America. These algae produce gas, which inflates the fish intestines. As a result the fish starts to float to the surface, where they’re more vulnerable to being eaten. So, they have to fart to sink back to safety.
- The total weight of Termites on Earth is greater than that of humans! Methane released by these termites contribute 5 to 19% of the total global emissions.
- Birds don’t fart. They don’t have the same gas-producing bacteria found in animals who fart.
- Manatees hold on to their farts to remain buoyant and float in the water. Farts are so important to them that, constipated Manatees can be spotted with their tails up out of the water, unable to swim.
- Octopuses don’t fart gas, but they can expel a jet of water to propel themselves through the ocean.
These are just a few facts. This is a book “we didn’t realize we needed.” (Chicago Reader)