Elephant Poo

The circus is in town. 

"Great! I can get some elephant dung!"

Elephant dung is a fabulous fertilizer.  I just wonder if they'd allow me to take some?  And if I get some, where will I put it till April? 

An Elephant produces about 500-800lbs of dung a day. That's a lot of fertilizer.

What kinds of manure work best as organic fertilizer? Typically, cow dung is available in most nurseries. Cows digest so little of their food, and so cow manure won't burn plants the way nitrogen-rich chicken manure will. Nor does it need to be composted before putting it on the garden. (Actually, elephant dung is better than cow dung. But I must assume that most people will have an easier time finding cow dung than elephant dung.)  Horse manure is another good one. It's not quite as nutrient-rich as cow dung, but again, it won't burn plants and it can be applied directly to the soil.

Although chicken manure is the best as far as nutrients go, it is what's known as a 'hot' manure; it will burn plants, and cannot be applied directly to the soil.  It needs to be composted for 3 to 6 months and so is a bit too complicated to start off with for me.

Did you know that some recycled paper is made from elephant dung?

Elephant poo on your shoes




Elephant poo is your shoes

 

The paper doesn't come from the dung itself, but from the fibers that are contained in the elephant dung.

Elephants eat anywhere from 100 to 1,000 pounds on a daily basis, but they only digest about 60% of what they eat.