JOLLY DAYS

Scientific Problems

In this exchange between two science writers you hear an anecdote that had me laughing out loud.

John Horgan's wife has an animal rescue project on their property; she was caring for a swan which had lost its leg to a snapping turtle. It turns out swans are mean and every time Horgan would pass by the swan, on his way to his work space, the large swan would rise and hiss at him. It turns out as well, that swans produce prodigious poop. John's dog ate some of it and was emitting “chemical warfare farts”.

A mean one-legged swan which rewards your care with hissing at you on your way to work and which emits poop the size of a small mammal — and then the family dog gets gassy eating the fowl (sorry) produce. And you thought you had problems.