Monday, September 3, 2012

That Dung—er, Dang—Drought


September 3, 2012


Just when you thought you knew the worst of the drought—crop shortages, and homes needing repairs because the dirt under the foundations is contracting, cracking and shifting—we get more bad news.

A Wisconsin festival that has a cow-chip throwing contest is in danger of running out of cow chips because of the drought. How does that work, you ask? Well, the cows are avoiding the drought-dried grass and only eating the near the barns, where they can keep cool. Since the sun can’t get to the dung, it doesn’t dry out, and now festival organizers haven’t been able to collect enough for the contest.

Believe it or not, that’s not the weird part. The weird part is that the organizers have stores of dried dung that they can dip into instead. So, not only do they collect this stuff—they save it from year to year! Fortunately—I guess.

(Thanks to C. D.  for bringing this to my attention.)


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