This has nothing to do with me, I swear!

[Wombat]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8006042.stm

[Clara]

no?...

"The wombat, a furry marsupial, lives in the wild only in Australia.
Its characteristic waddle and playful appearance, makes it one of the country's most endearing native creatures."

[invisiblepiper]

Great - I know the folk producing this paper. Stayed in Tassie for two months on placement in 2004 - when the idea was being generated.
I was doing a course on printmaking - which involved papermaking1
Thanks for the clip Wombat.
PS - met a real wombat - they're huge - but cute!

[Annpan]

I've met a real Wombat too, and his wife... I don't know about huge but they were both very cute

[JulieSherris]

Haha... the comment I liked the best was:
Wombat Fact: Produces cube-shaped dung

[StripyPixieSocks]

Hmmm that would be an ironic choice of paper to write to my bank manage on eh?

LOL Julie, trust you

[Thomzo]

I bought my mother some notelets made from elephant dung when I was in South Africa. She wasn't at all impressed. I thought it was great.

Zoe

[JulieSherris]

What I want to know is.... HOW do wombats do cube-shaped poos???

Have they got a cube-shaped rectum?
Should I not be pondering this at all?

I've been sorting wood & twigs & branches all afternoon & I keep thinking about it... it's really copped my attention.... am I sad, or what?

[the.fee.fairy]

No...no...i want to know too now...

[Milims]

I'm not sure if I'm a sad puppy - but I found this:
http://www.wombadilliac.com.au/faq.htm#scats

It seems to be a theme for me of late - I also looked into the egg laying anatomy of a chicken the other day!

[JulieSherris]

Haha...
Quote from the site, Milims.... " and that a group of wombats is known as a 'Wisdom of Wombats' "

See, Nev, THAT's why you're so clever

And from howstuffworks.com.....
" In addition to scent markings, or scents produced by the hormones that animals release, wombats leave their cube-shaped scat as territorial signposts on the tops of rocks and logs. That distinct shape is beneficial since the flat sides of the cubes keep the droppings in place on their precarious locations. If wombat poop was rounded, like that of koalas, it would probably roll off its intended drop point. And since wombats can produce between 80 and 100 pellets per day, stray scats could lead to a lot of disgruntled wombats "

There! So now we know WHY.... umm, the next question is, HOW do they get it square in the first place???

[the.fee.fairy]

If you look at the pics, they're not pointy cube, they're rounded cube...maybe they just poop a little bit at a time so that it appears to be cubey?

[Brij]

I have missed this forum!

[Wombat]

Haha...
Quote from the site, Milims.... " and that a group of wombats is known as a 'Wisdom of Wombats' "

See, Nev, THAT's why you're so clever

And from howstuffworks.com.....
" In addition to scent markings, or scents produced by the hormones that animals release, wombats leave their cube-shaped scat as territorial signposts on the tops of rocks and logs. That distinct shape is beneficial since the flat sides of the cubes keep the droppings in place on their precarious locations. If wombat poop was rounded, like that of koalas, it would probably roll off its intended drop point. And since wombats can produce between 80 and 100 pellets per day, stray scats could lead to a lot of disgruntled wombats "

There! So now we know WHY.... umm, the next question is, HOW do they get it square in the first place???

I would like to go on the record here and say that, after a cursory examination, mine appear to look pretty much the same as everybody elses, and I don't leave them on top of rocks. Well, OK maybe once, but that's another story.

A "wisdom of Wombats" how cool is that?

Nev