Talk:Guano

Notes

This is from that 1881 encyclopedia (but somehow I think science has progressed just a bit since 1881... ;-) -- Marj Tiefert

The urine of men and animals living upon flesh contains a large quantity of nitrogen, partly in the form of urea. Human urine is the most powerful manure for all vegetables which contain nitrogen, that of horses and horned cattle contains less of this element, but much more than the solid excrements of these animals. In the face of such facts as these, is it not pitiable to observe how the urine of the stable or cow-shed is often permitted to run off, to sink uselessly into the earth, or to form a pool in the middle of a farm-yard, from which, as it putrefies, the ammonia formed in it rapidly escapes into the atmosphere?

Cultivated plants need more nitrogen than wild ones, being of a higher and more complex organization. The result of forest growth is chiefly the production of carbonaceous woody fibre; of garden or field culture, especially the addition of as much nitrogen as the plant can be made to take up.

Do people really eat this?

I could have sworn I saw something on a nature show or something where some indigenous people eat bat guano.

See the Chinese article on Lin Tse Hsu. It appears to say that he scared tourists by eating a food prepared to give the appearance of guano. This may be where the rumor comes from. (Collin237 - 237wins) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 166.203.105.214 (talk) 07:13, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

It says "Its, Dawguang Dih ranq ta jieday waygworen, ta biann jyyshyh chwushy tzowlh idaw horngshuuni tsay, waygworen jiann jong horngshuuni mei maw rehchih, biann lhau chii jiow chy, jyr baa waygworen tanqderuauajiaw, Lintzershyu jiannshiaw, woanhweilh mianntz." Perhaps someone could explain this. (Collin237 - 237wins) —Preceding unsigned comment added by 32.178.68.71 (talk) 12:28, 10 December 2009 (UTC)

Unsurprisingly, it renders a person insane. – RVJ (talk) 05:58, 16 November 2011 (UTC)

Some more information on Coca Cola's flirtation with guano during the war would be interesting too.

Pop Culture

Ace Ventura's plot was centered around this.

Merge from Phosphate rock island

Please merge any relevant content from Phosphate rock island per Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Phosphate rock island. (If there is nothing to merge, just leave it as a redirect.) Thanks. —Quarl ^(talk) 2007-02-25 04:46Z

Use of Guano

Apparently near the end of the 19th century, guano was imported all the way from the mountains of Chile to be used as fertilizers in the United Kingdom. Can this be included in the article or not? Can anyone find references for this please? --pizza1512 12:07, 10 April 2007 (UTC)

Inaccuracy

There is more than 30 years worth of viable phosphate available for extraction. Please see http://www.energybulletin.net/28720.html and especially http://www.apda.pt/apda_resources/APDA.Biblioteca/eureau%5Cposition%20papers%5Cthe%20reuse%20of%20phosphorus.pdf for details. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.112.40.137 (talk) 00:17, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Ace Ventura

I noticed the movie Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls has as central topic Guano. I have added it to the See also list. Camilo Sanchez (talk)

While Ace really wanted that dookie, a fictional movie is not vital to one's understanding of the real thing and doesn't warrant a "see also." Rob T Firefly (talk) 18:26, 4 July 2008 (UTC)

Photograph of Guano "Production"

Is this photograph REALLY necessary? Not only is it extremely detailed, but someone saw fit to make sure it was HUGE!

This is entirely a good-natured comment... but MAN. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.234.149.2 (talk) 19:03, 3 November 2008 (UTC)

Problem statement

I have a problem with the statement "It is estimated that there is only enough phosphorus from current resources to last about 30 years." I believe that the source is talking specifically about Peru. Besides, I think the source says 10 - 20 years, not 30.

I am not sure what statement should be made from this source as it seems too narrow in scope. WTucker (talk) 05:43, 8 January 2009 (UTC)

seabirds?

Really? Only seabirds specifically? If Canada Geese leave large amounts of excrement by a lake, is that guano? if not, what is it called? Kingturtle (talk) 20:49, 10 April 2010 (UTC)