I was going to say we humans seem to be the only animals that don’t poop in our water, and then I remembered all those history videos about people dumping chamber pots and the like upstream… I guess we’re all guilty!
The Great Stink in London England wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things. They dumped all their sewage in their river and then wondered why it stank.
Any reason’s fine. Many humans only do it because of social norms, not because they care about hygiene. See also, many humans only pretend to wash their hands after using a toilet.
I’d argue that the hygienic advantages of feces burying certainly help with the overall health of the species, even if it’s not the main reason. Might not even be a huge issue in nature due to the solitary nature of wild cats, but e.g. farm cats are often living in pretty close proximity to each other.
I was going to say we humans seem to be the only animals that don’t poop in our water, and then I remembered all those history videos about people dumping chamber pots and the like upstream… I guess we’re all guilty!
The Great Stink in London England wasn’t that long ago in the grand scheme of things. They dumped all their sewage in their river and then wondered why it stank.
Somewhat amazing that it took so long to come up with a real solution to a problem literally even human has, coming up with a proper sewage system.
Eh, only a problem if you stay in one place. Pooping in the woods while following the a buffalo herd isn’t really an issue.
That’s one of the things that made Andersonville prison camp so hellish. They built the Confederate and prisoner latrines up stream.
One of the later built prison camps, Camp Lawton, the commander made a point that all the latrines were built downstream.
It’s amazing how long we knew pooping in the water was bad for, and yet we kept doing it
I suspect that lots of animals are more sensible than that! e.g. cats instinctually bury their feces. Birds just poop wherever.
Cats don’t bury their feces for hygienic reasons though, they bury it to hide signs of their presence from larger predators.
still better than dogs eating it.
Any reason’s fine. Many humans only do it because of social norms, not because they care about hygiene. See also, many humans only pretend to wash their hands after using a toilet.
I’d argue that the hygienic advantages of feces burying certainly help with the overall health of the species, even if it’s not the main reason. Might not even be a huge issue in nature due to the solitary nature of wild cats, but e.g. farm cats are often living in pretty close proximity to each other.