November 08, 2008

Smart Pills

I have a childhood memory of going on a "nature walk" with someone (in Boy Scouts? at the old Jefferson County, Colo., camp for 6th-graders?) who told us about "smart pills."

He held up a nearly spherical little mule-deer turd and told us that if we ate one, we would be smart -- smart enough to never do that again!

Har har.

That memory came back when I read this item in today's Denver Post: "Elk Droppings May Have Sickened Kids."

In Jefferson County, too.

3 comments:

notesfromagrumpyoldman said...

Not to mention Utah Phillip's ode to Moose Turd Pie...

When I was a Boy Scout, at campsites I was often sent out on quests for a bacon stretcher or spotted paint. And my all time favorite was the snipe hunt at midnight.

Holly Heyser said...

Love that line in the Post about how they're not sure how the elk got "infected." I was under the impression that e coli is a card-carrying member of all of our intestinal habitats, not an infection.

But if I'm in Colorado, I'll be sure to avoid eating elk poop. Thanks for the heads-up! ;-)

BorderWars said...

The lady in Fort Lupton whom I visit to train my border collies on sheep calls the sheep pellets "smart pills" too. Although none of my dogs seemed smart enough to stop eating them.