DORA: Why do we poop?
WENDELL: Dora, I think you're blushing....
DORA:Look, Wendell, some things are PRIVATE!
WENDELL: Dora, poop is nothing to be ashamed of.... Everyone poops -- people, dogs, birds, elephants(can you imagine!), even...(dare I say it?) worms do it.
DORA: You? You're kidding, right?
WENDELL: Nope. People call my poop castings and the dirt under your feet is a better place because of it. In fact, if you'd like to hear more about it, Dora, you should race to Worm World. You'll be surprised how much our bodies digestive systems have in common.
DORA: Okay....Maybe later. But tell me about human poop.
WENDELL: Look, if you've got to eat, then you've got to poop! You need energy to move and grow and you get it from the food you eat. What you don't use, what's left over, you get rid of -- as poop!

DORA: What's poop made of?
WENDELL: It's a simple recipe. The fiber and food that your body can't break down, water, microscopic living things called bacteria, some salt, and some bile made by your liver. The bile is largely responsible for that lovely brownish, greenish color.
DORA: Lovely?
WENDELL: Dora, don't forget, you're talking to a worm!?!
DORA: Oh. Look, this is all soooooo embarrassing!
WENDELL: It shouldn't be! It's just the result of the long carpet ride your body takes the food on. Down your gullet, into your stomach, through your small and large intestines until it reaches the end -- your anus -- where it gets pushed out. Poop is just part of digestion -- one of the great wonders of the human body!

DORA: If poop is so great why does it smell?
WENDELL: I didn't say it doesn't smell -- because it does. (Not worm poop thank you very much, but human poop!) Little living things called bacteria so small you can't see them with the naked eye are inside your intestines munching on those leftovers. Your poop stinks, in large part, because of two stinky chemicals -- indole and skatole -- they make while munching.
DORA: Now that's gross!
WENDELL: Not gross, just crowded! 50% of your poop is made of these wee little critters.
DORA: You mean half of what comes out is made up of bacteria?
WENDELL: Yup! But don't worry, they don't get lonely. There are millions and millions -- probably trillions -- of little living things living all around you -- in the air, on your bed, on your skin, inside of you, etc.
DORA: Yuck....

DORA: How much do I poop? Wendell, I'm a growing kid. I eat a ton of food. How come I don't have a ton of poop?
WENDELL:Because the food you eat is mostly made up of water. Of the several pounds of food you probably eat a day, only about 1/3 of a pound probably comes out as solid leftovers!
DORA: Hmmmmmm.
DORA: Hey, how about diahrrea!?!
WENDELL: Ahhhhhhhhhh! Now, diahrrea is very interesting! It can start with a virus or bacteria you're not used to; food that irritates you; or extreme nervousness --just as with vomiting. The only difference is that instead of food coming back up from the stomach -- this is digested food, already in the intestines, dying to get through your system! Instead of the walls of your intestines soaking up water along the way as they normally do, they ooze lots of liquid. The food mush keeps getting wetter and wetter as the muscles in your intestines push the stuff out quickly. Instead of dry poop, you get wet "runs." There, now I've told you!
DORA: Thanks, and thanks again.