What is Guano?
Guano is the collective term used for bat or bird droppings or feces. For many years, people all over the world have been using guano to fertilize their crops. Today, scientists also are able to extract enzymes from bacteria which live only in guano in order to make laundry detergents and other valuable products.
The word guano originated from the Quichua language of the Inca civilization and means “the droppings of sea birds”. It is a misnomer to refer to bat dung as guano. As the word is used today, guano describes both bat and sea bird manure. The most famous guano was that used by the Inca. The guano would collect on the rainless islands and coast of Peru. Atmospheric conditions insured a minimal loss of nutrients. There is very little leaching of valuable material, nor is there a considerable loss of nitrogenous matter. For this the Inca would guard and regulate the treasured soil enricher. Access to the guano deposits were restricted to chosen caretakers. Disrupting the rookeries could result in punishment by death. Guano became a very important part of the development of agriculture in these United States. During the peak of the guano era, drastic steps were taken to maintain a supply for the U.S. farmer. “On August 18, 1856, Congress passed an act to authorize protection to be given to
Any excrement from birds, seals, or bats, with value to humans as fertilizer, may be referred to as guano. The term originated in Peru, to differentiate useless bird droppings from the nutrient-rich waste of cormorants, pelicans, and other sea birds. The word’s useage has since been widened to include, especially, the mixture of remains and excrement of bats that collect on the floor of caves. Hundreds of years ago, farmers in South America harvested the white piles of guano from shorelines and islands to use as crop fertilizer. After contact with Europe, the export of guano became economically beneficial for the Colonizers. Bat guano also has a long agricultural and economic history in Cuba. Even today, guano from bat caves in the United States, Asia, Cuba, and South America is marketed as the best organic fertilizer available. The reason guano is an ideal fertilizer is its chemical make up. Because the guano exists deep inside caves, it’s protected from sunlight and wind, and doesn’t
