Cited from Review of California Red Wines
http://www.sbwines.com/index.html

“Babcock Santa Barbara County Syrah (13.7%; Optimum Quad Possum) 2000: Med.dark color; deeper rich blackberry/Syrah bit simple very light oak nose ... a  rather simple/pleasant Syrah; not worth $22.00 ...

’Optimum Quad Possum’: This is a fine-print notation that Brian Babcock puts on some of his labels. My understanding is that it refers to the four dead possums he tosses into each fermenting vat in order to optimize the protein content of the must, making the wines much easier to clarify. His wines have really been on a roll the last few yrs, so it must be working.”

An Australian winemaker told me that the above idea is not sound as there are too many variables; However, he did state that possums occasionally fall into vats and they use, among other things, cyanide, volcanic clay and egg whites to remove “repugnant” matter ... he mused that finding a fox terrier dog in a vat was quite surprising ...

Ambergris - whale vomit - is used in fine perfumes.

A family on South Australia’s remote west coast has made a potentially million-dollar discovery
www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2006/s1554229.htm

Please Let It Be Whale Vomit, Not Just Sea Junk - New York Times (with a beautiful photograph)
www.nytimes.com/2006/12/18/nyregion/18whale.html

Civet and other Musk - also used in fine perfumes - is obtained from odorous sacs.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perfume

I would never support killing animals for such reasons.. But poo paper and similar products ...

Let us not be twee.

And you must admit there is a certain exoticism to the idea of elephant poo paper. This may be the closest some people get to experiencing these places ...

"From the fights, they hate each other

I don't think that's fighting Danielle.

The best option is to close up all the access points, preferably while the possums are outside. You can always leave one open for a while and close it off in the evening when they leave.

We should be allowed to kill and eat brushtails.

"Little Miss Muffet sat on her tuffet,
Writing a letter, or two.
She really was pleased,
She'd saved some more trees,
As her paper was made out of poo!"

Little miss muffet sat on her tuffet

Drinking a cold bottle of pee (recycled of course)

She thought of writing a lovely letter inviting

All her friends over for tea

So out she drew a pad of paper poo

And wrote the following words

Come over tonight my friends despite

My invite written on dried turds! (:>0

.
Alright. That’s enough intellectual stuff for me for one day. I’m goin ta bed.

.
Incidentally, I don’t suppose anyone saw South Park a couple of nights ago!

Obviously we were all pipped at the post. I for one can claim that every letter I've ever had from a Government Department was totally, 100% bull shite.

Always think on the bright side of life, Romany.

Whereas before this illuminating information came our way courtesy of Danielle, we all probably thought there was no limit to the number of such bullsh!t letters as you describe. Now we know there is a finite supply of the raw material for bullsh!t paper, or Bovine Mail No.2 as it is known in the trade, perhaps we can look forward to letters on it becoming a relative rarity as the globalized economy demand drives up its price.

As a little bonus, we also can perhaps look at pulp fiction from a more informed perspective.

I have always wondered why paper goes brown with age. Now I know.