Kudu dung-spitting

Kudu dung-spitting (Bokdrol Spoeg in Afrikaans) is a sport practiced by the Afrikaner community in South Africa. In the competition small, hard pellets of dung from the kudu antelope, are spat, with the farthest distance reached being the winner.

Kudu dung-spitting is popular enough to have an annual world championship competition, with the formal sport beginning in 1994. Contests are held at some community bazaars, game festivals or tourism shows in the bushveld, Natal and Eastern Cape.[1][2][3] Unlike many similar sports, the distance is measured from the marker to the place the dung pellet comes to rest, rather than where it initially hit the ground.[4]

The world record in the sport is a distance of 15.56 metres (51.0 ft) set as of 2006 by Shaun van Rensburg[5] of Addo.[6] It is said that hunters began using the pellets in spitting competitions to "retaliate" at their prey, as the kudu is a notoriously difficult animal to hunt, and infamous for leaving a trail of dung pellets while managing to elude the hunter.[7]

Similar sports

Records are also kept for cherry pit spitting, watermelon seed spitting, prune pit spitting, brown cricket spitting and tobacco juice spitting.[7][8] In 2015, a sheep dung-spitting competition was introduced to Northern Ireland's Lady of The Lake Festival in County Fermanagh.[9]

References
  1. "Koedoedrol Verspoeg Kompetisie". wildsfees.co.za. Kirkwood Wildsfees. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  2. "Bekvol vir dié kompetisie". Beeld. 25 May 2004. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  3. de Wet, Christopher (19 April 2007). "Fees gaan wilder as die wildtuin wees". Beeld. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  4. Skinner, Rod. "Spoeg sport pret". ladysmithgazette.co.za. Ladysmith Gazette. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  5. The Herald, South Africa, August 1, 2006, quoted in Private Eye #1170
  6. Coetzer, Toast (October 2007). "A mouthful of dung". Go!. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  7. Rosen, Michael J., with Ben Kassoy (2009). No dribbling the squid octopush, shin kicking, elephant polo, and other oddball sports. Kansas City, Mo.: Andrews McMeel. pp. 72–73. ISBN 978-0740790508. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  8. "Spitting as a Sport". HotelClub Travel Blog 2015. HotelClub. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  9. Gerken, James. "Dung Spitting Competition Is A Crappy Way To Prove Yourself". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 July 2015.


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