Regarding the hippo - for those who have not experienced this firsthand (and I don't mean in a video):
I have some friends who are keepers at the San Diego Zoo. One time my wife and I were invited to a "behind the scenes" tour of the hippo area. They have a separate pool that is not part of the public viewing area, where they can keep a hippo that for one reason or another is not on public view. This area is surrounded by 20' high concrete walls (think about limiting air circulation and thus concentrating odors), and you are separated from the hippo by a gate made of thick steel bars. You are standing on a sloped concrete ramp that is wet, with metal grating on the ground to sort-of increase your traction. We were warned ahead of time that if the hippo should come out of the water, make his way towards the gate, then turn his back towards us and start rotating his tail in a fan-like manner, that we should "run for our lives".
Hippos eat a high-fiber diet, and nothing is firm in their world. The fan-like action of the tail serves to aerate things. I can't begin to describe how bad the smell was, especially since a bit of it landed on the back of my jacket, but it took a while for someone to notice where it was. Also, I guess I didn't turn around quite fast enough, as a small particle landed on the inside of the lens hood of my camera.
I can tell you from first-hand experience that it gives a whole new meaning to the term "when the shit hits the fan".
