'No 2 turds are alike': Maine woman's moose poop crafts are flying off the shelf

This article was originally published Oct. 19, 2018.

Mary Winchenbach quit her job at a Maine seaweed plant to focus on her family business.

It's called Tirdy Works.

She sells items like earrings, magnets, lapel pins, and clocks — made with moose poop collected around her Somerville, Maine home.  

Demand for the products is high. Wichenbach says she has been shipping out at least 200 packages every other day.

Some people like a natural looking turd and some people like it when their turds glisten.- Mary Winchenbach, craftmaker 

There have also been more than 400 orders for what she calls poopoo clocks. She told As It Happens host Carol Off about that product, and more:

What are poopoo clocks?

Instead of a cuckoo it's a poopoo clock. We put the turds in between the numbers so it reads one-turdy, two-turdy, three-turdy.

And that's a hot item right now?

Absolutely.

What else have you got there?

We've got fecal people. Depending upon the shape of them middle turds right there, we can do them with big boobs, and guts, and butts, and long legs and short legs. See, because no two turds are alike.

Another big item we have is the dingleberries. See we got dingleberries with bells, and we got them with balls. … Those are good for putting on the Christmas tree because you can never have enough crap hanging off the tree.

Or, you can put it on the rearview mirror of your vehicle … you take a corner and you got that turd just a slingin' all around the place.

Not only is it a conversation piece, but I once got out of a $50 parking ticket with a $5 turd. I actually gave the cop some s---t and he let me go. That's a true story.

Where did you get the idea to turn poo into gold?

I saw the turds one day, you know, walking in the woods. … I got to thinking one day wouldn't that be funny to have a set of eyeballs on it.

The product line has just been expanding and expanding … We'll sit around at night and drink a beer or something and start coming up with some stupid names for turds.

You collect your materials in the woods, right?

Correct.

We get probably within a mile and a half, two miles from the house. Usually we'll get 100 to 150 pounds of turds every time we go out in the woods.

How many moose do you have around your place?

Well, I think there's about 12. Approximately.

And they're just producing like crazy for you.

They take a dump two or three times a day. Every time they take a crap, they'll crap out probably 300 to 400 turds every time.

We sell the turds for $5 and up, so it's like ching ching.

Every time these moose are out there, you're just looking at dollar signs.

Absolutely.

We see the turds coming out of their butt and it's like 5, 10, 15, 20, 25. Yeah.

I've seen moose poop in the woods and it's like ploppy, soft, cow-patty stuff. You're not working with that, are you?

My turds … look like little oval balls.

We have dehydrators here at the house, so once we get our turds home we dry them all up wicked good. Then we put two different kinds of coatings on them because some people like a natural looking turd and some people like it when their turds glisten.

Written by Katie Geleff. Produced by Sarah Jackson. Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.