Mystery solved: why boys like sticks!

I have always been tempted to pick up a stick when I see one while walking/hiking.  Sometimes to fling them. Sometimes to simply carry.  And sometimes to simply poke the plants :)  If Will Rogers thought that there was never a dollar bill he didn't like, I suppose there are very few sticks that I have never liked!

And my non-random observation right from when I was young was that boys in general liked sticks, and girls did not.  I thought it was merely a gender thing.

Turns out that this was the number one question that intrigued Slate readers too, and am mighty glad that there is an answer as well :)

The question of the year (2010) that Slate's Explainer examines is:

I've always pondered why boys like having sticks. Whether it be walking down a hiking trail with a stick they picked up or running a stick across a white picket fence, boys (including me when I was small) seem to have a knack for having a stick. Is there some kind of explanation for this behavior?

What is the answer you ask?  Click here for the explanations, where you will also find out how porcupines use sticks.  Am not kidding ...