Editing Midden (section)

=={{anchor|Other definitions}}Etymology and usage==
{{see also|Midden (disambiguation)}}
The word is of [[Scandinavia]]n via [[Middle English]] derivation (from early Scandinavian; Danish: ''mødding'', Swedish regional: ''mödding'').<ref>{{Citation | title = Oxford English Dictionary | edition = 3rd | year = 2003| title-link = Oxford English Dictionary }}.</ref> 

The word "midden" is still in everyday use in [[Scotland]] and has come by extension to refer to anything that is a mess, a muddle, or chaos.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.scotslanguage.com/articles/view/id/4494|website =Scots Language Centre |title =Annaker's midden n. a mess, a shambles|access-date =15 July 2020 }}</ref>

The word is used by [[farmers]] in Britain to describe the place where farm yard manure from cows or other animals is collected. Grants are sometimes available to protect these from rain to  [[Agricultural wastewater treatment|avoid runoff and pollution]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/SRDP/RuralPriorities/Options/Manurestorage|title=Manure/Slurry Storage|quote=Investment under this storage and handling Option may include: action to minimise the volume of clean water getting into manure or slurry stores, including the installation of covers for slurry storage facilities and middens|publisher=Scottish Government|archive-date=24 January 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120124191440/http://scotland.gov.uk/Topics/farmingrural/SRDP/RuralPriorities/Options/Manurestorage|access-date=18 August 2011|url-status=bot: unknown}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jennifermackenzie.co.uk/2008/04/02_booth.html|title=Roofed Midden benefits Lake District Farm|quote=Thanks to a grant from Farming Connect Cumbria the Booths were able to roof the slurry midden, probably trebling its capacity by excluding the rainwater, as well as making necessary repairs to the midden itself to prevent possible run-off to a nearby beck. The midden can now provide up to 10 weeks' storage for the slurry.}}</ref>
[[File:Red squirrel midden.jpg|thumb|Squirrel midden, [[Kenai National Wildlife Refuge]], Alaska]]
In the animal kingdom, some species establish ground [[burrow]]s, also known as middens, that are used mostly for food storage. For example, the North [[American red squirrel]] (''Tamiasciurus hudsonicus'') usually has one large active midden in each territory with perhaps an inactive or auxiliary midden.<ref>{{cite web|author=dfg.webmaster@alaska.gov |url=http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=redsquirrel.main |title=Alaska Department of Fish & Game: North American Red Squirrel |publisher=[[Alaska Department of Fish and Game]] |access-date=2014-02-24}}</ref> A midden may be a regularly used [[animal toilet]] area or [[dunghill]], created by many mammals, such as the [[hyrax]], and also serving as a territorial marker.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chase |first1=B.M. |last2=Meadows |first2=M.E. |last3=Scott |first3=L. |last4=Thomas |first4=D.S.G. |last5=Marais |first5=E. |last6=Sealy |first6=J. |author7-link=Paula Reimer |last7=Reimer |first7=P.J. |year=2009 |title=A record of rapid Holocene climate change preserved in hyrax middens from southwestern Africa |journal=Geology |volume=37 |issue=8 |pages=703–6 |bibcode=2009Geo....37..703C |doi=10.1130/G30053A.1}}</ref>

[[Octopus]] middens are piles of debris that the octopus piles up to conceal the entrance of its den. Octopus middens are commonly made of rocks, shells, and the bones of prey, although they may contain anything the octopus finds that it can move.<ref>{{cite journal |title =Midden formation by octopuses: The role of biotic and abiotic factors|first =Richard F. |last =Ambrose
|journal= Marine Behaviour and Physiology|volume= 10|date= 1983 |issue =2  |pages =137–144|doi =10.1080/10236248309378613|quote=Published online: 22 Jan 2009}}</ref>