Mike Rowe is in a bat cave, gas mask strapped to his face, and he's surrounded by 40 million Mexican free-tailed bats during breeding season.
And they're not pleased by his presence.
"They're expressing their displeasure in a rain of feces and urine and placenta," Rowe told a crowd of about 1,750 at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts Tuesday night.
Rowe, host of Discovery Channel's "Dirty Jobs," shared stories of unsanitary experiences and hard-earned wisdom with an adoring crowd for about 45 minutes before taking questions from the audience.
He started his speech, fittingly enough, with a story about sheep testicles finding their way into a man's mouth.
While filming an episode for Dirty Jobs in Colorado, he said he was helping a rancher remove the tails and testicles of sheep.
He said he expected the rancher to use rubber bands to cut off the circulation of the appendages, which Rowe said was the PETA-approved method of removal.
Instead, Rowe said, the rancher pulled out a knife and cut the first sheep's tail off.
Then, after the animal's legs were spread, the man cut off a piece of its scrotum before plunging his face into its groin, sucking out the testicles and spitting them into a bucket.
Rowe said he had to stop the cameras at that point.
"This is just not gonna play in what you call the blue states," Rowe joked.
Rowe also delved into his colorful past, which included stints in the Baltimore Opera Company and as a salesman on QVC.
He said he joined the opera company just to get his Screen Actors Guild membership and for the girls, who dressed like "French country prostitutes."
One day during a long performance when he wasn't needed for a few hours, Rowe said he ventured across the street, still dressed in his Viking garb for the show, to the Mount Royal Tavern to drink beer and watch football. When he got there, however, the TV was turned to QVC instead of football.
Rowe said the bartender bet Rowe $100 that he couldn't audition for a job at QVC and get a callback.
"I said the last thing in the world I could use is a job, but I could sure use $100," Rowe said.
Rowe auditioned the next day and got the job.
He said he stayed with the company for three years, getting fired multiple times and learning a lot about TV in the process.
Throughout his speech, Rowe also plugged his Web site, mikeroweWORKS.com, which is dedicated to the celebration of hard work and getting people interested in jobs that will help the U.S. rebuild its crumbling infrastructure, he said.
He finished his speech by reading a letter he wrote to President Barack Obama, who was sworn in earlier in the day.
The letter urged Obama to create more jobs in skilled trades that would allow the U.S. to make more products within its own borders.
Ben Brunson, a UF animal sciences senior, said he thought Rowe was eloquent and hilarious.
"Everything he said made me laugh," he said.
"It's the best show I've seen since I've been here (at UF)."
According to an Accent contract, Rowe received $60,000 for the event.
