Hey guys!
Squeaks and I just got back from walking in the woods.
And we both found some interesting things.
I found a feather and this neat antler from a deer.
Squeaks what did you find?
Oh, interesting!
They’re round like seeds, small like pebbles, and they look like little balls of dirt.
But they’re not seeds, pebbles, or dirt.
These are little pieces of poop!
Do you think that’s funny Squeaks?
Well, sometimes the word poop makes people laugh, but I think poop is really interesting.
And it’s something that all animals do.
Insects, reptiles, amphibians, birds, and mammals -- they all poop.
And when an animal leaves poop behind, scientists call it scat.
Scientists like biologists study many clues to learn about the animals that live in certain
areas.
And scat is a great clue!
It can tell a lot about an animal, like: what it ate, where it spends most of their time,
if it’s sick, and most importantly it tells what kind of animal it is.
Different kinds of animals leave different kinds of scat.
And scat comes in many sizes and shapes.
That’s why scientists need to know what kind of scat belongs to which animal, so they
can understand what kinds of animals are in the area, and what they’re doing.
The shape and size of mammal scat will tell you the most about who left it behind.
Deer poop is a common one to find.
It’s found on the ground and looks like lots of brown ovals in a pile.
Rabbit poop is another common one.
It’s smaller than deer poop and forms perfectly round balls.
You’ll find it bunched up in small piles.
Not all scat is round though -- coyote and raccoon poop is longer, and there’s usually
only a few pieces.
Sometimes scat is super tiny.
Like insect poop!
Yes, ladybugs, ants, and bees leave behind poop too.
And their scat is really small.
It’s so small it can be hard to find if it’s on the dirt, so the best place to look
for insect scat is on the leaves of trees.
And other kinds of scat looks very different from that of mammals and insects.
Bird droppings are made of a mixture of poop and a white substance called uric acid.
That’s because birds pee and poop at the same time, so that’s what you’ll find
in their scat.
So if you find a little pile, or splat, of scat that has some brown and white in it,
it’s probably from a bird.
However, it might also have been left behind by a reptile - like a snake.
To figure out who left this scat behind you’ll need to look for other clues too.
You’ll often find bird scat under a tree branch, since birds sometimes perch in trees,
but not always.
Snakes like to hide under logs, so if you find the brown and white scat near or under
a log, it’s probably from a snake.
Now that you know a bit about the different kinds of scat, let’s play a guessing game
that I like to call Name That Poop.
Alright!
Squeaks, let’s take a look at your sample first and see if we can figure out what kind
of animal left it behind.
Hmm, there are a lot of them in a pile.
They’re brown and oval shaped.
Can you guess who they belong to?
If you guessed deer, you’re right!
And that’s neat because I found my deer antler near the same place!
Nice job finding that sample Squeaks!
Now you should probably go wash your hands.
Let’s try another one!
This one was found on a leaf and it’s really small.
Do you know what kind of animal this belongs to?
An Insect!
I agree!
I wonder what kind of insect left this behind, I bet if we looked for more clues we could
find out.
Maybe it was near an anthill, or under a bee hive.
Okay, let’s try one more.
This one was found on the sidewalk under a tree and it looks like it has some white stuff
in it.
What do you think?
A bird?
You’re right!!
Because it had some white in it and it was under a tree branch, this scat most likely
belongs to a bird.
If you find a lot of bird droppings under a tree, it might mean that the birds have
a nest in the tree, or that they’ve found something good to eat up
there.
So, scat can tell you a lot of important information about the animals that live in your area.
It can tell you what kinds of animals are around, and also what they might be doing.
If you’re taking a walk outside and see some interesting poop, leave it be, but you
can take a picture of it.
Then you can try and figure out what animal it belongs to, and you’ll know who’s living
in your neighborhood!
Thanks for joining us!
And remember, if you have a question for any of us here at the fort, let us know by leaving
a comment or emailing us at kids@thescishow.com.