This Doesn’t Stink – Animal Scat

Scat is what scientists call animal droppings.  All animals leave droppings because they must rid their body of waste.  But what can we learn from scat? What are some different kinds we may find?  Where do we look if we want to find scat?  All this, and more, if you read on.

The different types of scat depend on the animal itself.  Scat takes on many different shapes –  tubular (dog, raccoon, skunk); water drop (cat family); tiny and round (rabbits); pill shaped (deer); long and thin (rodents).   Birds, on the other hand, typically have scat that is whitish in color and fluid. They typically look like paint splotches because they fall from height before hitting the ground.  Even invertebrates like roaches and worms leave scat behind because they, too, must rid their bodies of waste.

If you find scat in an area, it gives a big clue right away – animals are nearby.  Upon closer examination of the scat, you can learn many other things as well.  First, you can learn what type of diet the animal eats – plants or other animals – depending on what food traces you see in the scat.  You can also tell the abundance of that particular animal in that area depending on how much scat you see.  The location if the scat is also a clue.  For example, if you find raccoon scat near a tree, you know the raccoon has been spending time in that tree.  Likewise, if you are suddenly missing scat in an area that typically has it, you can possibly figure out that something may be wrong in that ecosystem to cause animals to leave.  Examination of scat can tell many things about an animal – if it is sick, pregnant, or has had a change in diet.  Regardless of what you can learn from scat, it is never advisable to touch scat with your bare hands because it can carry diseases from the animal.

Size of scat does not necessarily give you a tip to what animal left it behind.  Frogs will leave scat behind that is extremely large in comparison to their body size.  Deer, on the other hand, leave behind small pebble-like scat that looks like it should come from a very small animal.

Here is your challenge –

Go on a nature walk and find three different types of scat.  Using a scat chart, find out –

-What animal left it behind

-What the animal ate

-One other fact about the animal that you can find in its scat.