I have 10 gross scat facts and how to make edible scat. Too, you’ll like Daniel Boone Explorer Black Bear Unit Study and Fun Edible Bear Poop.
It may be kinda gross, but I can guarantee your kids are going to remember this lesson for years to come.
This fun hands-on activity is perfect for a forest unit or survival study.
Too, if you are studying a specific animal like a moose or a particular region like the Northwoods, add this activity.
The Northwoods are a boreal forest and comprise about half of Canada and many parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine.
What is scat? Scat is just the “fancy” scientific way of saying wild animal droppings.
10 Unbelievably Gross Scat Facts
- Some animals, like birds and some monkeys, actually dig through poop looking for insects to eat- gross!
- Turkey vultures poop on their own feet after scavenging on dead animals. While it may sound pretty disgusting it has an important purpose, they are filled with good bacteria that help kill bad bacteria they might have picked up.
- There are 2 caterpillars that disguise themselves as poop to avoid being eaten – the viceroy and the white admiral.
- Due to the shape of their ridge intestines and their high-fiber diet wombat poop comes out very dense and perfectly square. They can leave behind 80-100 square pellets every single day.
- There is a very expensive coffee, called kopi luwak, that is made from beans that are collected from a palm civet’s poop. You won’t find that in my pantry.
- Sloths climb down from the trees just once a week to poop. It can be a pretty big poop, equaling up to about ⅕ of their body weight.
- Caterpillars can shoot their poop far, up to 40 times the length of their bodies.
- A lot of animal poop is used to make great fertilizer for gardens-cows, chickens, llamas, goats, and rabbits.
- Owls poop but they also get rid of their waste by regurgitating pellets. These pellets contain hair, bones, and the remains of insects.
- Pandas can poop up to 50 pounds of waste per day.
I based this idea off Who Pooped in the Northwoods (Scats and Tracks for Kids), a simple fun book that gives kids a peek into the animals of the Northwoods by teaching them to look for animal signs like tracks and scat of course.
It encourages kids to make observations like noticing the direction of hoofprints and what is in the poop, is it an omnivore or carnivore? Can you tell from its’s scat?
Books About Scat and Tracks
Next, look at some of these resources to add to your unit study.
Books about Animal Scat, Poop, and Tracks
Add some of these fun resources to your unit study about animals.
Watch where you step! Sometimes the animals in the Northwoods are hard to find but you can almost always find their poop! Come along with Michael, Emily, and their family as they find poop (scat) and footprints (tracks) and discover which animal made them! An ideal tool for teaching young children about animal behavior, diet, and scat and tracks identification the perfect companion for in the car or in the field on your next trip to the Northwoods. Fun illustrations of the animals and their scat and tracks supplement the charming story, and a quick-reference chart at the back makes field identification a breeze!
Poop! Ewwww!No, don’t say “Ewwww.” Ask, “Whose poop is that?” This simple, and yes, charming book asks this question about seven examples of animal poop. By investigating visual clues, young readers can learn to identify the animal through its droppings. For instance, find a sample of poop with bits of bone and tufts of hair. Turn the page to learn it came from a fox!
ECOLOGY BOARD GAME - Learn about ecology from a science game! Players build ecosystems of wild animals such as bears, foxes, and rabbits, in environments such as streams, forests, and meadows and are rewarded for sustainability and diversity! Our 2-6 player games will go great on a board game table in a classroom to teach students about the beauty of biological variety.
- 3 x deer, 1 x bear, 1 x squirrel, 6 x model cyan pine trees, 9 x model birches, 5 x model poplars, 2 x model white poplars, 3 x flower trees, 10 x aloe leaves.
- 【Material】These model trees and flowers are made of plastic material, well workmanship, flexible and durable for using. Not suitable for children under 6 years old, please use them under the guidance of adults to prevent children accidental ingestion.
Become a nature detective with this illustrative, engaging and fun Take-Along-Guide. You may not know where to look, or what to look for, but animal signs are everywhere and this guide will help you learn how to read them. You'll learn how to spot and identify common clues that 17 wildlife species leave behind in the woods, in the fields and along ponds.
Read and find out about how to track animals by finding footprints and other clues in this colorfully illustrated nonfiction picture book.
Does a cat use her claws when she walks? How does a rabbit run? What does a skunk smell like? Find out the answers in Big Tracks, Little Tracks, a perfect first book for children with a budding interest in animals and nature.
This is a clear and appealing science book for early elementary age kids, both at home and in the classroom. It includes a find out more page with lots of hands-on activities.
Animal Scat and Tracks Resources
Also, look at some of these resources to add to your forest or animal unit study.
- Mammal Scat of North America
- Learn All About Animal Poop with this fun Lesson Plan
- Daniel Boone Explorer Black Bear Unit Study and Fun Edible Bear Poop
- Animal Tracks Book
Finally, look how to make this fun edible scat recipe.
Edible Scat Recipe
You can use any kind of cereal that you like, whatever you have on hand, even quick-cooked oats.
If you can find a multipack of the mini boxes at the grocery store your kids will have even more fun getting creative.
You will need:
- 2 ½ cups dry cereal
- 2 cups marshmallows
- 1 Tablespoon cocoa powder
- 2 Tablespoons butter
Scavenge the kitchen or the shelves at your grocery store to find “add-ins” to your poop to help differentiate the different animals you wish to make.
Think of different shapes of cereal, raisins, nuts, and candies.
Melt marshmallows and butter in a large microwave-safe dish by heating them in 30-second increments and stirring between each rotation until completely melted.
Immediately stir in the dry cereal and cocoa powder until completely mixed.
How to Make Edible Poop
Separate into as many kinds of edible scat you want to make.
Add in any “special” ingredients and form the shapes.
Spray or butter your hands to keep it from sticking.
Rabbit poop is small little round pellets. Make it before you add anything else, rolling it into tiny balls.
White Tail Deer poop is kind of like rabbit poop that you may be more familiar with, little pellets but larger and they more closely resemble the shape of jellybeans.
Black Bear poop looks similar to what your dog might leave in the backyard but bigger and it might contain berries, seeds, twigs, or hair depending on its recent diet. You can add in oats, unbroken cereal, pretzels, etc.
Wolf Poop usually contains hair/fur and is long and tapered off. To recreate fur use coconut flakes.
Beaver poop is not frequently seen as it is usually dropped into the water and even in their lodges.
But it is full of wood chips and sawdust if you were to spot it. To look like wood chips you can add larger flakes of cereal and crumbs when forming it.
Set it on waxed paper and allow it to firm up.
Label your scat and if you have them, let your child match up coordinating plastic animals or the correct printed photo with each one they make.
