What kinds of things do you see in the woods? Trees, bushes, vines flowers. Insects, birds, chipmunks, deer. Maybe even a snake. What about scat? Scat is animal poop. You might see it in the bushes, or on the path as you’re hiking. Scat can tell you a lot about what has been there before you.​​

All animals leave scat. Looking at scat can give you information about what an animal eats, where it lives, and whether it’s healthy. Different animals make different types of scat. Knowing about the shapes and sizes of scat can tell you which animals live nearby. ​​

It’s ok to look at scat, but you should never touch it. Germs and diseases can be passed through animal poop. ​

How can you identify different types of scat? Thick tube-shaped scat belongs to animals like dogs, racoons, skunk, opossums, and bears. Coyotes and foxes have fur in their scat from the animals they have hunted and eaten. ​

Scat that is shaped like a water drop belongs to the cat family. Weasels leave scat in the form of long threads. If you see scat that looks tiny and round, it probably belongs to a rabbit. If it’s shaped like a pill, it came from a deer.​

Bat scat is called guano. It’s usually small and dry, and is shaped like an oval. You can find it in places where bats sleep during the day.​

Some animals leave very unusual scat. Parrot fish poop mostly sand. Wombat scat is shaped like cubes. Sloths only poop once a week, and pandas poop 50 pounds a day!​

​Poop may seem gross, but knowing about scat can be an important part of learning about animals. As long as you don’t touch it, you can use scat to give you clues about the nature around you. Just like yourself, whose scat is that?​