It starts with an "S" and ends with a "T" ...

"It comes out of you and it comes out of me. I know what you're thinking, it could be called THAT, but be scientific and call is SCAT!" That's right, I'm talking about poop, much to the pleasure of my four-year-old. The "Scat Rap" is an age-old ditty sung by environmental educators the world over (at least that is what I imagine). I first learned it while working as a naturalist at the Glen Helen Outdoor Education Center in Yellow Springs, Ohio, and I have been singing it ever since. A song sure to get a smile, if not a chuckle from even the most self-respecting adolescent. In case you've got one to impress, or just want a song about scat to sing to yourself, here are the complete lyrics:

Scat Rap

(1988 Andy Bennet, Mary Keebler, Rodd Pemble, Doug Elliott, Billy Jonas)

It starts with an “S”, ends with a “T”

It comes out of you, and it comes out of me,

I know what you’re thinking, it could be called that,

But be scientific, and call it SCAT.

If you wanna find out what animals eat,

Take a good look at what they excrete.

Stuck in the scat are all kinds of clues,

Parts of the food that their bodies can’t use.

Down by the creek on a hollow log,

Scat full of berries and bones of frogs.

Fresh last night he was out with the moon,
Hunting crawdads, it was Mr. Raccoon.

You park your car by a wood or field,
Gonna find scat on your window shield.
Full of seeds, purple and white
You just got bombed by a bird in flight.

If you wanna know what’s in the woods or around,
Take a good long look at the scat on the ground.
It tells us what they eat and tells us who they are,
And that’s what we know about scat so far.

As for the scat in the picture above, this was an exciting discovery made by me and my son, Max. It might sound strange or even a little gross to get excited about scat, but it is a great way to find out about the local wildlife (as explained in the above lyrics). After singing a few verses of the scat rap, Max and I got straight to work playing detective. The scat in question was pointy at the ends and was deposited right on top of a flat rock in an open area next to our driveway. Size, shape, location, and the furry center led us to the conclusion that this little package was left by none other than a fox.

Foxes will often deposit their scat on rocks or other raised surfaces as a way of marking their territory. And it typically contains fur, due to the fox's penchant for all things small and furry. Whether the culprit was a red fox or gray fox, we don't know for sure; both species are found in the mountains of Western North Carolina. My guess, however, is gray fox since they have a preference for more wooded habitats.

Thanks for the little gift Mr. Fox. I mean, what could be more fun for a four-year old than singing about poop and solving a mystery? Seriously.

Consider this territory marked. And this case, closed.