wolves, bears and salmon which showed biologists taking
wolf scat samples. Scat will show not only what an animal has
been eating BUT with microsatellite DNA fingerprints to
individually identify each wolf in the population, know when
it is born, know when it dies, and know which pack territories
it visits. We also use this genetic information to learn about
the population’s genetic diversity.
Our program may not have all the equipment to
do in-depth scientific studies, but we are very hands on and
do what we can with what we have. Bring in the 3rd grade
"Scat Scout Girls"
Headed up by Mrs M the team took on the task of finding and
examining the scat left, dropped, pooped ? all over Wildcat Woods.
We do have a severe shortage of wolf scat around here, but there is
no shortage of coyotes. They spend a lot of time hunting for
meadow voles this time of year. (note: the vole population
in Wildcat is huge we will do a study on them soon)
Three samples were taken and upon first observation one
coyote was eating voles but one of them was dining on.....
a puddy cat!
The samples will be mixed with water and strained to leave
solid (food) materials behind for identification. The results
will be posted.
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| Scat Scout girls displaying one of 3 samples they collected |
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| Coyote Canis latrans |
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Using the proper collecting techniques, just as the biologists did, the girls placed the sample in ziploc baggies |
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| And there you have the neatly packaged coyote scat. |
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