Scat: Natures calling card

Scat:

Recently I have been really into finding scat...yes indeed it is a strange hobby...but to those dedicated na

ture nerds out there you can share in the joy scat brings to you....and perhaps to the depositer of thy

scat

Now I know that some folks might not fully appricate scat and I will attempt to clear the air about this otherwise foul smelling particle...aka:poop.

First off: Scat: I was surprised to find that scat has numerous defintions...

1. to leave quickly... so.. "George scatted out of the bathroom to avoid looks of evil."

2. Jazz singing in which improvised, meaningless

syllables are sung to

a melody..The great Ella Fitzerald...

3. and finally scat is animal dung...

Now I am not one to put down the Great Ms. Fitzerald...but which term came first, I would like to find the etymology...upon my research it seems both terms came about in the mid 20's to early 30's....is there relivence...? I can say that the orgin of the word scat means to fling out...both the 2nd and 3rd defintions one is flinging out something...may it be improvised words...or dung..

Anyways Scat is great and here are some reasons why

1. It is natures calling card.

2. Life would be uncomfortable without it...just think about that...

3. It can be challenging, rewarding and dangerous all in one...so therefore it is an adventure!!!!

4. Some people have life lists of birding...how about a scat life list?

Here are some other sites on scat:

http://www.enature.com/articles/detail.asp?storyID=599 Scat Quiz

http://icwdm.org/inspection/scat.asp all around good site for looking at scat.

http://heartwoodpress.com this book is great to bring hiking.

Hey, did you know that it will soon be Vulture Awareness Day? Yes on Sept. 5th, vultures everywhere will finally get the respect they truly deserve, the hell with fancy sparrows and coastal water birds....carcass cuisine loving birds are a great part of our ecosystems...so you may ask....well what do I do on Sept. 5th to show my love of these bald beauties (though not all are bald...they must have joined the hair club)...well let me tell you!

You can practice hurling throw-up...as is a skill mastered by these creatures...as I have encountered with my friend Ralph the turkey vulture.

You can shave your hair...this maybe an extreme act...I do not plan on this.

Trace your arms on sidewalk and compare it to the wingspan of the Condor which is 10 feet.

You can write poetry about vultures...below is a great poem from Louis Untermeyer, ed. (1885–1977). Modern American Poetry. 1919.

ALOOF upon the day's immeasured dome,
He holds unshared the silence of the sky.
Far down his bleak, relentless eyes descry
The eagle's empire and the falcon's home—
Far down, the galleons of sunset roam;	5
His hazards on the sea of morning lie;
Serene, he hears the broken tempest sigh
Where cold sierras gleam like scattered foam.
And least of all he holds the human swarm—
Unwitting now that envious men prepare	10
To make their dream and its fulfillment one,
When, poised above the caldrons of the storm,
Their hearts, contemptuous of death, shall dare
His roads between the thunder and the sun.

So there, become aware of the vultures stare, though is head is bare...he is a great in the air and without him we would surely not be there..

Ahh...it indeed has been a long time...well seeing that my life is currently crazy...yes crazy, I thought I'd add a photo of the cutest dog in my life....(see above photo). She likes squirrels a lot, not as much as Dug from the great movie of all times "Up"...

Yeah.....sure Squirrel you can't fool me.....look at them trying to be the easter bunny........try again.....

Ahh!

Now the squirrels need to enjoy themselves too ya know!

So on the Great St. Patty's Day, the squirrels stop planning world domination and raise a pint...perhaps they really like a good drink, perhaps all squirrels are Irish, perhaps they like to honor the man whom drove the snakes out of Ireland.....(though as a scientist I must inform you that snakes post-glacial Ireland never had snakes)....I think squirrels just know how to have a good time.

Ahhh look at the squirrel building the snowman.......annnnnnnnnnnt! Wrong!! This snow sculpturing genius is really making a "pseudo-human" in which other squirrels will use for target practice!!

Here is one member of the squirrel family militia....yes he may be small but he has one bad Napoleon complex....look at the way he shoves those "nuts" into his jowls....but what you must really know....those are not nuts....they are actually weapons of mass destruction, and he is hiding them to transport over the border.

Note: Another member of the squirrel family Tamias minimus cheneius.