Naturalist Report: Coyote Skat

First Name:	Aaron
Age:	6
Specimen or Artifact Name:	Coyote Skat (a.k.a. poop)
Where did you find it?:	Starved Rock State Park, St Louis Canyon Trail
Write a paragraph about your item. Some ideas of information to include are: Is it old or new? What species is it from or what is its classification? Why is it important? What is its role in nature?:	I found skat on St Louis Canyon trail. We found so many skats that we nicknamed the trail “Turd Trail”. We believe it’s coyote skat because we looked it up and we compared it to what we saw online. The characteristics of coyote skat are that you can find fur and even bones in the skat. Also, coyotes communicate by using skat and they usually leave it in places that are very easy to spot, like on hiking trails that we were on.
What makes it interesting to you? Why did you choose this item?:	I wanted to bring use this because I’ve never seen coyote skat. And because poop is funny and also cool.