BRATTLEBORO — Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center offers Valentine's Day specials of chocolate “scat” samplers for sale at the Feb. 7 Gallery Walk. Proceeds of these distinctive treats support scholarships for the center's nature vacation camps.
BEEC has more than 20 years' experience providing southeastern Vermont with quality outdoor education programs, including walks through area woodlands to teach participants to read nature's signs.
According to Patti Smith, BEEC's expert naturalist and tracker, tracking is much more than looking for paw prints on the ground; trackers are trained to observe all the signs an animal in passing leaves behind, including - speaking of behind - its fecal matter, which wildlife biologists call scat.
Smith notes that scat markers indicate the species of the animal that made the deposit, as well as its diet: “True naturalists have a strange affection for scat, and feel great delight upon a sighting.”
And so the sampler, which you can track, observe, and purchase at Gallery Walk, $15 for an assortment of four. BEEC says its “scat” chocolates are composed of the finest ingredients, with edible additions to suggest certain woodland mammals' diets: Think sesame seeds and dried cranberries as found in the diet of a raccoon, or shredded wheat for stand in for evidence of a coyote's fur coat.
Landmark College students are slated to help in the manufacture of these chocolates. Rolling and twisting of the “scat” is equally important in the identification, Smith says, as each animal's scat presents a unique shape based on the particulars of its intestinal tract.
It's that hands-on experience which makes the difference, she adds: “When rolling it out, one tends to remember the characteristics for that animal much more than just looking at a picture. This is important to know out in the field.”
And these gifts are sweet in other ways: Each box is arranged to suggest more refined, traditional chocolate samplers, and the covers boast descriptions and ingredients.
Should BEEC run out of “scat” samplers at Gallery Walk, volunteers will happily take your order on the spot, and promise delivery by Feb. 13, just in time for Valentine's Day.