Poop Detectives: Working Dogs in the Field

Readers will likely be familiar with dogs that work with law enforcement and ranchers or those that provide assistance to people with disabilities. They may be surprised to learn that there are dogs that perform a critical task for wildlife ecologists and biologists: animal scat detection. The fecal matter of many animals provides clues to their health, and studying poop allows researchers to avoid trapping or killing animals to obtain this data. Wadsworth explains the training procedures for "detection canines," and then follows the dogs into the field. Numerous examples are provided to show how dogs' keen sense of smell is utilized to find the scat of all sorts of animals, including bears, gorillas, sea turtles, and even whales (whale poop floats for a time), in addition to locating invasive species in the wild. Wadsworth conveys her fascination with the topic and her love of canines through excellent photographs of the enthusiastic dogs at work in the field with their handlers, as well as the creatures they sniff out. Copious asides and text boxes, and resources for further investigation, cover the topic thoroughly. danielle j. ford

Some dogs perform a critical task for wildlife ecologists and biologists: animal scat detection. The fecal matter of many animals provides clues to their health, and studying poop allows researchers to avoid trapping or killing animals to obtain this data. Wadsworth conveys her fascination with the topic through excellent photographs, copious asides and text boxes, and resources for further investigation. Reading list, websites. Bib., glos., ind.