Darren’s Diatribe

On last weekend’s Scout Hiking Trip we played a little prank on the Scouts.

I arranged for the Scout Leader to stop when he found some fresh kangaroo poo and talk to the Scouts about it. He asked what sort it was and they guessed correctly. He asked how we could tell for sure, but nobody had any suggestions.

I palmed a Fruit Choc which was very similar in size and colour to the poo and pretended to pick it up from amongst the kangaroo poo. I explained that a kangaroo poo smelled kind of musty and gave the faux poo a good sniff. At this point, most of the kids were saying “gross” and “ewwww”, but I had hardly started.

Then I explained that kangaroo poo also tastes a bit salty and gave the faux poo a couple of licks. By now many of the kids had covered their mouths as if they were going to lose their breakfast, but I continued undaunted. The final test, I explained, is that kangaroo poo is quite chewy and I put the faux poo in my mouth and chewed it up. I pulled a face as if it tasted bad and spat it out under a nearby bush.

Some of the kids looked truly horrified. I wish we had a video tape of it

We continued on the walk, and after a couple of minutes some of the kids seemed to have worked out what I had done. One came and asked if it was really a lolly. I got the feeling they were really hoping it was a lolly. Of course I denied it !