The Beagle Scouts

Schultz was a comic genius, not just drawing funny cartoon strips but also for what he showed about humanity and childhood within Peanuts not just in the characterization but also in the situations where the Peanuts gang interact with each other often making some good observations.

Scouting features from 1974 within the strip onwards within the birds joining on 9 June 1974.

On Snoopy's first hike he gets lost in the woods and is rescued by Loretta, a scruffy looking Girl Scout selling cookies. 

Snoopy has the potential to be a great leader but can get carried away with his imagination but across the cartoon strip we see him endorse the message of Scouting, acting as Akela for a troop of birds helping them learn about themselves, develop and grow.

The Beagle Scouts a word play on Eagle Scouts, the highest level in U.S. Scouting you can achieve were discovered in this strip from 23 July 1978 when Marcie and Peppermint Patty are out observing wildlife something they may of done had they been in Girl Scouts

He instructs them as here about identifying trees and in nod back to B-P's own past has them doing Guard Duty

Snoopy probably isn't the first Pack Leader to feel disappointed in his troop and it's fair to say the allure of bright lights and romantic relationships does impact on membership at fourteen plus.

There is indeed something magical about Camping under the stars.

Lucy Van Pelt as ever tries to put Snoopy down, questioning his Scouting, not that she'd know much about it as it threatens her sense of social importance within the gang but he's having none of it.

This short strip from 13 May 1974 is the first appearance of Snoopy as a Scout with the last frame a masterstroke.

They go to camp, getting the fire started and toasting the Marshmallows.

In referencing scouting, Schultz, I feel is not just recognizing the importance of scouting as a right of passage of so many children and young people that would be felt with the peanuts gang but showcasing with humour what it has to offer