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Scat ID?

18 years ago

Hi, all. First time for me in the "scat" dept. Took this pic on my trip to the Blue Ridge. Looks like somebody dumped out a can of black beans on a log.

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Comments (9)

nanajoanne
18 years ago
that actually looks more like eggs but if scat would be a turtle or lizard
nanajoanne
18 years ago
how big were the jelly bean type scat? it could well be from a deer.
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An answer was found! Keeping you all in suspense for a brief paragraph...I should have said that my backyard is surrounded by a six foot fence, which rules out goats. The items in question were ridged all around, which ruled out rabbits. Racoon scat looks like human feces and they do that in water mostly (one laid a long turd in my neighbors pool and they called the police thinking some homeless guy jumped their fence and took a dump on the pool steps, lol.) Now for the answer-- I was searching the net and found a site devoted to id'ing scat. It was there that I discovered it was Cecropia Caterpiller. 100% match to the photo there, right down to the ridges. Haven't seen any of these, and it would have to be huge to make all those droppings, and why it was so far away from green matter is really odd. I've been looking for it, haven't found it yet. I'm so glad to have an answer, I dreamt I put them in my coffee and then after drinking it found out it was rat pee ...wonder what that says about my psyche? thanks to all for the help, Lori Here is a link that might be useful: scat id site, scroll down for these
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Opposum. Don't worry about the wildlife after all you moved to a place they live. They did not move to where you live.
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Yes indeed, my neighborhood often has "lost little pet" signs on the phone poles and I always assume a bigger critter got them (one friend watched an owl fly away with her small dog!). I always supervise my dog when out at night, and usually she only gets to go into the pool enclosure, not the whole big yard. That's partly to keep her out of a tangle with a bigger critter and partly to keep her for rousting too many bunnies, twice she's gotten the better of a bunny and I _really_ hate having to deal with that. I guess the scat was a big coon, maybe a coyote although it didn't resemble coyote poo very much. We must have a new critter around, last night something stole a large bone that the dog had left in the ivy near the house.
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Iris, we have recently installed motion detecting security cameras around our home and have been shocked and enthralled by the number and variety of wildlife that stroll across a camera range, triggering a great video....and an alarm to our cell phones, lol. We've seen possums, skunks (including a white one), fox, coyotes, armadillos, and a great bat show every night. I call them the 'bat-capades'! I've seen many of those animals in the daylight with my own eyes but some were a big surprise to us.
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Day_By_Day
Original Author
18 years ago
The "beans" were like 1/4" and the "pile" was like 4" x 4". On top of a two foot diameter log.
nanajoanne
18 years ago
it looks like it did in fact fome from a deer hon. its funny what you see when you are out hiking
ms_minnamouse
18 years ago
It's weird that they're on a log like that. I've never seen that before, just on the ground.
jemdandy
18 years ago
It looks like deer scat to me. I've got a bunch of it in my backyard this winter. Deer are not particular about where they dump their scat. Whenever and wherever the mood hits, they squat their hind legs and put an upward bow in their spine, and let fly. Their behavor on this bodily function is similar to cows. We watched one fertilize our back lawn just two evenings ago.
ccox
18 years ago
I certainly didn't think it would be deer, as it is so close to water and appears wet. I googled "scat ID" and it just could be deer. Everything I've read points out that herbivores generally have pelleted scat, while omnivore/carnivores have cylindrical scat.

Here is a link that might be useful: Scat ID
kentuck_8b
18 years ago
It's raccoon scat. Deer won't drop it on a log. Even if there was a log present, the scat wouls scatter out more.

It looks exactly like raccoon dung here. If you look close, they are seeds from a plant and have passed mostly intact. Deer pass actual pellets produced by their intestines.

Also, too small for deer.

Kt
scausey
18 years ago
Either that or a possum. S

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