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Poop. (Warning: Don't look if you think wild animal poop is gross. It kinda is, but fascinating, too.)

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December 30, 2019, 07:44 PM
Micropterus
Poop. (Warning: Don't look if you think wild animal poop is gross. It kinda is, but fascinating, too.)
I spent another day at Alligator River NWR yesterday wandering the roads and some of the trails. One thing that is hard not to notice is the enormous number to turds.

It's not my intention to be gross. Really. But I find it fascinating to see a wild animal turd and see what the animal has been eating to survive, seeing the bits of bone in the scat, etc.

Bear scat (for sure). Not sure what those berries or seeds are. I thought it might have been sorgum, but it doesn't matter if the scat is near cultivation or not, this is what it looks like. I will tell you, bear crap has absolutely no detectable smell. None. (Don't ask me how I know that.) This NWR has some bears that are 700+ pounds. You can see mounds of scat in the road more than 100 yards away. Some heaps are 6+ inches high and 10+ inches in diameter.







Red Wolf scat (probably). This was a pretty big turd, which is the reason I think its a Wolf turd. Bigger than what would be expected from a fox or even a coyote. Also closely matches photos of Red Wolf scat from the Red Wolf Awareness Project website. Definitely from a carnivore.





Unsure maybe fox. It was smaller than the Red Wolf turds above. Whatever this is from, a furry animal gave its life so it could be made.




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"I enter a swamp as a sacred place—a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength—the marrow of Nature." - Henry David Thoreau
December 30, 2019, 08:15 PM
YellowJacket
Looks like cranberries in the bear scat. Have a lot of cranberries in that area? The hard ones do not digest well and make it through intact.


I'm gonna vote for the funniest frog with the loudest croak on the highest log.
December 30, 2019, 08:27 PM
Micropterus
quote:
Originally posted by YellowJacket:
Looks like cranberries in the bear scat. Have a lot of cranberries in that area? The hard ones do not digest well and make it through intact.


I have no idea. They aren't cultivated, but a lot of the lad has stanibng water on it so its possible.


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"I enter a swamp as a sacred place—a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength—the marrow of Nature." - Henry David Thoreau
December 30, 2019, 09:20 PM
CPD SIG
quote:
This NWR has some bears that are 700+ pounds. You can see mounds of scat in the road more than 100 yards away. Some heaps are 6+ inches high and 10+ inches in diameter.



Was any of it in the woods?
Or all on the road?

Big Grin


______________________________________________________________________
"When its time to shoot, shoot. Dont talk!"

“What the government is good at is collecting taxes, taking away your freedoms and killing people. It’s not good at much else.” —Author Tom Clancy
December 31, 2019, 05:01 AM
Micropterus
Nope, they crap in the road. That's the answer to the question.


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"I enter a swamp as a sacred place—a sanctum sanctorum. There is the strength—the marrow of Nature." - Henry David Thoreau
January 12, 2020, 10:06 PM
snwghst
Bear Scat Berries could be dropped from palm/palmetto trees

my dogs eat the hell out of them every year as do the massive numbers of Grackles and other birds


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