Name That Poo

[Wander]

Whilst out for a walk today I found a dollop of dung on a log.
Here's a picture, complete with my soft-and-gentle-never-done-a-hard-days-graft-in-its-life thumb for scale:

I then took a stick and poked it to see if there was anything in it. Nothing. Consistency was like thick grease:

Anyone got any ideas what could have laid it?
I didn't sniff it, so no idea what it smells like.
It was found in a field that has several trees in it, with an adjacent small patch of woodland, and a couple of very small streams within 30 or so yards. There's a lake about 400 yards away.

 

[Robbi]

where abouts are you ?

 

[crosslandkelly]

Looks like it might be Muntjac.

 

[Robbi]

 

[Robbi]

a smaller fresher version of the above ?

 

[Wander]

No, not muntjac.
The field it's in usually has grazing cattle, and it's farms all around with nowhere for deer to be. Definitely not that.

I'm in Kent.

What is the above?
My mystery poo had no fibre in it at all. Like I say, very much like thick grease. But, yes, it did seem fresh. I'd say it was laid earlier that day.

 

[Robbi]

The above is Pine Martin, they like to poo on fallen logs ( sorry about the pun!) and other "high" places to mark boundaries etc

Are there Pinemartins in Kent.?

 

[Woody girl]

There are streams and a lake nearby? Could it be a water vole perhaps?

 

[Lean'n'mean]

If it's greasy (meat or fish diet) & on a log,( marking territory ) it's more likely to be a predator of some kind.
Stream near by ? How abouit mink. I know it's not the typical elongated scat but they do do little number 2s as well.
If only you had smelt it.

 

[Wander]

No pine martens in Kent, alas.
Hmm...water vole. Or mink.
They're definitely a possibility.
I'll look into it (the possibility, that is. Not the poo. Already done that).
This does now mean my internet history will include doing image searches for 'water vole poo' and 'mink poo'. I hope I don't get advert predictions for...er...'specialist' dating sites...

 

[Wander]

No, it's neither of those...

 

[TeeDee]

Whilst out for a walk today I found a dollop of dung on a log.
Here's a picture, complete with my soft-and-gentle-never-done-a-hard-days-graft-in-its-life thumb for scale:

You can't fool me , you're a Professional Hand Model arn't you!?






( No idea on the Scat - sorry )

 

[slowworm]

I'll go with pheasant.

If you look up cecal bird droppings in poulty you'll get an explanation of what I mean. I find pheasants often produce these sorts of dark droppings and they often climb on rocks and logs.

 

[Wander]

Yeah, I think you're right.
The area of adjacent woods have pheasants in them.
When I first saw it I wondered if it was a large bird, but there was none of the tell-tale white in it.
But looking into the cecal droppings (as it were) I think a pheasant is the answer.

 

[Lean'n'mean]

That would be too easy. If you look at the top of the dollop of poop one can see a tail (a little pointy thingy) which means it was layed/deposited & not shot out as birds tend to do.
Also, it is misleading because of the tear drop shape, it was cylindrical when evacuated & the animal may have turned for some reason during the act & because of it's greasy constistancy, the two halves joined together. One can see the join.
Had it been a galiforme cecal dropping, you would have probably gotten a pretty nasty whiff as you smudged it as apparently they pen & ink some.

 

[slowworm]

I have chickens and there's loads of pheasants around. Hen cecal droppings can smell very strongly. In the name of science I've smelt a couple pheasant cecal droppings and there's no noticable smell. Droppings can be shot out as you say but they can also be piped out, depending on what the bird has eaten. I've seen plenty of pheasant droppings folded like the pic and a couple with a tail.