what the heck is that?

You guys are great at Talking shit What's This Otter??

Skunks make kind of a specialty of depositing their....deposits.....on flat surfaces where they will achieve maximum display.

When you're out in the woods......you'll find a scat deposit exactly placed on some conspicuous flat rock.    That would be a skunk, doing that.

You'd have to ask a skunk, or be a skunk, to know why......but there it is.

There won't be any hair in skunk-skat.....well, hardly EVER.   Skunks don't move fast enough to be major hunters.   They feed themselves on every kind of bug, snails, eggs....insects are their primary thing.

Judd

You guys are great at Talking shit What's This Otter??

Whatever it is, you pic made me sorta retch.  that's foul.

You guys are great at Talking shit What's This Otter??

Thats so juicy and tasty looking

Let's start a poll, my vote is for coyote as well.....

must be winter, posts are going far afield

allen

Let's start a poll, my vote is for coyote as well.....

must be winter, posts are going far afield

allen

I went back out and I think I have to renege on my thinking it was an owl pellet. The tapered ends and the fact that there were no bones changed my mind. definetly some carnivorus dropping. I have seen owl pellets before on the trails above the water just north of jenner so I made a quick assumption that this was one also. Northern Boy, sorry.I retract your win. Craig Its going to be a long absence from the salt I fear.

Well, it is winter, but these posts are in GENERAL TALK....and meditations over scat certainly fair game.

Day before yesterday I took my .50 muzzleloader on BLM land north of Calistoga looking for pig and coyote.....saw none, but encountered some interesting fresh scat.   It was 4-inches long, about 5/8ths in diameter, tapered at the ends and glistening black, but that black was oxidation.  Contained no hair, but instead what looked like leaf fibre.   The odor was strongly like the "remenent of a grape-crush"....deep fruity.    Only thing against THAT is that I saw no seeds of any diameter..just none.   No tracks...no "helpers" anywhere around.   It was kindofa mystery.

Sorry I didn't have my camera along.

Judd

Next time I'm on the light-rail train & see this furry scat on the seat next to me, I'll know it's from a coyote...
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/object/article?f=/c/a/2008/11/29/HOTB149A68.DTL&o=0
Sure looks comfy sittin' there!