Okay, so the other day I was hiking in the woods near my house, and I stumbled upon something interesting. I’m always trying to identify animal tracks and signs, you know, just for fun, to see what critters are roaming around.
This time, though, it wasn’t a track. It was, well, poop. Animal scat, to be more specific. I’ve gotten pretty good at telling apart deer and rabbit droppings, but this was different. It was bigger, kind of twisted, and had bits of fur and bone in it. Definitely a predator.
My Investigation Process
My first thought was maybe a coyote or a fox. We have both in the area. So, I crouched down and took a really good look. It was about 4 inches long, maybe a little less, and kind of segmented. One end was tapered to a point.
- Size: Around 4 inches long.
- Shape: Segmented, twisted, with a tapered end.
- Contents: Visible fur and small bone fragments.
- Location: Found along the edge.
I remembered reading something about grey fox scat being different from red fox or coyote. So,I thought, “I’ll try looking it up!”
It described grey fox scat as often having a twisted, rope-like appearance, sometimes with a little “hook” at the end. And, importantly, it often contains seeds, berries, and insect parts, in addition to fur and bones. My sample had a lot of fur, but also something looked like seeds.
Based on everything , I’m pretty sure what I found was grey fox scat. It’s cool to think that these secretive animals are living so close by, even if all I see is their, um, leftovers. It’s like a little clue to their hidden lives.
Anyway, that’s my little wildlife detective story for the day. Keep your eyes open when you’re out there – you never know what you might find!
