Scat ID

[RobA]

I found scat this near my beehives today. There looks to be bits of crustacean shells and crayfish pincers in there. I have a pond, creek and wetlands. Raccoon? Mink? Something else?

 

[oosik]

By the sheer size my guess would be raccoon. I gotta admit though - I've got raccoon all over the place and I don't know that I've ever seen their poo. Now if it were coyote - I can ID theirs in a heartbeat. I've got groupings of coyote in all directions and they are always marking their goings and comings with poo piles.

I've got one coyote that gets apricots all winter long and poops right at the beginning of my driveway as it leads out of the yard. I think he is bragging..........

 

[Fuddy1952]

Google racoon, opossum,mink, etc.
sh#t (of course use i instead of #) then click images.
If your hives are close to a power source I would put some plastic electric fence posts around with a wire close to ground, another up a foot or so on a charger.
A hunter cam nearby also you can see what it is.

 

[EddieWalker]

with all those seeds in there, I'm thinking it's from a bear.

 

[deanocraft]

I’m glad I’m not the only one who takes pictures of scat! My wife makes makes fun of me for that.

 

[nybirdman]

I would bet on Raccoon;electric fence will solve that problem.If it was a bear your hives would be done for by now.

 

[RobA]

I know there have been bear sightings near here over the past couple of years with some beekeepers losing hives. But I don’t think that’s what this is. I agree that a bear would have already had a field day with the hives. I have seen lots of scat similar to this near the pond but without the shells, had more berries and not quite as big. I looked online for mink scat (I’ve seen mink on my property) but it’s not this big.

 

[/pine]

Around here...right now mink scat is full of rabbit fur and duckling feathers etc...this looks like a big raccoon...the crayfish shell is common with raccoon droppings...fox scat is more like a domestic dog...but will have crayfish shell...

 

[6thgpSF]

I vote Coon...russ

 

[MossRoad]

I'm surprised no one hasn't congratulated you for not stepping in it yet.

Looks racoonish, but runny, to me.

 

[txdon]

99.9% sure it is raccoon.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

That's 50% bigger than any raccoon scat I've seen. My guess is black bear.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm sorry....

 

[txdon]

That's 50% bigger than any raccoon scat I've seen. My guess is black bear.

How big do you see it? I see 4".

 

[Bigfoot62]

I知 glad I知 not the only one who takes pictures of scat! My wife makes makes fun of me for that.

I'm voting with your wife!

 

[Bigfoot62]

That's 50% bigger than any raccoon scat I've seen. My guess is black bear.

I don't know how big the Coons get where you live, but we have some pretty big ones here. When I used to trap, I caught a boar that was 42" from nose to butt. (not counting tail) That was unusually large, but a lot of them will be 3' long. Doesn't take a very big animal to leave 4-5" of scat.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

I'm a man so I'm required to exaggerate size right?

Seriously,
As I see it, the stool is prob 1.25" diameter soft (the most predictive dimension of mammal size for a given stool consistency). The length appears to be piled or folded on itself so I'd actually guess it's more like 7" long.

Both raccoon and black bear make scat that look like that. (Mink/weasel is much more finely processes and almost greasey looking in my experience).

I thought I had seen some big racoons but nothing 3.5feet! I know the urbanized raccoons are supposed to be able to grow much bigger and live longer... :confused3

So I certainly could be wrong about the scat squatter...
Can you believe some I managed to take a seminar on scat in graduate school?! Certainly has made me pay attention ever since. So nothing weird at all about taking pictures to me. :drink:

 

[Firemanbuck82]

I知 glad I知 not the only one who takes pictures of scat! My wife makes makes fun of me for that.

It's only weird if you are photographing yours.....or hers.

 

[Lineman North Florida]

Big boar coon or an otter.

 

[mcfarmall]

Coon with a mild case of the squirts.