poo!!!

thebeard · #1 (**permalink**) 18-03-2010, 05:35 PM

hello, i'm almost 100% certain, but thought i'd get another opinion, but is this badger poo?

i must admit, it wasn't found on top of the fence post, that'd be weird. yes i picked it up (it was pretty dry) and put it there to take a photo....

i feel a bit weird now - poo photography...

shenk1 · #2 (**permalink**) 18-03-2010, 05:42 PM

You really must get out more

Can't believe I'm eating my tea trying to i.d. poo

wildliferescuer · #3 (**permalink**) 18-03-2010, 05:48 PM

I would say it's not badger poo, which is usually not well formed like your picture & is deposited in a shallow hole in the ground (a latrine). I might be corrected by someone else on here as I am not a poo expert (although we do deal with a large amount of poo from the badgers that come into the Hospital!!)

Lance Morgan · #4 (**permalink**) 18-03-2010, 05:59 PM

Small dog or Fox

toadpole · #5 (**permalink**) 18-03-2010, 06:37 PM

the poo my badgers leave on my lawn on a nightly basis

is much softer looking than that and you can see seeds /berries in it as well .....i would say dog ...even a fox poo is soft and usually greenish/black (can tell you this as my daghters dogs roll in it on most days on their walk)

marion

thebeard · #6 (**permalink**) 18-03-2010, 07:47 PM

guess its hard to tell from the pic. on second thoughts i don't think it would be badger, as it seemed to have a lot of fur in it. i don't think it would have been dog, there are very few dogs walked around where i was, certainly looked 'wild'. perhaps fox???

vole-woman · #7 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 08:20 AM

Looks foxy to me.

pressld2 · #8 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 09:18 AM

Just a thought - are we certain it is poo and not a pellet? How big was it?

Dave P.

thebeard · #9 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 03:30 PM

um... around 2 inches i'd say

metalfish · #10 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 04:10 PM

I reckon pressld 2 could be right, if you can find it again then (if you want to of course) bring it home maybe in a margarine tub and give it a soakin that tub for a few minutes. Once wet an owl pellet will break up with a bit of help with some tweezers or toothpicks and reveal lots of tiny bones and bits of fur.
I hope it is an owl pellet & I hope you do give it a go as it's fasinating seeing all the tiny mouse & shrew bones and only slightly icky.

pressld2 · #11 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 04:50 PM

There's a nice little pdf on the RSPB site on how to study owl pellets - https://www.rspb.org.uk/Images/Owlpe...cm9-133500.pdf.

If it is a pellet then tawny owl likes a likely candidate: "Tawny owl pellets are usually greyer and more obviously ‘furry’ than those of the barn owl. They are medium sized pellets (20-50 mm long) with a bumpy surface. The shape is long and narrow, but irregular and they tend to taper at one end." (Taken from the above pdf).

This has reminded me that I've still got some barn owl pellets in my garage that I haven't disected yet.

Dave P.

Tracey.A · #12 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 07:53 PM

I think it may be a pellet as well. To tell the difference between owl pellets and those of other birds of prey, check to see if it has bones in it. Owl pellets have a lot of bones and bone fragments in them, but other birds of prey have only a small ammount of bone fragments and quite often none at all.

Tracey

Tracey.A · #13 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 08:01 PM

Dave. P you sound like me I get quite excited about disecting pellets as well. I love trying to identify the skulls from the owl pellets. Actually there are experts out there who have studied owl pellets and can tell what their main food sourse is. It's possible to work out how healthy the populations of voles, wood mice and so on are by examining owl pellets.

Tracey

Bio Boy · #14 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 08:25 PM

Hi
First post on the forum and couldn't resist it being on poo!

I would say that this is a barn owl pellet, judging by its colour, smoothness and size. I am guessing it is slightly bigger than two inches if that is an average sized fence stob.

pressld2 · #15 (**permalink**) 19-03-2010, 10:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tracey.A

Dave. P you sound like me I get quite excited about disecting pellets as well. I love trying to identify the skulls from the owl pellets.

Confession time: I've never done it! I collected some barn owl pellets last autumn and they've been sitting in my garage since then waiting for me to get round to it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bio Boy

I would say that this is a barn owl pellet, judging by its colour, smoothness and size. I am guessing it is slightly bigger than two inches if that is an average sized fence stob.

Welcome aboard Bio Boy! As I've just admitted, I'm certainly no expert on pellets but I thought barn owl's are usually darker than this one - almost black. They're surprisingly large for one of our smaller owls though. Two or even three inches is certainly possible.

Dave P.

Bio Boy · #16 (**permalink**) 20-03-2010, 12:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pressld2

I thought barn owl's are usually darker than this one - almost black.

True about the blackness but it depends on various factors, incuding age of pellet and local conditions. If I was just going on colour I may be a bit more uncertain but the size and smoothness (tawny owl pellets can be a similiar size but usually much rougher) suggest barn owl to me.
Also I am guessing that the pellet was found near (possibly at the bottom) of the fence stob in the photo and that suggests open terrain whereas tawny owls prefer wooded area. Tawny pellets are usually found at the bottom of trees and barn owls sometimes under favourite perches suchas fence stobs. Also their pellets are not as solid as barn owl pellets and this one looks pretty solid.
However a lot of the above is based on assumptions!

thebeard · #17 (**permalink**) 20-03-2010, 03:19 PM

if i have time next week i'll go and try to relocate it, it was on a very quiet track and out of the way so it could be there.

Metalfish - i think you've said previously you went to brackenhurst? this was found in the farmland around there.

Tracey.A · #18 (**permalink**) 20-03-2010, 10:37 PM

[quote=pressld2;605226]Confession time: I've never done it! I collected some barn owl pellets last autumn and they've been sitting in my garage since then waiting for me to get round to it.

Hi Dave. P, I too have a confession, I was going through my camera bag and found a Tawny owl pellet that I had forgotten about!!

I'd better not tell you off if I forgot about my Tawny owl pellet

It's fascinating trying to identify the contents of a pellet. I've got a good book about tracks and signs, well I think it's good

You'll be fascinated when you dissect your Barn owl pellet

Warning - can become addictive

Tracey

The Woodman · #19 (**permalink**) 21-03-2010, 08:21 AM

The Mammal Society publish a very useful booklet called "The Analysis of Owl Pellets" by Derek Yalden and Pat Morris.

£3.50 well spent

Analysis of Owl Pellets

Dogghound · #20 (**permalink**) 21-03-2010, 07:04 PM

Doesnt look like a pellet to me, it isnt made up of hair. I think more likely a dropping.

metalfish · #21 (**permalink**) 23-03-2010, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thebeard

if i have time next week i'll go and try to relocate it, it was on a very quiet track and out of the way so it could be there.

Metalfish - i think you've said previously you went to brackenhurst? this was found in the farmland around there.

Hello, yes I did, what a good memory! I'm guessing you did too. There are both Tawny and Barn owls round there so it could be either, I certainly can't id a bird from its pellets, or it's poo! Except for heron coz theirs are massive and next to lakes which is a bit of a clue

Hope you do find it again and I hope we're all right and it is a pellet and not something stinky