Learning about Scat
If you're squeamish and not interested in learning about the natural world through the examination of animal feces, you might want to skip this entry.
I'm learning things by observing the habits of the local animals from the signs they leave behind, particularly their feces. Over the winter, I was astonished to notice the amount of dog and coyote scat that accumulated in our neighborhood. I don't know about the other neighbors, but I try to pick up after Siris when he craps in the yard since I don't want to step in it and I don't want the bacteria around the house. But I don't bother when he goes off the side of the road or driveway; evidentially, no one else picks up after their dogs there either. Throughout the winter, I was tempted to create a photo collection documenting the accumulation of feces from dogs and coyotes along the trail of my morning and afternoon walks; I think would be an unusual and interesting kind of natural history of the area and the habits of its inhabitants.
One interesting thing I've observed in my feces-watching is that the dogs and coyotes not only urinate on top of one another's urine, they crap on top of one another's crap. Thus, small piles accumulate over time. I've been surprised to note how often they crap on sage brush so that their feces are left hanging there at dog/coyote nose height for canine passersby to catch scent of.
The presence of dog and coyote crap isn't as offensive as it might be in wetter and more humid climates: the dry desert air dessiccates the feces so that after two days or so, the moisture is gone and all that's left is dry crumbling matter.
By looking carefully at the scat in the area and poking it apart with sticks (yes, it's quite a life I lead....), I've learned to distinguish coyote feces from dog feces. Dog feces look they are the product of an animal that has eaten dry dog food: they are generally regular in consistency and color. Coyote feces, on the other hand, are variable in several senses. They eat different kinds of things and this is reflected in what they leave behind. There was one pile in our corral that consisted primarily of fur. More often, though, coyote feces are a mixture of residue from plants and animals. The photo below is from a coyote, and shows the bone fragments left behind after all the other organic matter has decayed.
Other coyote scat seems to consist of remnants from apples and prickly pears, such as this below. I imagine the apples come from the orchards that are located down at the level of the Rio Grande.
Yet another kind of coyote scat consists of something that looks like hundreds of small seeds. I haven't been able to figure out what that could be from. I've been really surprised to see the amount of plant matter that's left behind in coyote scat. I had no idea that they were omnivorous, but it makes sense given the lack of access to water and the limited amount of wildlife.
Another interested feces related thing I've seen: in the areas where the prickly pear cacti have been eaten, there are often lots of round pieces of scat, which I take to be from rabbits. Elsewhere, I've come across the larger and more oval shaped feces of deer. And several times now I've come across very large oval shaped feces; I imagine these are from elk.
I'm learning things by observing the habits of the local animals from the signs they leave behind, particularly their feces. Over the winter, I was astonished to notice the amount of dog and coyote scat that accumulated in our neighborhood. I don't know about the other neighbors, but I try to pick up after Siris when he craps in the yard since I don't want to step in it and I don't want the bacteria around the house. But I don't bother when he goes off the side of the road or driveway; evidentially, no one else picks up after their dogs there either. Throughout the winter, I was tempted to create a photo collection documenting the accumulation of feces from dogs and coyotes along the trail of my morning and afternoon walks; I think would be an unusual and interesting kind of natural history of the area and the habits of its inhabitants.
One interesting thing I've observed in my feces-watching is that the dogs and coyotes not only urinate on top of one another's urine, they crap on top of one another's crap. Thus, small piles accumulate over time. I've been surprised to note how often they crap on sage brush so that their feces are left hanging there at dog/coyote nose height for canine passersby to catch scent of.
The presence of dog and coyote crap isn't as offensive as it might be in wetter and more humid climates: the dry desert air dessiccates the feces so that after two days or so, the moisture is gone and all that's left is dry crumbling matter.
By looking carefully at the scat in the area and poking it apart with sticks (yes, it's quite a life I lead....), I've learned to distinguish coyote feces from dog feces. Dog feces look they are the product of an animal that has eaten dry dog food: they are generally regular in consistency and color. Coyote feces, on the other hand, are variable in several senses. They eat different kinds of things and this is reflected in what they leave behind. There was one pile in our corral that consisted primarily of fur. More often, though, coyote feces are a mixture of residue from plants and animals. The photo below is from a coyote, and shows the bone fragments left behind after all the other organic matter has decayed.
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| Remnant of coyote scat |
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| Remnant of coyote scat |
Other coyote scat seems to consist of remnants from apples and prickly pears, such as this below. I imagine the apples come from the orchards that are located down at the level of the Rio Grande.
Yet another kind of coyote scat consists of something that looks like hundreds of small seeds. I haven't been able to figure out what that could be from. I've been really surprised to see the amount of plant matter that's left behind in coyote scat. I had no idea that they were omnivorous, but it makes sense given the lack of access to water and the limited amount of wildlife.
Another interested feces related thing I've seen: in the areas where the prickly pear cacti have been eaten, there are often lots of round pieces of scat, which I take to be from rabbits. Elsewhere, I've come across the larger and more oval shaped feces of deer. And several times now I've come across very large oval shaped feces; I imagine these are from elk.
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