Who's is This?

[barrym]

A fox, not a deer

Yes definitely, deer droppings are more like rabbit or sheep. Otter scats can have that black twisted appearance but sometimes smell fishiy. I have heard the smell of otter scats being described as 'jasmine tea' - which puts me off the idea of jasmine tea...

Hmm, I disagree. I haven't seen a smoking gun as it were, but I know the deer spend the nights in one of our paddocks and the droppings are like very large sausages.

[CliveyT]

A fox, not a deer

Yes definitely, deer droppings are more like rabbit or sheep. Otter scats can have that black twisted appearance but sometimes smell fishiy. I have heard the smell of otter scats being described as 'jasmine tea' - which puts me off the idea of jasmine tea...

Hmm, I disagree. I haven't seen a smoking gun as it were, but I know the deer spend the nights in one of our paddocks and the droppings are like very large sausages.

Some of the larger breeds of sheep will produce similar- Texies certainly aren't going to waste time with little pellets. Not that there's likely to be a feral sheep wondering around your garden.
I always think a fox scat has more of a tail on it, and normally hair/bone/feather depending on what it's been eating, so I would suspect deer in this case.
Can you dognap someone's terrier? Let them take a sniff and they would soon tell you if it's fox or deer.
And yes otter spraints are very distinctive and I think quite pleasant- but that might just be because I can get out of my waders and stop because I know there are otters there

[Mick F]

The "deposits" are still there, so went out into the garden with a ruler so you can see the scale.
The thing is, we've lived at this address for 21years next month, and we've never seen anything like these. We've owned dogs over the years, so maybe they are dog-like. Deer, we see plenty. Foxes rarely, and badgers rarely too. Sheep have escaped from the fields locally and into our garden, but the sheep poo is very different to what we have here.

We have three cats, but we never see their deposits let alone see them doing it, but you could argue that they are cat poo ............... but a big cat.

Some years ago when our elderly border collie was almost blind and quite deaf, i would take him for a run up in our woodland. A couple of acres of trees and undergrowth and the dogs we've had have really enjoyed there.

One early morning with said elderly border collie, I saw a cat. It was a big cat, pale dull brown all over and about the size of a labrador dog. It was definitely a cat by the way it moved. Our dog never heard or saw a thing, but I did. It loped away at a gentle run away from me through the bracken and then out of sight. I saw it for all of three or four seconds, but I've never forgotten it.

Maybe it's visited us in the garden?

[cyclemad]

sorry....was caught short last night ...I promise not to do it again

[Cyril Haearn]

Positive thread alert +1, why I love these cycling fora

What is the profession of studying the brown stuff called?

[fausto copy]

Scatology.........
or is that some form of Jazz.

[Cyril Haearn]

The Beast of Bodmin Moor at last!

After landsurfer: once a beast, always a beast

[Vorpal]

I would have said carnivore, at least. It's a bit big for a badger. You could break it up & see if there is anything identifiable in it?

[Mick F]

A little further to this story ................... and I've not broken it up to see inside as yet.

Sitting in the living room watching Netflix around dusk. Curtains open.
As bold as you like, a big male roe deer wandered slowly past the window.
The deer round here are roes, mainly smaller females, but this chap was BIG - biggest we've seen - and maybe his droppings are the ones in the garden.

Found this:
http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/pictu ... puser/6822

[Vorpal]

Usually you can see the pellets in deer skat, even if it comes out sausage shaped. So, the one in the link definitiely looks like deer. The one in the OP doesn't especially. But if you break it up, and can see the 'pellets', it's probably deer. If you can't, or you find bits of things in it, it's likely carnivore. Deer are ruminants. They digest things very thoroughly, so there is seldom evidence of what they have eaten, except for a few seeds.

If you still aren't sure, afterwards, you can try planting it, and see if anything grows. If it grows anything, the owner was a plant eater. If it doesn't, it wasn't.

[Cyril Haearn]

I think the answer is, it is your property if it was found on your land

[thirdcrank]

For some reason, the TV licensing bods are referred to as Crapita. Have they been holed up spying?

[mercalia]

ah want to go for a swim?

[youtube]HVBFiFC2Eyk[/youtube]

how much would you need to get paid to do this job?

want a hug?

[fausto copy]

Now that's what you call bog snorkelling!!!!!!

[bogmyrtle]

Whoever put the heading on the clip doesn't know the difference between silage and slurry.