What Other Animals Leave Poop Like Cowpies
This past week I found myself feeling restless. It had been much too windy lately to piece of work outdoors, and then I spent my time keeping busy within the house. Blistering and cooking seemed appealing. I constitute, withal, that while I worked abroad in the kitchen, I would, invariably, grab myself gazing out the large moving-picture show window above the kitchen sink, longingly wishing I was "out there" instead of within the house.
When the weekend arrived Saturday morning, I was glad to see the wind was not blowing as hard as it had been. I decided to head out with my camera and see what was going on in the woodlands. Taking my usual path through the neighboring pecan orchard, I stepped over the spinous-wire argue and onto the fauna trail that headed west to the old river channel. Perhaps I would run across Daisy deer, or maybe, with the breeze out of the due south, she would catch my scent and come to me. Mostly, I wanted to walk a distance and sit quietly, hopefully getting a expert photograph or 2 of area wildlife.
Over the years of clearing paths in our own woodland area, I found information technology common to make discoveries virtually the animals that frequented our ten acres of state. FD was quite knowledgeable nearly identifying tracks and prints, and could hands identify scat (debris, feces, dirt, excrement) of various brute species. Sometimes it was apparent to him that a specific carrion might have been left past the male or female of the species. He seemed to be able to spot an area where a deer might have been bedding down just moments before. He would notice browse that had been nibbled on earlier in the day… and, somehow, could tell if it had been bitten off a week ago. For FD, the type of gnawing or bite, and the peak at which the vegetation was cut, indicated what species might have feasted there. He often located runs and hidey-holes that animals used, tucked abroad under the awning of shrubs or scrubby trees of the woodlands. And sometimes, he establish treasures of bones and skulls resting atop the footing or partially cached in the thickets or virtually a lay. Over fourth dimension, FD taught me to decipher tracks and signs of animal or bird presence. This was a much bigger world than I could e'er imagine. Trails and diverse animal prints were merely the tip of the iceberg.
This particular Saturday, I headed downwards a narrow, and well-traveled animal trail leading directly west along an old fence line. I did not have to travel far before I noticed freshly rooted soil. Wild hogs accept been feeding in the pecan orchard this yr. Manifestly, they enjoy eating the golden-meated nuts, as evidenced by the large, tubular clumps of hog feces I encountered while picking pecans in the orchard a few weeks ago. Today, I saw the aforementioned feces, actualization dry and virtually powdery. This indicated to me, the hogs had non been in this area for a while. Perhaps they had their fill of pecans and were rooting around elsewhere forth the river in search of other good eats.
Our neighbors that own the pecan orchard, now take cattle grazing in the pasture that joins the orchard. Because of this, I had to go along my optics open, beingness careful not to step in the occasional cow pie along the mode. As a child, I learned adequately chop-chop that the dry-looking exterior of a cow patty could be quite misleading. When it came to bovine piles of poop, the pile might look dry out and prophylactic to tread on merely, often, a greenish, fermenting, glob of slimy goo lay beneath. This dark-green slime was impossible to remove from shoes or any clothing, not to mention being "slick as snot" and quite a fall run a risk if i was unfortunate enough to pace foot on the slippery mass of dung! I am quite sure the cow patties that pioneer folks used every bit burning material for stoves had to have been the very aged and dry "cured" version.
Working my way through and around downed trees and timber along the old river aqueduct, I stopped to sit for a spell on a big fallen tree that had been struck by lightning years ago. The bark-stripped trunk was smooth from aging in the elements over the years, and a black streak of charred forest ran along the side. I marveled at the blackened pattern equally I sat on the large, downed tree. At i end, lay a pile of something red and berry-like. On closer inspection, I adamant the pile was raccoon scat. A broken pecan shell lay just in front of the droppings. Until this discovery, I had no thought raccoons ate pecans!
Moving to the center of the downed tree, I sat quietly for about thirty minutes. Only only a alone hawk showed upwards to perch loftier in a tree nearby. And then, not seeing whatsoever other animals or birds of interest to photograph, I moved on after a time, into the thicker brush and trees along the old, dry out river channel. The water used to flow freely hither, meandering through the nearby urban center park. Simply, during flooding that occurred virtually a decade ago, the river re-routed itself, cutting a new channel another one-half-mile west. I did not, however, plan to walk to the new river channel today. I simply wanted to follow a few well-traveled animal paths in closer proximity to the ten-acre ranch to run across if I could detect anything interesting going on.
Simply then, as a sign to resist following the new river channel further to the west, I noticed the familiar blaze orange color of Daisy deer'southward neckband lying ahead of me, dropped in a pile of downed Hackberry tree limbs. I picked up the reflective collar and noted its tattered and ripped status and that there was petty for me to save from information technology. Manifestly, the collar had survived lots of scrapes, rips and weathering before weakening at an area where the Velcro joined the duct tape. As I studied the collar'southward status, I noted that it had, at least, performed the function it was designed for – protecting Daisy during deer hunting season. Given that I had just seen Daisy at the corn feeder the previous Sabbatum with both collars on, it was obvious now that, within the calendar week, she had lost the larger, reflective neckband inside a quarter-mile of our home. She should yet be wearing a narrow, snap neckband that was blaze orange, just non reflective. In time, that collar volition likely come off too, after indelible months of wear, tear and standing upwards to the elements of nature.
Not too far away from Daisy'due south old collar, in a scattered pile on the ground, were the familiar pellet-type feces of Daisy and her kind. Just a few steps beyond that, I could see another pile of pellets. Daisy and her friends had likely spent an afternoon bedded down in the soft spring grasses nearby, subconscious in the heavily wooded surface area. These deer pellets were just a couple of days one-time.
I continued to follow the well-traveled animal path I was on, while noting all sorts of little arteries and trails off the chief path. Ane such route produced a small, dry, tubular play a joke on dropping. It consisted mostly of hair. I often find this item scat along the pathways in our woods, and even in our front yard. We see gray foxes almost every evening and early morning along these pathways. Often, I see the foxes in forepart of the house when I permit my trivial dogs out to do their business merely before bedtime. Many times, Zoe, Bear and Tori will accept noses to the footing, inspecting the interesting deposits left backside by the foxes. Like dogs, they also marker their area, by leaving their own urine and droppings nearby.
Heading dorsum to the feeding area just below the gradient to our firm, I noticed a lone set of hoof prints passing under the spinous-wire debate to the corn feeder and then to the water saucepan. The hoof prints moved back to the feeder, then on to the animal trail and back in to the pecan orchard. Daisy must accept come to feed in the night or early morning hours. These prints were adequately fresh.
I also saw tiny bird prints nearly the feeder tray on the basis, and bird droppings around the water tub. In improver to these, a collection of Dove debris lay under the large co-operative of a Hackberry tree. Apparently, the limb had provided a resting spot for a couple of doves that roosted the night before. Along with the bird droppings, squirrels had left scratch marks forth fallen tree trunks and scattered pecan shells lay all around. I discovered small paw prints of, perhaps, a feral cat near the h2o tub and along the trail back to the food plot FD had planted for Daisy deer and her friends. Further back in our forest, I located a strange ready of prints in the red clay along a narrow animal trail that disappeared into an onetime, abased culvert. I later researched my findings and decided these were either skunk or opossum prints. And of grade, the mitt prints of either wild or domestic dogs, or perhaps coyotes, prevailed all through the woods and along the pathways.
All around, I plant signs and indications that wildlife flourishes in this small woodland, where information technology is easy to detect manus or hoof prints, a tuft of hair caught in barbed wire contend, or skeletal remains laying beveled in the alpine prairie grasses. These are the obvious indicators of life and death, only I still find it a flake comical that I catch myself investigating a pile of poop, and wondering what critter might take left its marking in the woods. I might fifty-fifty carefully pick it apart, looking for clues virtually diet, size of the animal, and indication of the age of the scat. Oddly, there is purpose and a sort of "fingerprint" to scat in the fauna world, and I consider whatever clue I find in it a treasure if it helps to bring about understanding.
So the next fourth dimension yous notice debris on a hike or a walk, or while doing a piffling gardening, terminate and detect information technology closely. You lot never know what secrets might be revealed by such a find, now that y'all have the scoop on poop!
© Day past Day the Farm Girl Fashion…
Source: https://littlesundog.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/following-the-animal-trail-the-scoop-on-poop/
Posted by: crismanlair1941.blogspot.com
0 Response to "What Other Animals Leave Poop Like Cowpies"
Post a Comment