Found buried animal poop, need help with ID - Ask Extension
I live in a residential area of Springfield but only about 3 blocks from a large farm-like piece of land which has a creek on its far side. Beyond t...
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Found buried animal poop, need help with ID #753869
Asked June 03, 2021, 8:23 PM EDT
I live in a residential area of Springfield but only about 3 blocks from a large farm-like piece of land which has a creek on its far side. Beyond that is more farm land, then the McKenzie River, and then forested hills start maybe a mile from my house. On Saturday I discovered part of my garden had been used by an animal to bury its poop. I assumed it was someone's outside cat, and was surprised by the size of the pile and how much poop was in there, but decided maybe the cat had used the same spot a couple nights in a row before I noticed. I cleaned it up (with gloves and a plastic bag) and sprinkled repellent. Today I found a large pile of bark scooped together at my neighbor's house, like a cat would do after going to the bathroom. When I went to clean it up and sprinkle repellent I found the same sort of firm, non-smelly poop, like I had found in my garden, and again in quantities that a house cat normally would not leave. My husband says he definitely did not see any pile of bark in that location yesterday, so this was just one deposit. I would say that the poop was around 3/4" in diameter. The longer piece was probably 3-3.5" long. There was another right next to it about 1.5-2" long and another little piece in the same pile.
I asked my neighbors, who have been complaining about cats pooping in their landscaping for weeks, if the piles are always this big and they said yes. They say they find the piles every day in two spots. I asked if the poop smells because the two that I've cleaned up weren't smelly like I would expect cat poop to be. They said the poop they have found is not smelly either. They said that it's been really light brown and about 4-5 inches long. I did not pay attention to the color but the length seems about the same as I have found. I am sure this is the same animal.
I would like to figure out what is doing this. I am pretty sure it must be a wild animal. I don't know if it's able to go over 6' fences because it's possible that the night before I found a pile in my garden, I may have left the gate open overnight. At my neighbor's, it's found in the front landscaping of their house, so there is no fence as a barrier. I am guessing this is a bobcat or a mountain lion, but am hoping you can narrow it down. I can't find anything that says fresh bobcat or mountain lion scat does not smell strongly, but I've never come across normal cat poop that does not reek. It seems pretty firm compared to house cat poop, and the piles are huge compared to what a house cat would pull together to cover a poop. This makes me think it's not just somebody's cat which happens to poop more than a regular cat.
Are there any animals, besides bobcats or mountain lions, that are large enough to leave this size poop, that are known to bury it?
I didn't think to include something as a size reference in this picture I took of the bark pile, but I would guess that it's about 9"-12" each direction (irregular shape) and about 3-4" tall. I will try to get better measurements next time as I expect to see another mound in the next few days. I haven't dissected the poop to see what the animal has been eating... is it safe to pull it apart with a stick? I read that raccoon poop is pretty dangerous but I don't think they bury their poop.
My neighbors and my husband/myself have children so I'd like to get a better understanding of what we have around here and what the animal's habits are.
Any thoughts?
Thank you!
I asked my neighbors, who have been complaining about cats pooping in their landscaping for weeks, if the piles are always this big and they said yes. They say they find the piles every day in two spots. I asked if the poop smells because the two that I've cleaned up weren't smelly like I would expect cat poop to be. They said the poop they have found is not smelly either. They said that it's been really light brown and about 4-5 inches long. I did not pay attention to the color but the length seems about the same as I have found. I am sure this is the same animal.
I would like to figure out what is doing this. I am pretty sure it must be a wild animal. I don't know if it's able to go over 6' fences because it's possible that the night before I found a pile in my garden, I may have left the gate open overnight. At my neighbor's, it's found in the front landscaping of their house, so there is no fence as a barrier. I am guessing this is a bobcat or a mountain lion, but am hoping you can narrow it down. I can't find anything that says fresh bobcat or mountain lion scat does not smell strongly, but I've never come across normal cat poop that does not reek. It seems pretty firm compared to house cat poop, and the piles are huge compared to what a house cat would pull together to cover a poop. This makes me think it's not just somebody's cat which happens to poop more than a regular cat.
Are there any animals, besides bobcats or mountain lions, that are large enough to leave this size poop, that are known to bury it?
I didn't think to include something as a size reference in this picture I took of the bark pile, but I would guess that it's about 9"-12" each direction (irregular shape) and about 3-4" tall. I will try to get better measurements next time as I expect to see another mound in the next few days. I haven't dissected the poop to see what the animal has been eating... is it safe to pull it apart with a stick? I read that raccoon poop is pretty dangerous but I don't think they bury their poop.
My neighbors and my husband/myself have children so I'd like to get a better understanding of what we have around here and what the animal's habits are.
Any thoughts?
Thank you!
Lane County Oregon
Expert Response
The scat-burying behavior is often combined with urine-squirting, and if it is being done by wild felids, spraying additional scents is probably 1)not going to deter the territory-marking+communication efforts and 2)may actually inspire more over-marking. I really caution you against smelling the scat too closely - Remember that a high percentage of olfaction is from particles, and there are many reasons to avoid inhalation of particulates that might come off of scat - regardless of source! The scent of the scat has much to do with WHAT was digested, so house cat scat for example, tends to have lots of fish-based, oily food content - thus the stink. The size of the scats themselves are not outside the range for feral domestic cats. I think what would be great is if you or a friend/neighbor has access to a trail camera because you have the advantage of knowing where these behaviors are going to happen and that would settle the issue right off the bat. Just to help, mountain lion scat is generally 3/4 to 1 5/8 inches in diameter and 6 1/2 to 17 inches long. Bobcats don't engage in the burying as frequently as some other cat species, but their scat is typically 1/2 in to 1 inch diameter and 3-9 inches long.
Just a picture of the contents (and something to scale the size of the scat) might also help us clue out what is leaving these deposits.
Just a picture of the contents (and something to scale the size of the scat) might also help us clue out what is leaving these deposits.
Dr. Sanchez,
Thank you for your response. I am including pictures of the repellent I sprinkled around, which is made with various oils. As it is intended to keep cats (and other animals) away, I did not realize that sprinkling it in the area could cause more problems, so thank you for the warning. Is it reasonable to assume that it has a chance of working on house cats and neighborhood dogs, or should I just throw it away?
My neighbors and I have not been doing any sniffing of the poop, it was just an observation that when cleaning up the mess, at arm's length, house cats' waste is pretty stinky, but we did not notice any smell coming from this stuff. I did not realize that feral house cats could possibly leave something so big, so that's good to know. I think you are saying that feral house cats would maybe have a more "natural" diet and so it's possible that their waste would not smell strongly like what I am used to finding... did I understand that correctly?
We are working with the neighbors on the critter cam and I agree with you that it will be our best bet for ID. We were able to set one up with a view of the driveway, front lawn, and their landscaping area where I found the pile. They are currently on vacation so we are hoping that a quiet empty house might encourage the animal to come around and I think we'll have a good view of it no matter where it is coming from. If we get anything useful on camera, I will send a screenshot to you. Are bobcats and mountain lions mostly active dusk to dawn? What about feral house cats? We do have a night vision mode so I'm hoping to see the animal clearly, but the motion detection doesn't always work if the movement (car, person, squirrel) is slow. The camera will record all the time but if I am scrolling through (and don't have motion events to help me) it would be helpful to know what part of the day/night to focus on!
I agree that having a picture of the poop would have been useful for ID. I didn't think about taking a picture of it at the time (I didn't realize I could submit questions to the Extension Service until I started trying to look things up that afternoon!) but I will get a picture the next time I come across it!
Thanks for helping us work on this mystery.
Amber
Thank you for the additional information! I don't think you need to throw away the product - It looks like the contents/active ingredients are primarily meant to mask the scent of wastes/urine-marked spots to deter the behavior known as "over-marking" where one animal attempts to claim the area by kind of voiding the other animal's claim or presence. I hope you have some luck with the cameras - Feral cats could probably be active any time, but in general animals wild and feral will tend to choose low-disturbance/low-human presence times, and those times coincide with their natural activity during crepuscular (dawn & dusk) and some nocturnal (overnight) hours. Depending on how (what program or app) you view files from the SD chip from the camera, you might be able to get "small tiles" or something similar so you can quickly scan and see which images are worth opening in full. Trail cams are fun in general - It can take a little trial and error to get the aim just right - Also with regard to the motion - Probably your trailcam works on IR or infra-red, which should help capture living things regardless of movement rates and also helps eliminate lots of "plant moving" pictures!
