Knowledgebase
What kind of animal left this? #864811
Asked April 16, 2024, 8:58 PM EDT
When cleaning up the gardens we found this pile of scat. What kind of critter has been in the garden? This is at a volunteer project and the area surrounding is largely natural. There are not residential areas close by. There is field, woods and water nearby. We have an abundance of woodchucks and deer in the area. It appears that there have been several "visits" to this spot as some of the droppings appeared fresher than others, and are obviously different colors. When we poked it with a stick, the white scat fell apart and appeared to be layers of small shells. The photo with the gloved hand is just for size reference as this appears to be a rather large pile of large droppings.
What has been visiting our garden?
Genesee County Michigan
Expert Response
Hello and thanks for your inquiry. My first thought was that this is raccoon scat and it very well may be. Raccoons use latrine sites where the return to defecate in the same location. They are omnivorous and so will eat just about anything as indicated by the range of materials you see in the scat. The whitish flakes you mention looking like shells appear actually to be fish scales. The animal may be feeding on scavenged fish from the nearby water you mention.
However, assuming those are fish scales (I can't quite confirm in the photos), it may also be from river otter. The below link may help you further discern these two.
Note, if this is raccoon scat, use caution if removing the scat as raccoon scat can harbor a dangerous parasite (Baylisascaris procyonis).
https://naturetracking.com/raccoon-vs-otter-scat/
Best,
