Scat Question

[Sputnik]

Ok, scatologists.....what is it?

[Austin]

An undigested Samsung cell phone?

[Brian Bildson]

Black Bear - 3 years old male, likes females who enjoy an early morning stroll before dining on clover. If I could see it closer I could tell if he voted conservative or wildrose.

[Sputnik]

Good answer Austin....look a little further east....

[Grizzly Adams]

Grizzly bear scat after eating a distracted cell phone user ?

Grizz

[Sputnik]

I knew I should have cropped out the phone.......but left it in for scale comparison....what was I thinking!

[Iskra]

Next time put down an I phone or Galaxy so we have better idea as far as size goes. If you have owned a smart phone, the phone would answer your question. :sHa_shakeshout:

[Sputnik]

A friend sent me the picture. He owns an acreage NW of Calgary and is concerned a bear has moved in on his property. He wants to do some work in the area and was asking the question.

I thought it was coyote until he sent the picture with the phone, now I'm not sure. I have a fair amount of hunting experience and am familiar with deer, moose, elk and sheep scat etc. But not so much the predators as I have never targeted them, I'm more familiar with tracks than scat. I don't want to panic him if it is coyote or wolf, but want to caution him if it is bear scat.

Loving the jokes (really I am), but if anyone can help out here that would be nice so I can set his mind at ease, or suggest he carry bear spray or a shotgun with him into the further reaches of his property.

[elkdump]

to me, it looks like something gave birth to a politician ,,,,

sorry I cant help you out if it is a Conservative or a Liberal,,,

but I am very sure it is a politician nevertheless !

[KegRiver]

A friend sent me the picture. He owns an acreage NW of Calgary and is concerned a bear has moved in on his property. He wants to do some work in the area and was asking the question.

I thought it was coyote until he sent the picture with the phone, now I'm not sure. I have a fair amount of hunting experience and am familiar with deer, moose, elk and sheep scat etc. But not so much the predators as I have never targeted them, I'm more familiar with tracks than scat. I don't want to panic him if it is coyote or wolf, but want to caution him if it is bear scat.

Loving the jokes (really I am), but if anyone can help out here that would be nice so I can set his mind at ease, or suggest he carry bear spray or a shotgun with him into the further reaches of his property.


99% it's a canine, beyond that it's anyone's guess.

[DUKE-1]

Its canine.

[Pudelpointer]

Large coyote, small wolf, doesn't look like bear at all, and definitely not grizz.

[220swifty]

How did it taste?

[Knot Rite]

Tough call without breaking it apart to see its consistency if it had any hair/berries, ect. but with my scatology experience my guess would be a coyote.

Bobby

[Geezle]

How did it taste?

http://youtu.be/eY7ZX6ngOSs

[Austin]

Lol. My guess is coyote,,, perhaps even a pair. I've witnessed a family pair use the same spot, sniff poop, sniff poop. Looks like a well fed coyote or a pair to me.

[Flieguy]

I vote 'yote

[Sputnik]

Thanks all for the comments.

I mentioned the possibility of wolf to my friend and he just confirmed there has been wolf sightings in the area on the next property over recently.

Mystery solved!

Cheers :happy0180:

[M4verick]

Large coyote, small wolf, doesn't look like bear at all, and definitely not grizz.

x2

[M4verick]

x2

The size of the scat os too big for Coyote...unless it was a big coyote. RO a coywolf. But apparently theres no coywolfs out here yet. Thats a discussion for another thread, another day.

[Jezter]

Like Brian said its likely a bear. I agree.

[Kokanee9]

Bear leaves more of a round pie shaped pile than the one shown. There wouldn't be any distinct hard packed sausage shapes.

Definitely canine as Keg first said.

[Jezter]

That's actually incorrect. The only time they leave a soft pile is very early in the spring when they've come out of hibernation. They have scat tubular like that is similiar to humans.

Do a google image search for bear scat and see.

I also am a beekeeper and I see bear scat all the time.

[Grizzly Adams]

Bear leaves more of a round pie shaped pile than the one shown. There wouldn't be any distinct hard packed sausage shapes.

Definitely canine as Keg first said.

This time of year, maybe not. Pickins are poor and low moisture content make for hard turds.

Grizz

[Brian Bildson]

Wow - canids really?

Bear scat, just like yours, comes in all shapes and forms. It's not berry, or the runs-season yet gentlemen. I'm sticking with bear or sasquatch, as I haven't seen any of that yet to compare.

[Big Red 250]

I would think if it was wolf or coyote there would be a fair amount of hair in it. I'm going with bear.

[KegRiver]

Bear do indeed leave scat similar in form, but bears are much larger animals and leave proportionally larger scat. Very close to or larger then human scat. I believe this scat is too small to be bear scat.

Also, bears do not digest a lot of things very well. Notably seeds, some plant matter and meats.
These scat appear to be from a animal based diet such as a Coyote would likely have. Actually it looks to me to be a mouse diet. They also appear quiet hard. A bear eating meat should have soft stools not hard. By soft I don't mean loose such as what one sees when they are eating berries, but more like the consistency of mashed potatoes.
Based on size and apparent hardness, the dark coloration indicating a possible flesh based diet and the size I think it has to be a canine rather then a bear.

Last but not least, Coyote would be the most likely culprit due to populations distribution and density.

[pickrel pat]

Big gay male coyote.

[220swifty]

http://youtu.be/eY7ZX6ngOSs

Well played.

Did YouTube run a Metamucil ad in front of it for you too?

[Kokanee9]

Since the bears came out 6 weeks ago, I haven't seen anything hard. Only what I described.

Perhaps in others areas of the province, this may not be the case.

[Brian Bildson]

Keg I've seen a lot of bear scat that looks just like that, all depends of feed. I have a malamute and it's scat is a lot smaller than that. Plus not every bear is born full sized, there are some small bears too.

[Geezle]

Well played.

Did YouTube run a Metamucil ad in front of it for you too?

Nope, I got lucky...no ad :lol:

[Sundancefisher]

Ok, scatologists.....what is it?

Could be cougar, wolf, bear. Did you break one apart?

[KegRiver]

Keg I've seen a lot of bear scat that looks just like that, all depends of feed. I have a malamute and it's scat is a lot smaller than that. Plus not every bear is born full sized, there are some small bears too.

I have no doubt that every thing you say is true, I still think it's far more likely a canine and most likely a Coyote.

I do know that at this time of year bears may be eating a wide range of things. Moreover, diet can very considerably among bears in the same area.

This of course supports your theory. Still I think the size of the scat and the relative population densities of the most likely candidates suggests canine rather then bear.

And of course we may both be wrong. It could be a species neither of us considered or that one or both of use ruled out.

I know this, I am no expert. Perhaps you are.

I'm willing to leave it at that.