An outdoorsman sent me a photo of a pile of scat he found recently (Nov 2017) asking what I thought it was.
Determining the source of animal sign in the outdoors is not as simple as just looking at the pile. There are other very important things to think about and are necessary to really know your “crap”.
To narrow it down I used a process of elimination that began with size, location, time of year and content. Yes content.
CONTENT
The hair in the scat indicates a predator. That eliminates a whole bunch of possibilities.
SIZE
Next was the size. The sunglasses in the pic helped to get a good handle on how big it is. So far I had determined that it came from a large predator.
TIME OF YEAR
The time of year was November. So the predator must be in the area in November. That generally (but not always) rules out black bear.
Next the snow on the ground indicates an animal that is still out and about in late November and walking around in the snow.
LOCATION
So the final factor is location. The photo was taken in Northwest Montana near Libby. That information sealed it for me; Grizzly Bear.
By using process of elimination and looking at more than just a pile of excrement you can determine what you are looking at. Scat identification is a skill that when used can enrich your outdoor experience, it’s also nice to know your crap in the outdoors.
