A pretty pile of poo to start your Monday :) This one had a variety of seeds in it. Some were from Smilax, some from devil's walking stick (Aralia spinosa), some from black gum (Nyssa biflora), and some we couldn't identify.
We're not sure what kind of seeds these are, but whatever they are the bear seemed to like the fruit they were in.
At first I thought this scat had hair in it - bear are not adverse to eating carrion. But upon closer examination, the "hair" turned out to be loads of tiny fungi. Anybody know a good mycologist?
7 comments:
I'm really glad you photographed the bear scat. Great shots of the seeds. We mostly only get to see coyote scat here, so it's interesting to compare. I've noticed fungi growing on coyote scat, and I have a few photographs of coyote scat with very obvious bone and hair in it.
I've only just started to visit your blog, so I don't know if you have already written about this, but have you seen the bear in your swamp?
These lovely bear poop photos are the first thing to put a smile on my face this morning, and this is the first morning that I'm fully 60 years old, so I consider these photos a sort of birthday gift.
Thanks!
I can clearly hear Christoper Robin's voice in my head.
"Silly old poo."
What a story a little poo can tell.
Happy birthday to Jim!
Do you get paid to have fun, explore nature, get exercise and enjoy the great outdoors? Darn! Can I be a volunteer?
RD, I don't see bear in the home swamp very often, but I see them pretty regularly in my work swamp. Recently I was working my way through some heavy underbrush (took me 2 hours to go about 400 yards)and I came upon a food cache, resplendent with a very ripe deer carcass and some lovely bear scat. I pushed on a little further and came upon an area where a bear had bedded down. Their trails through the thick growth were fairly easy to see and had I been only two feet tall I could have followed them!
Hey Jim! I hear 60 is the new 40 -- Happy Birthday!!
LOL, Bloggy.
FC, yep, you can definitely learn a lot about an animal from what it leaves behind...
I_wonder, I am grateful each and every day to have the job I have. It is such a wonderful thing to say, "I love my job" and actually mean it. For years I was misemployed and quite miserable -- now I'm doing what I've always wanted to do. Better late than never, eh?
I've often run into bear scat, and the occasional bear, on my wanderings but never did I take a photo. Guess I missed out on another opportunity. Maybe next time.
Yes, you have a wonderful job!
Post a Comment