Where there's droppings ...

As the last bag of manure was tipped onto our new rhubarb patch I found myself meditating on the interesting subject of dung. Many of my friends do regard this interest of mine as, at best, eccentric but a proper understanding of animal excreta - being able to spot it, identify it and, sometimes, analyse it - is what separates real naturalists from mere dilettantes.

Just think about it. You’re out walking and you spot some cylindrical grey pellets under a tree. Look up into the branches and you may see the source, a tawny owl peacefully roosting against the trunk. Even if no owl is to be seen, you can pick up a pellet and take it home to identify; you might even put it into a jar of water to disintegrate the felt of compacted fur so that you can examine the neatly package small bones and other fragments and see what the owl had been eating. This will give an indication of what prey species are about in the area and sometimes contains surprises. Remember the owl that swallowed a water rail!

My sister in Scotland knew there were pine martens in the nearby wood because we found their droppings, studded with rowan berries, on the forest track, clearly marking a significant crossing point for martens. Mustelids use a complex system of scented scats for communication and territorial marking and this is useful to those studying them. Badgers, very tidy animals, dig latrine pits both near to the sett and at intervals along their territorial boundaries. In his definitive study of badgers as social animals, Hans Kruk mixed tiny scraps of different coloured plastic bags into a feed of peanuts and honey and put it outside the main setts in his study area. By examining the latrines, he was able to map all the clan territories - like an interlocking mosaic covering the wood and its environs - and see how clan size was related to the need to maintain a territory big enough to include all food sources necessary to badger wellbeing.

That other popular mustelid, the otter, also uses a complex system of communication through the depositing of its droppings or spraint. Several WNS members have been involved in a project to monitor the return of otters to Dales’ rivers, and this involved periodic searches of one’s allotted stretch of water for spraint, often deposited on rocks midstream or under bridges. It’s surprising how quickly one learns to predict favoured spots, viewing riverbank, water and rock in a thoroughly ottery way.

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