Expert: Jonathan Wright - 8/23/2004

Question
I found two identical droppings:  one inside my house in
south Mississippi, the other on the porch floor behind a
shutter.  Unfortunately I took no picture.  They were OVER
an inch long, maybe 1.25 in.; about as round as regular
sized macaroni, but straight not curled; black, and on both
one end was white for about .25 in.  Local Bug Busters
looked at it and said it had to be a bird or bat.  I don't see
how.  This would have to be the world's biggest bird!  Surely
a bird would never find it's way back out of the house
undetected?  The bat droppings I've investigated on the web
don't match.  What could this be?  I've seen no other
evidence of creatures in my house.  I have NO pets.

Answer
Dear Joe

Thanks for you question and for the detailed description of the droppings. I'm sorry to say that I don't know much about animal droppings, but I've tried to look up various books and websites and have turned your question into a detective story.

First of all I looked up details about the health hazards of droppings. The sites:  http://www.idph.state.il.us/public/hb/hbb&bdrp.htm  and http://www.msdh.state.ms.us/msdhsite/index.cfm/14,0,194,135,html deal with health problems connected with animal droppings.

http://www.outdoored.com/articles/Article.asp?ArticleID=112 gives details about how to determine an animal by studying the size, shape and consistency of the droppings. The droppings show what the animal has been eating.

If you still have the droppings, put on some gloves and lay the droppings on a piece of paper and cut them down the centre and then quarter them, before using tweezers to find out what the animal has been eating. Do not breathe in the droppings, especially if they are dry and dusty.
Herbivores tend to have loose, mushy droppings in summer, as they browse on soft succulent vegetation. In the fall, herbivores may feed more on nuts, seeds and fruits. Droppings may be hard and compact in winter and comprise woody buds, twigs and bark.

I decided to use the key listed in the website to determine which animal may have produced the droppings. The website lists the following descriptions:

Tubular - Dog Family, raccoon,skunks, opossums, wolverines, bears

Teardrop or Tapered - Cat Family

Fattened Threads - Weasel Family

M&M's - Rabbits & Hares

Oblong, may have nipple at end - Deer

Pencil Lead - Rodents

Fox - Tubular & Tapered at both ends - between dog and cat

It seems that the droppings are tubular and the website listed above suggests that the droppings were probably produced by dogs, raccoons, skunks, opossums, wolverines or bears. I think that the white areas may have been due to bone and this also links with the animal having some meat in its diet. Some of the animals listed do not occur naturally in Mississippi: these are coyotes, wolves, bears and wolverines.

http://www.bobpickett.org/ gives details of various mammals and includes descriptions of the droppings. I used the information to try to find the culprit!
Red fox scat often contains hair and has tapered ends. A fox dropping is 2 to 4" long and ½" – 5/8” in diameter (summer droppings are often shorter and not tapered due to the insect and berry diet).  Faeces are often left standing on end.  Scats less than 7/16" in diameter are probably fox.  Relatively, a fox dropping's diameter is 5/8”, a bobcat's is 6/8”, and a coyote's is 7/8”. Grey fox droppings are generally 2 ½" by ½", with tapered ends, which are not twisted.  The red fox is a possibility, as it does enter gardens, but there are some problems with the description.  

A raccoon's droppings are segmented and can be 2- 6 inches long, ¾" diameter. They tend to be long, but are often broken into smaller segments. They are crumbly and flat-ended and are left at prominent locations, often in accumulations. I do not think that this description corresponds with the droppings.

Eastern spotted skunk droppings are usually found along skunks' runways. They are about 1/3 - 1/2" in diameter and are irregular in shape, with scat accumulations occasionally reaching a depth of 2".  The droppings are indiscriminately scattered about a den site.  Spotted skunks are less inclined than striped skunks to make latrine sites.  Striped skunk droppings are 1.5 - 5" long and 1/2 - 3/4" wide, with rounded or flat ends. They are usually very dark as they are mostly composed of insect parts. The striped skunk is a possibility, but the droppings don't seem to match your description.

Opossum droppings are not distinctive and vary with the diet. They are usually semi-liquid and decompose quickly. This does not match your description.  

Shrew droppings are similar to a rice grain in size, except for the short-tailed shrew, which may have droppings 1 inch long, is a possibility. White-tailed deer droppings are commonly 1" long and 3/8" in diameter. They are cylindrically shaped, with a flat end and a tapered end but are produced in groups of 20 to 30. This is the right shape and size for the droppings, but there aren't enough of them.

Using this information, I cannot give you a definitive answer about what animal produced the droppings. I think it is most likely to be a red fox or striped skunk, but there are other possible culprits, such as a short-tailed shrew or a solitary white-tailed deer. I think that the droppings are too long to be produced by a bat and I don't think that the culprit is a bird, although some can produce big droppings.

I'm sorry that I haven't answered your question completely, but I have tried to look up different guides and websites. There is a softback field guide about North American mammals and that has a few pictures of droppings at the back. I do not have this book in my collection, although I could check the library in Central London, where I borrowed the book last year. If you wish me to track down this book or to try and find details of bird droppings, please send me an email via Allexperts.

All the best

Jonathan