Scat, vomit, or berries from heaven?

September 10, 2022 8:28 AM

I found a gift in my Toronto window well yesterday morning. The link shows a close-up -- it really does look like a heap of wild blueberries -- and a wide shot. Who or what could have placed this here?

The gift: The heap is about 3 inches wide. It's still rather wet and shiny. It doesn't smell at all from a distance of about 5-6 feet. It hasn't attracted flies (yet).

The environment: I'm growing tomatoes, herbs, and various flowers. There's a small patch of lawn. I am not growing any berries of any kind.

Main suspect: Regular wild visitors to my backyard include raccoons, who have treated my place as a latrine before, so I know what their droppings look and smell like. This does not look or smell like typical raccoon scat, although I guess it's possible the berries made their way so quickly through Rocky that they were barely disturbed. I just can't see any photos that match this.

Additional suspects: A skunk comes by now and then to dig for grubs in the grass, but this doesn't look like skunk scat. I occasionally see my neighbour's cat around my yard, but again, the heap doesn't match the look and smell of cat previously-fancied. I am pretty sure that I can rule out deer and bears.

posted by maudlin to Science & Nature (6 answers total)

I would rule out cat. I can't see a cat eating a whole meal of berries. I would guess either raccoon or skunk. It looks like the animal had been eating pretty much nothing but berries, so it's not surprising that the scat has less form than typical raccoon or skunk scat. My initial feeling when I looked at the picture was leaning more towards skunk, but the size of the pile pushes me a little more toward raccoon. Raccoons might also be a bit more likely than skunks to eat that many berries. You would expect a skunk to be more focused on insects at this time of year when so many are available. But skunks do eat berries. If you wanted to poke through the scat, you might find evidence of other things that had been eaten, and that might help you figure it out. For instance, if there were a lot of insect exoskeletons that might push you towards skunk and if there were crayfish shell bits that might push you toward raccoon.
posted by Redstart at 9:28 AM on September 10, 2022

Best answer: That is typical scat for a wild creature during berry season. The lumps are almost certainly seeds and not whole fruits - it's hard to tell scale, maybe blackberry seeds? I think your racoon guess is correct.
posted by momus_window at 10:16 AM on September 10, 2022 [4 favorites]

Best answer: My guess is also a raccoon, who has been feasting on the berries of the common buckthorn [wildly invasive in Ontario]. I strongly recommend that you read up on raccoon-poop-borne roundworm eggs before you get down into that business.
posted by heatherlogan at 12:16 PM on September 10, 2022

Best answer: It takes 2-4 weeks before roundworm eggs in raccoon poop become infectious, but that's definitely something to be aware of.
posted by Redstart at 1:16 PM on September 10, 2022

Response by poster: Thanks and -- ugh! I suspected the little bastards (well, just one so far) had been back. Looking up repellants now to use after cleanup.
posted by maudlin at 4:18 PM on September 10, 2022

Response by poster: Update: disposal (carefully) completed. Bleach on the gravel and ground red pepper scattered around likely entry points to the yard may keep them away for a few days or until the next rain.
posted by maudlin at 2:17 PM on September 11, 2022