Some responses. Tracks? I've seen what I'm sure was bear tracks in the snow about 1/3 mi from that spot. (That's an interesting and funny story that I'll tell later in this thread.) But we're into snow melt now -- about 50% melted in that area, with LOTS of bare ground, and the snow is now very mushy and doesn't record tracks well. I certainly saw nothing there suggesting anything but deer tracks -- but again, they're every where down there. Bedding area? Yes. That camp is a prime bedding area, and there is pellet-form deer scat everywhere around there. Escaped pig? I've neither seen nor heard of any pig farms in this area. But I'll look into it more.
I guess... we have so many deer, it seems like everywhere is a bedding spot. I see the clumpy wet stuff all the time and know it's deer. Seriously the dog really has a preference for it. So there is something special about it.
Hence my guess that you think it is bear. It's just to darn early in the morning to go chasing goalposts, have a great day @Stone , it's going to be a nice one
The old men like to say the clumped stuff is buck. I myself have spread this myth without any evidence of a second thought. I was just reading about deer poop riding a stationary bike, (thanks @Stone)and saw a theory on a hunting forum that the clumped stuff is just got up from bedding poop. Personally my blood is all in my legs at the moment......
Me: "Yet my hypothesis is that "pig" is closer than deer (at least in shape and demeanor) to what shat that." @Theodore "Hence my guess that you think it is bear." Ah, but see, I'm a science educator, and the words "hypothesis" and "think that" are not synonyms. "Think that" is closer to "conclusion". "Hypothesis" -- or hypotheses (plural) are proposed answers that have not yet been concluded due to lack of sufficient evidence. My comment was intended to convey that in my view, at that point, I was leaning more toward bear or pig than deer, but -- again -- no conclusions yet. Numerous possibilities still on the table, including deer, bear, pig, Bigfoot ... oh, wait.
This may be a slight tangent off topic. There's a lot of calories in sh!t. So I always wonder about the calorie labels on our food... I know it's straightforward to get an accurate measurement of this, but what percentage do we actually absorb? Everyone's metabolism is different and even a single individuals metabolism must vary depending upon the time of day, how long since their last meal, recent physical activity, etc. @Stone what do you know about this?
A little bit, Zeek. I even had some training during grad school (ecology in the mid 70's down in TX) about using a device called a calorimeter to determine that very thing. Some of my buddies in grad school actually based their thesis (MS) or dissertation (PhD) on that work. I did not. What I can say is, it's a very complex topic and technique with many variables and variations. I may add a bit more to this later, but not much since I'm far from expert on the topic -- just enough on that to be dangerous, as I'm fond of saying.
This pretty much states my point, "Even if two people were to somehow eat the same sweet potato cooked the same way they would not get the same number of calories."
Ah the inefficiency of language, especially when written with scotch on a Saturday night. It'd be so much easier if we were sitting around a fire, with or without scotch. Now, to be clear, at this point (Sunday noon, no scotch), I have not concluded (do not think) anything, but I have several hypotheses, the leading of which is "bear" (with deer now running a close second), but it could be any of the other ones or something I/we haven't considered yet. Glad we got that straightened out. Now, moving on ...
I'm heading downstairs in a minute to the community room for a potluck. I'm really only going because one of my neighbors that I actually like organized it -- but there are some serious tensions in the building, mainly being driven by several (four, now down from five because one was kicked out) loonies bins/weirdos. Talk about a bunch of ****. I'm carrying a dish in a disposable plate (so I can leave it there), along with my daypack and camera. I've promised my neighbor that I'll stay long enough to be cordial and to eat (she's cooking ham and home-made mac 'n cheese), then I'm heading to the woods. I'm going to walk down to scat city for a little more investigation. I'll report back with more pics this evening ....
Sounds good... don't be afraid to squeeze a big fist full, feel the texture. We're all counting on you.
Anyway, I think it is deer poop not bear poop like @Stone originally thought. Busting it up to find some undigested stuff sounds good.
