Mystery Photo
Normally I am well acquainted with the natural history of any Mystery Photo I post, but today is an exception. I have no idea whose scat this is, nor the origin of its color. A forester, Adam Riquier, discovered it in Lake Placid, NY. He writes that “The forest type is hardwoods (maple beech, birch with some red spruce) right at an edge where it transitions to a cedar forest. It was taken three or four days ago, so there are no berries out yet. There is some blue stain fungus on downed hardwood nearby. The scat is roughly golf ball sized.”
In hopes that a Naturally Curious reader might be familiar with this oddity, I secured Adam’s permission to post his photograph. If you think you know whose scat it is, and/or the origin of its color, please share your expertise with us! (The scat was found at least a mile from any houses, not eliminating the possibility of (blue) rat poison having been ingested, but making it fairly unlikely.)
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