![]() ![]() However, water vole droppings have blunt ends and are green-black in colour, whereas rat droppings are larger, smelly, pointed at one end and brown-black in colour. The droppings measure between 8-12mm long, and can be confused with rat poo. Grouped together in latrines, water vole droppings are used to mark out territories, as these sweet-looking mammals are actually highly territorial. Water voles eat a variety of wetland plants, roots, berries and tubers, and they nibble short grass lawns outside their burrows. The scientific name of the pine marten, Martes martes, is an example of a tautonym, where the genus and specific name are the same. Also note that you're extremely unlikely to see pine marten poo anywhere but Scotland in the UK. Look out for pine marten scat at regular latrines, such as a log or boulder. The scent is one of the key factors for distinguishing the scat from fox poo (however if a fox has been feeding on a lot of berries, it may also smell quite sweet). It is very musky, sweet and fruity, and does not smell unpleasant - it is sometimes compared to damp hay or parma violets. Like otter spraint, pine marten poo has a distinctive smell, though it lacks the fishy smell of spraint. In summer, the scat can actually become blue in colour as bilberries can make up to 30 per cent of a pine marten's diet during this season. When defecating, martens wriggle their hips, resulting in twisted poo. Pine marten poo is long, thin, coiled and tapered in shape, and full of fur, bone, feathers, pieces of leaves and grass. “Interestingly, we found other examples of wild animals feeding off the faeces of other species,” adds Navarro Waggershauser, “and wonder if this has been an overlooked behaviour that could shift our understanding of how species interact.” However, dog faeces are easier to “hunt” and it’s thought that the faeces become an important food source during times of scarcity. They found that there was a similar energy content from the dog faeces as the wild prey of foxes. “We then tested the calorific content of dog faeces using a technique called calorimetric explosion where we exploded them to measure how much energy they contain.” “After testing and discarding several hypotheses, including predation of dogs and laboratory artefacts, we concluded dog faeces were the source of dog DNA,” says Navarro Waggershauser. Scientists undertaking a study on the diet of red foxes in the Scottish Highlands used DNA analysis to identify what the foxes had been eating and were surprised to find that a large proportion of fox faeces contained domestic dog DNA. “However, the most reliable diagnostic is the thickness, with fox scats being between 12 and 25mm.” Cristian Navarro Waggershauser, a research fellow at the University of Aberdeen. “Though the smell will vary, they retain a musky smell due to secretions from their anal glands,” says Dr. ![]() Whereas they can be red and purplish in the summer and autumn, when foxes are feeding are berries and insects. When feeding on small mammals and carrion in the winter, scats are coloured light grey to black. The colour and smell of red fox scats can be vary widely depending on the season and diet.
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