Droppings or scats can reveal a lot to us about which animals have been in our gardens or local parks and the countryside we walk through. Commonly we’ll find scats of hedgehogs, foxes and badgers, who'll leave them along territorial boundaries, next to discarded prey and on prominent features of the landscape.
You'll also find droppings on paths, clearings or fields. We call spots where animals regularly deposit them latrines.
Here’s advice on what to look for and – if you’re brave enough – smell for. Remember, if you’re handling droppings use disposable gloves.
British mammal droppings
European badger (Meles meles)
Badgers use their droppings to mark territory boundaries. This can lead to 'poo wars' when badger clans try to outdo each other at the key meeting points.
Derek Crawley from the Mammal Society explains: “They also have a latrine area just away from the set as it is one of the things we all do shortly after waking up. Most poo is deposited in a pit but if the ground is too hard to dig (rocky area) they will leave it on the surface.”
The consistency can vary depending on what the badger has been eating. For example if they’ve been eating a lot of worms, then it is very sloppy. The size can vary.
The colour is usually purple, black or brown and smells foul – a strong musky, oily smell. It can often contain seeds and berries.
European rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus)
Rabbit poo is very small – less than 1cm across – and is mostly black, light-brown or green in colour. It is usually filled with plant and grass pieces. Find it scattered at latrines, often near burrow entrances.
Brown hare (Lepus europaeus)
Hare droppings are similar to rabbit droppings but larger in size and flatter. They are more fibrous and contain larger bits of plants. They can be sweet-smelling and can be found in hare scrapes (a shallow depression in the ground or vegetation where hares sleep).
Like rabbits, hares eat their droppings, which allows the animals to get extra nutrients from the plant food.
European hedgehog (Erinaceus europaeus)
Hedgehog droppings are dark brown, grey or black and can range from 1.5cm to 5cm in length. They are usually found as a singular dropping, cylindrical in shape and sometimes tapered on one end.
The poo has a mildly unpleasant smell, with a hint of linseed oil. Shiny bits, which you might be able to spot, are remnants of invertebrates such as beetles.
Red fox (Vulpes vulpes)
The appearance and smell of red fox scats can greatly differ depending on the season and diet.
When feeding on small mammals and carrion in the winter, scats are coloured light grey to black. In summer and autumn, they can be red and purplish when foxes are feeding are berries and insects.
They will always have a musky smell due to secretions from their anal glands. The thickness is reliably between 1.2–2.5cm, and length 5–20cm.
Roe deer (Capreolus capreolus)
The droppings of a roe deer are relatively small, and usually shiny and brown. They are oval-shaped, with one end pointed and the other end indented or flat. They are usually in clusters, and can be found along paths, or in fields and woodlands.
Deer are ruminants (bring up food and chew it again) so their droppings don't normally have any obvious contents as their food is finely digested.
Otter (Lutra lutra)
Otter faeces, known as spraints, are a greenish, grey colour and full of evidence of their latest meals: bones, scales, shell and sometimes feathers and fur.
The droppings have a musky, fishy smell, with a sweetness, said to be like jasmine tea. Find them on along riverbanks, on rocks or logs and under bridges, where they're left to mark territory.
Wild boar (Sus scrofa)
Wild boar faeces is sausage-shaped, roughly 10cm in length and has a fibrous consistency. Unlike deer droppings, wild boar droppings stay together when when dry.
“Wild boar defecate in communal areas, so if you find one dropping, you’re likely to find a lot more of it close by,” says naturalist Chantal Lyons, who has written a book on wild boar in the UK, Groundbreakers.
“Dung beetles go wild for the droppings, although may be eaten by the boar in turn. I’ve been told by a resident of the Forest of Dean that in summer, boar droppings can sometimes be seen glittering with the shattered carapaces of consumed beetles.”
Pine marten poo (Martes martes)
When defecating, pine martens wriggle their hips, resulting in twisted scats. They are long and thin, coiled and tapered in shape and measure 4–12cm.
They are full of what the pine marten has eaten – fur, bone, feathers, leaves and grass. In summer, the poo can become blue in colour as a result of the high percentage of bilberries in the pine marten's diet.
Spot it at regular latrines, such as logs or boulders, and mostly in Scotland.
The poo has a distinctive smell – musky, sweet and fruity, and does not smell unpleasant – it is sometimes compared to damp hay or Parma Violets.
Beaver (Castor fiber)
After 400 years, beavers are back in areas of Britain, having been introduced to Argyll and Tayside in Scotland, and Devon in England.
It's actually difficult to spot beaver droppings though as the animals excrete directly into the water. However, sometimes it's washed onto the bank. The droppings are 2–4cm long and brown with fibrous plant material inside, or a lighter sawdust colour.
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