Pellets

 

Yesterday Bob Hollingsworth and I wandered around in the Corte Madera Marsh. The sides of the trail were literally covered with pretty little balls, and I took a picture. I identified the pellets as seeds from plants. Bob said no, these were scat, probably from rabbits. I argued the point, but I should have known better. Bob, my resident scientist, was right as usual and what we saw turned out to be Cottontail scat.

 

Bob followed up with an E-mail and referred me to page 327 of THE LAWS FIELD GUIDE TO THE SIERRA NEVADA, a reference-book we both have, for a picture. No question!

 

He then went on to say: "Rabbit scat is composed of the vegetation the animal has been eating. There are two kinds of rabbit scat. One kind is compact and somewhat dry. The other is moister and softer. Rabbits will eat this type of scat to get all the nutrients from it. This is called coprophagy. The first type has been through the rabbit's digestive system twice and no longer has a lot of nutrients in it. Rabbit scat is in pellet form and is rounder than that of deer."

I have refrained from taking and mailing scat pictures for three years, but this one seemed harmless to me and the explanation very informative. If you feel you must learn more about the subject, click on: http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?articleid=2932

I am sure you were all dying to know.