Wildfile Q & A: What left that scat?

Q: What left that scat?

A: The six larger mammals plus the alligators that inhabit CREW lands may not always be seen, but evidence of their presence is common. Distinguishing the scat (excrement, droppings) of those animals is relatively easy based on shape and size.

Three of the mammals consume plant material and leave scat that usually contains seeds or berries: raccoons, black bears, and white-tailed deer.

The three other mammals are carnivores, so their scat will contain fur, bones, and/or bits of shell, but no seeds.

Alligators are primarily carnivores, too, but their digestive systems are so strong that there is rarely any recognizable material in their scat.

Below are identifying characteristics for each of the seven animals, first by shape and then by size.

1. PILEscat photos (3)

small– Raccoon

Scat can either be a small pile or small and tubular. If tubular, both ends are rounded; usually full of seeds; color will vary depending on what was recently eaten. For example, purple-tinted scat can come from a diet of elderberries, beautyberries, or cabbage palm fruit.

large– Black Bear

Scat is a humongous pile, usually full of seeds which the bears don’t digest. Color can vary depending on what the bear has recently eaten. Oval, almond-size seeds are from saw palmetto.


 

2. TUBULAR

small– Bobcat

Frequently segmented; can be up to 3 inches in length and around 3/4 inch in diameter; one end rounded while the other usually tapers to a point; contains visible fur and possibly bones

large– Panther

Frequently segmented; can be up to 5 inches in length and over 1 inch in diameter; one end rounded while the other end tapers to a point; contains bits of fur and bone. Panthers, like many cats, often scratch dirt or leaves over their scat. The bare patch where they scratched is called a “scrape.”

gigantic– Alligator

Can be up to 5 or 6 inches in length and over 2 inches in diameter; rounded at both ends; light gray when fresh and drying to almost white. Scat really stinks, even after drying up.


 

3. MUSHY BLOB

River Otter

Found near water; scat may have no recognizable shape but contains fish bones and scales and pieces of shell; oily, tar-like appearance. Otters mark their territories by leaving scented scat on the highest ground they can find, which is usually a trail. Fresh scat really stinks.


 

4. PELLETS

White-tailed Deer

Small, round, individual scat shows deer has been browsing on things such as leaves twigs, and acorns. Lumpy scat is more indicative of a meal of easier to digest grasses, clover, and other forbs.


 

By Dick Brewer

http://www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html

A View of CREW by Dick Brewer

Map of CREW

Below are first hand observations from our volunteer Dick Brewer.  This is a special week as we are luck to get Dick’s observations from all three trail systems. If you would like to see more of his observations visit: http://www.dickbrewer.org/CREW.html

Red Rat Snake By Dick Brewer
Red Rat Snake By Dick Brewer

 

Monday, May 11                           Marsh Trails-  6:45 am-8:30                        Cypress Dome 8:35am-10:30

 

Great Egret………………………………………………… 6………………………………………………………………

Black Vulture……………………………………………… 3………………………………………………………….. 25

Turkey Vulture……………………………… …………….. ……………………………………………………………. 2

Swallow-tailed Kite………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………. 5

Red-shouldered Hawk………………………………… 3……………………………………………………………. 5

Barred Owl………………………………….. …………….. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Limpkin………………………………………… …………… 1………………………………………………………………

Sand Hill Crane…………………………………………… 2………………………………………………………………

Mourning Dove…………………………………………. 11………………………………………………………….. 10

Red-bellied Woodpecker……………………………… 5……………………………………………………………. 5

Great-crested Flycatcher………………. …………… 1……………………………………………………………. 4

Blue Jay………………………………………. …………… 3……………………………………………………………. 2

Tufted Titmouse……………………………. …………… 1………………………………………………………………

Carolina Wren………………………………. …………… 4……………………………………………………………. 1

White-eyed Vireo……………………………………….. 5………………………………………………………………

Northern Cardinal……………………………………… 24………………………………………………………….. 10

Common Grackle………………………………………… 4………………………………………………………………

BUTTERFLIES & MOTHS

Common Buckeye…………………………. …………… 1……………………………………………………………. 1

Great Southern White……………………. …………… 2……………………………………………………………. 8

White Peacock……………………………… …………….. ……………………………………………………………. 2

Viceroy……………………………………….. …………… 2………………………………………………………………

Zebra Longwing…………………………… …………….. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Giant Swallowtail…………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………. 2

Pearl Crescent……………………………… …………… 1………………………………………………………………

Tropical Checker………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Bella Moth (Utetheisa bella)…………… …………….. ……………………………………………………………. 3

DRAGONFLIES & DAMSELFLIES

Halloween Pennant………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Regal Darner……………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Blue Dasher…………………………………. …………….. ……………………………………………………………. 3

Needham’s Skimmer……………………………………… ……………………………………………………………. 7

Eastern Pondhawk……………………………………….. ………………………………………………………….. 13

Citrine Forktail………………………………………………. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Carolina Saddlebags…………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………. 2

OTHER

White-tailed Deer………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Squirrel Treefrog………………………………………. 14………………………………………………………….. 14

Pinewoods Treefrog…………………………………. 10……………………………………………………………. 3

Green Greefrog……………………………. …………. 33……………………………………………………………. 4

Cuban Treefrog………………………………………….. 3……………………………………………………………. 4

Greenhouse Frog……………………………………….. 2………………………………………………………………

Red Rat Snake……………………………… …………….. ……………………………………………………………. 1

Brown Anole……………………………………………….. ……………………………………………………………. 6

Grass Pink and Pine Pink Orchids by Dick Brewer
Grass Pink and Pine Pink Orchids by Dick Brewer

 

 


Red Shouldered Hawk By Dick Brewer
Red Shouldered Hawk By Dick Brewer

Bird Rookery Swamp observations
Saturday, May 16 ~ 7:30 am-1:15 pm

BIRDS
Anhinga – 1
Great Egret – 6
Tri-colored Heron – 1
Black-crowned Night Heron – 1
White Ibis – 1
Black Vulture – 22
Turkey Vulture – 23
Red-shouldered Hawk – 18
Common Ground Dove – 11
Yellow-billed Cuckoo – 3
Barred Owl – 3
Red-bellied Woodpecker – 22
Pileated Woodpecker – 2
Great-crested Flycatcher – 3
Blue Jay – 2
Tufted Titmouse – 11
Carolina Wren – 23
White-eyed Vireo – 9
Northern Parula – 5
Northern Cardinal – 28
Common Grackle – 2

BUTTERFLIES
Palamedes Swallowtail – 6
Spicebush Swallowtail – 1
Ruddy Daggerwing – 16
White Peacock – 55
Viceroy – 5
Great Southern White – 5
Tropical Checker – 1

DRAGONFLIES

Barred Owls By Dick Brewer
Barred Owls By Dick Brewe

Eastern Pondhawk – 46
Needham’s Skimmer – 3
Roseate Skimmer – 11
Halloween Pennant – 2
Eastern Amberwing – 2
Carolina Saddlebags – 1

OTHER
White-tailed Deer – 2
Alligator – 87
Brown Anole – 7
Soft-shelled Turtle – 1
Water Moccasin – 1
Green Treefrog – 56
Squirrel Treefrog – 4
Cuban Treefrog – 3
Greenhouse Frog – 8

Wild File Q&A: What causes the small brown and yellow patches on healthy plant leaves?

Q: What causes the small brown and yellow patches on healthy plant leaves?

 An Alligator Flag leaf by the Bird Rookery Swamp boardwalk protects itself from further damage by isolating an invasive pathogen.
An Alligator Flag leaf by the Bird Rookery Swamp
boardwalk protects itself from further damage by isolating an invasive
pathogen.

A:   

It’s often apoptosis, a term that comes from plant kingdom where the Greek apoptosis originally meant the loss of petals of leaves. Now, it can refer to both the plant and animal kingdoms and is also called Programmed Cell Death (PCD).

Cells in plants and animals can self-destruct when they are no longer needed or if they are damaged. For plants, this achieves and maintains stability within the internal environment when it is dealing with external changes.

Natural PCD (not caused by external factors) includes the timely death of petals after fertilization and the senescence of leaves. Host-controlled PCD is also a means of resistance to pathogens. Cells challenged by pathogens initiate a hypersensitive response, which is a rapid PCD process that is activated in order to inhibit the spread of invading pathogen.

PCD in plants has a number of molecular similarities to animal apoptosis, but it also has differences. The most obvious is the lack of an immune system to remove the pieces of the dead cell.

Greatly simplified, instead of an immune response, an enzyme is activated that destroys the central vacuole (a bubble-like cavity) in the plant cell, which is followed by disintegration of the rest of the cell. This creates a protective, dead “envelope” around the pathogen to limit its spread. This is what may appear on some leaves as a yellow and brown blotch.

Some examples of apoptosis in the animal kingdom include the resorption of the tadpole tail at the time of its metamorphosis into a frog, the removal of tissue between fingers and toes of the fetus as it develops, the elimination of T cells that might otherwise mount an autoimmune attack on the body, and during the pupal stage of insects that undergo a complete metamorphosis, the death of most of the cells of the larva which provide nutrients for the development of the adult structures.

For more than you would ever want to know about apoptosis, visit
http://jcmb.halic.edu.tr/pdf/4-1/Programmed.pdf

For a simpler explanation of apoptosis, visit
http://science.howstuffworks.com/life/cellular-microscopic/apoptosis.htm

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