Have you ever felt the urge to get down on the ground and tear apart feces from various animals?  Me neither.    Despite my general stance of avoiding poo, this past week I went out and found lots and lots of crap!

While vacationing in Washington, I was allowed to ride along with a biologist for the Bureau of Land Management.  I was titled a “volunteer”, though I am not so sure I helped out in any way.  I was allowed to keep the hat. (SCORE!)

The day’s intention was to inspect and repair fences used in cattle pastures.  The pastures were in the mountains in eastern Washington.  These mountains are home to not only rancher’s cattle but also to deer, elk, cougars, bears and coyotes.  Not to mention many smaller critters.

So, knowing there were bears out there, I was on the lookout for poo. I could spot the poo from a good distance.  I figure, if the poo was fresh and smooshy, the animal was probably close by.  There were A LOT of cow pies.  Everywhere essentially.  Big piles, small piles, and piles that grew mushrooms…no lie.

Then there was the deer number two.

Little deer poo

Big deer poo.

Then, we saw coyote crap.

That’s weird stuff.  I would be embarrassed if I lived in the woods as a wild carnivore and pooed like that.

And then there were bears.  Now, I was told that the bears were nothing to fear, only to be respectful of their space.  I am certain this is the truth. However, those animals are made out to be viscous beasts, and I was having a hard time not worrying as their bowel movements were left all over the place.  If there is bear scat, there is going to be a bear nearby, right?

This bear ate berries, as I was told.  Lean in real close, you can see the seeds.

This bear ate an animal with hair.

And this bears porridge was way too cold.  Sorry, bad joke. I just have no idea what it ate.  You can see the hive/honey comb right there next to it.  The bear possibly was snacking as he did his business.  I wonder if that’s like reading while on the pot for the human male.

So, I’ll tell you the truth.  I loved spending the time outdoors.  Nature is hard to come by around here.  I kind of wish we had run into a scarier animal than the chipmunk we saw.  I need to get my first encounter out of the way.   But golly, all that poo in one day was a close second.  😉