Droppings Question...
Moose
I need some help from an expert in moose droppings, just a normal every day request, right?
Anyways, I found a nice meadow area with willows and beaver dams and just looked really 'moosey'. So I was walking around the perimeter looking for sign, saw some big tracks that I think are likely moose, and some nice beds right on the grassy edge of the pine forest and the meadow. Some of the beds had droppings in them, but they looked they came from an elk instead of a moose. I'm familiar with the typical moose "nugget" type droppings, but here's a picture of what I found - seems too big to be from an elk, and the beds were really big as well. So, I'm just curious if anyone knows if moose will sometimes have droppings that aren't like the typical nuggets.
Thanks. Season opens tomorrow and if this is moose I know exactly where I'll be at sunrise in the morning!!
Here's what I'm used to for moose droppings...
From my poop files. During my Wyoming moose hunt a few years ago I came across this where I got up on a bedded moose. Looks a lot like cattle poop, but I never did see any fresh poop that looked like your second picture. I came to the conclusion that it is from a moose but have always wanted someone more knowledgable than me to verify it? The moose I saw were all eating leaves off small aspen trees....Maybe this is what early season moose poop looks like?
Good luck on your hunt I think your in a moosey area.
I think moose drop pellets in the winter. During the summer, i think they drop piles just like the one you found.
When Moose are heavy eating water plants there dung looks like cow patties. Lots of water. Swamps. Summer & Fall.
When Moose dung is in pellet form, they are on browse. When swamps are frozen and higher ground. Winter.
Okay thanks guys - I'm going to assume for the time being that it's from moose and we'll see what happens.
Maybe change your handle to TMI 1010
Haha just joking. Sorry couldn't help myself.
But back to the question- what would be bigger than a moose?
Looks like bear poop to me. Does it smell like pepper spray? Any bells mixed in it? If so, it's probably griz. If not, it's most likely black bear.
Your first pic looks like our choices in the next presidential election.....
....well no, not really....it needs to be a huge steaming pile!
No joke about the presidential choices...
Purdue, if this is from a bear it'd be a giant. I'm 6' tall and these beds are longer than that...I'd guess 7' long and 4' wide. Big critters.
You are assuming that the same critter that made the bed also made the poop.
spike buck x2
No question, that's moose poop. The moose in that area are eating water plants and tender grass shoots with less fiber and more water. It's a good spot - good luck!!
Thanks wild1 - I appreciate the info!
Big pellets could be from porcupines and woodchucks too.
They have fooled me more than once.
Best way to verify is to see them in action.
TMA1010, Google moose poop and bear poop images and you decide.
TMA - You could compare moose and bear poop, but here's the thing:
Which "type" of droppings would you compare..? People often mistake moose droppings for bear because they don't know any better, or they are misinformed. Moose do indeed crap "pellets", but not all the time - it depends on their diet. Here's a pretty good article from Alaska DFG (along with a picture).
Most of the moose poop I see here looks like his second picture in pellet form. I agree with the first picture being from certain foods. White tail deer are the same way.
"looked they came from an elk instead of a moose. "
Elk would leave a vinegar aftertaste whereas moose leaves more of musky meadow overtones! Well pilgrim which is it? ) >>>>------>
This is what cow droppings look like
Can anyone see the difference between the bull droppings seen TMA1010's photo and my photos.
Corn bore that is from a moose that has been eating aquatic plants. ....but I can not tell if it is from a cow or bull from the photo. .....
I'd love to help but I don't know sh!# about moose.
I don't believe you can tell a male from female by the looks of the poo.
"I don't believe you can tell a male from female by the looks of the poo."
Agreed. The only fool proof way is the taste test.
I read somewhere that bucks make those big clumps of droppings and years ago I put out a cam and went to check it. I found a huge clump next to the cam and was excited to check it. What I got on the cam was a doe and never again did I believe that theory.
Ya it all depends on what they are feeding on. Where I hunt moose it is in pellet form 90% of the time in September, October, and November. If the moose have been eating in the swamp/pond then its patty form.
Yep,, spike bucks got it right
At least for AK, the problem is a simple one.
In summer, moose eat leaves and other green vegetation (primarily willow, birch and balsam poplar.) After the trip through the moose's alimentary canal, the result is what shows in your first photo.
In winter, they are eating twigs, branches and other woody vegetation, NOT LEAVES. Primarily "terminal growth" (the tips that grew last summer.) They get less nutrients from this, but they also basically just pass compacted sawdust in the form of pellets. This is what shows in your second photo.
I regularly decide at which time of year moose are using an area by observing the different form the droppings take.
Pete
Tao, young bull sept. 3rd ish. Your's looks like elk poop.
Moose poop in Wyo where I've hunted is mushy in the summer and looks like pellets once things dry out in late fall/winter. It's often possible to tell moose winter vs summer grounds by just looking at the poop!
