Large Scat - w/picture

[Sydney65]

I'm in West Central Indiana. I lost 1/2 of my guineas during a sudden downpour; 26 ran into the field directly behind me, 16 came out. It wasn't a long period of time, as I was out calling for them. The bulk were keets, the hen came out, my 2 grown males did not. Just weeks before, I had lost a grown hen from the front yard while grazing outside of the garden near our property line with the same drainage tile before it was mowed (it borders us on 3 sides, followed by fields). Her mate was with her and did not go missing that day.
Since, I've walked the fields several times, looking for clues. Today I came across a large pile in the drainage tile that was mowed over not long ago - so not in the corn rows.
There aren't feathers or fur in it. I'm familiar w/bird, deer, raccoon, rabbit & coyote scat. This is not that.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Bear? I know there have been bears coming back to Indiana, so maybe?
Or fox? I know you stated its large, but compared to? Pics can be deceiving.

 

[Sydney65]

Bear? I know there have been bears coming back to Indiana, so maybe?
Or fox? I know you stated its large, but compared to? Pics can be deceiving.

That's 8-9" long. The corn stalk leaf above it is split at the top but it was around 16" long,mb 2" wide where not split?
I've been looking at images on line, it says fox scat is akin to dog doo but w/fur and bone. Coyote scat looks like dog doo mummified in fur.
Several sightings...1 1/2 -2 hrs from me- but I'm trying not to be dramatic. Wouldn't it be trying to get in the coop or the storage containers where the feed is or the apple tree? I've never thought them stealthy.
But - yes, when I first saw it it wasn't as dried out, & my thoughts were bear,human, or chili. Oddly enough, reading other discussions, that's what others were saying, too.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Ok first.

Some fox scat doesn't have visible fur, but if it's that big - Definitely not fox.
I guess bear, human, or chili is your answer....

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Oh and sorry to hear about the loss of your birds.

 

[Sydney65]

Oh and sorry to hear about the loss of your birds.

Thanks

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Sounds like bear is the consensus, huh? TG you haven’t had a bear attack at your coop! I think you need hot wire to ward off bears… Your poor guineas with the freaky downpour! I’m sure you’r correct that the boys could have gotten away if they hadn’t tried to stay with the keets. I think it could have been a lot of other predators though. I see regular posts about bears destroying coops, but I don’t know that they are great ambush predators? Especially with Bella’s disappearance, it seems more like something sneaky, like fox, bobcat, even coyote.

 

[WestTNriverrat]

I’m not familiar with bear poo but have seen coyotes in abundance and it doesn’t always look the same. It varies based on diet. I say that is coyote scat, but without scouting around and looking for other signs it’s hard to say for sure.

 

[Mmanist]

Looks like it's been eating pawpaw fruit. So I'm going to guess bear

 

[Sydney65]

Sounds like bear is the consensus, huh? TG you haven’t had a bear attack at your coop! I think you need hot wire to ward off bears… Your poor guineas with the freaky downpour! I’m sure you’r correct that the boys could have gotten away if they hadn’t tried to stay with the keets. I think it could have been a lot of other predators though. I see regular posts about bears destroying coops, but I don’t know that they are great ambush predators? Especially with Bella’s disappearance, it seems more like something sneaky, like fox, bobcat, even coyote.

Well, I'm not going to say "we don't have those things" since it's becoming clear just abt anything is more possible than impossible.I sent pics to DNR to possibly identify. What I'm reading on their site is that young males are passing throughin from Ky & Mo.to eay w/o competition from other males, but not hanging around, no breeding going on.
I highly,highly doubt it was a bear, bc surely there would have been more evidence, like a swath of corn ripped down or the door to my guinea house ripped off or the garden torn through or the apple trees or foot prints - something. They're shy, but curious.
But given the distance of sightings is = to Himself's drive to work everyday, I'd like to know for sure what it is, if nothing else but curiosity.
We do have coyotes - we haven't heard or seen them out & abt yet, but apparently they & other predators do like to hang out in corn fields during rainstorms.
Apparently the state does have bobcats & mtn lions(?!) but again, that's another "not around here". Southern Indiana is like the toes of the Kentucky foothills before the Tn mountains-vast hills and forests. You hike anticipating rattlesnakes, just incase. It's the poor man's mountain escape-and beautiful. But that's not us. If they're toes, we're pretty much the rest of the foot, fairly flat with a few up & down valleys.
She's still determined to make a quick dash through the field every day but not going as deep or for as long. Yesterday she took them to the dust bath pool for the 1st time. Hilarious to see all of them trying to cram in there. It's almost like a month on the nest followed by everything else made her forget stuff that she's starting to remember, like the pool, hanging out at the back door, etc.