bear scat?

[lucy]

Hi all, I’ve just spent a couple of weeks on a walking holiday in Asturias and Leon, and although we didn’t see any wolves or bears their presence was constantly felt – in stories that people told us, and in poo!  Wolf scats – quite large and full of coarse hairs – were found in several places, including on the mountains near the Puerto de Ventana.  A local walker confirmed our diagnosis. 

And one day in the Somiedo natural park I was very excited to come across this.  No money on me, so I put down our room key – the key is a standard one, about 4-5cm long, so you can see it’s a pretty large deposit!  We happened to be accompanied by 2 dogs that day, one an avid excursionist from the village, and her mate, a Mastin pup, who got tired and began crying after a while.  It was a hot day so we took pity on him, and cut short the walk, finding some shady trees to rest under.  Everyone had a siesta but me, as the Mastin snored so loudly I couldn’t sleep.  But it was while walking around that I found this.  The dogs weren’t interested in it by the way.

After googling, I’ve found a similar image identified as bear scat (after eating cherries.)  It does look similar, doesn’t it?

[nick]

Damn well does, doesn't it! Perhaps it was watching you...

[lucy]

It looks quite fresh . . .

[nick]

Very closely...

[Bob M]

You seem to have answered one of life's perennial questions.

(About what bears do in the woods.)

Bob

[tonyninfas]

You seem to have answered one of life's perennial questions.

(About what bears do in the woods.)


Bob

And I always that that they went on picnics.  

[lisa]

Hi Lucy, that looks exciting! What was fruiting around? I can't make out what the seeds/kernels could be from.

[lucy]

Hi Lisa,
They could be apple pips - what do you think? This would mean visits to the neaby village!

Up on the open slopes bilberries were in full season - we were told this was one of the best moments to catch sight of a bear, as there's little cover and you can see across large extensions of mountain-side. 

[lisa]

Or rosehips, they're ripe now. I'll see if I can take a photo later to compare.

[Petrea]

Are they too small to be carobs??

[lucy]

Hi Petrea, they're about apple-pip size.  I'm not sure if carobs grow in the Cordillera Cantabrica - they might need a warmer climate.  Rosehips though were very abundant. Crab apples is another possibility, though didn't notice any.

[Sue]

Hi Lucy, what a lovely find 
i agree that they look like apple pips...would there be any apples delivered to their area as part of a box scheme ? 

[lucy]

There might have been some village orchard raiding!

Apart from rosehips, I've remembered that near this spot was a buckthorn tree - Rhamnus alpinus - whose berries come high in the list of bear favourites. 

But if a bear could have a box delivery, they'd probably ask for bilberries.

[Technopat]

Greetings Lucy,
What an amazing find! And what a thrill!
As you point out, it does look remarkably fresh... but surely even an incontinent bear would need time for the stuff to go through the system, so although the buckthorn looks like a strong candidate, it was probably not the very same tree you  saw.

Bit-academic-now-but-hope-you-had-yer-contingency-plan-as-to-what-to-do-if-the -bear-reappeared-and-decided-you-were-trying-to-steal-'is/'er-berries regs.,
Technopat