What type of Predator poop is this? (PICS!)

[cowhlb]

I was walking around my chicken coop when I saw this poop about two yards away. We have seen foxes but I'm not real sure if it is fox poo.

 

[JJSS89]

Fox, coyote, raccoon, possum...something along those lines.

Tough to determine size from your picture

 

[cowhlb]

Fox, coyote, raccoon, possum...something along those lines.

Tough to determine size from your picture

The first pic was about an inch long and the second one was about three inches. We have sheep as well and the coyotes don't mess with them and we have seen a raccoon in their run at night. We will be setting a trap tonight.

 

[JJSS89]

I'd say coon or fox. Do you have both species of fox in your area? Reds aren't hard to deter but the Grays are heck on poultry and can climb like cats.

 

[cowhlb]

I'd say coon or fox. Do you have both species of fox in your area? Reds aren't hard to deter but the Grays are heck on poultry and can climb like cats.

We live in Virginia. I have only seen Red Fox.

 

[JJSS89]

Just make sure your coop has no obvious weaknesses to be dug under, chewed trough, or opened by general fiddling. Foxes aren't bad as long as everything is sturdily enclosed. Reds won't climb up a tree and jump in like Grays. Neither can they reach in and wear wires out like raccoons can. Foxes once in a henhouse are an absolute disaster but as long as you have good wire and lumber, you won't be sorry. At least that has been my experience in fox country

 

[cowhlb]

The bad thing is, is that I have chicks. The brooder is completely covered with tarp except the top. It is a cattle panel with hardware cloth over it. At night we pup concrete blocks on top.

 

[Farmer Brian]

Looks like fox to me.

 

[Janet Pesaturo]

I too think fox is most likely, but would be helpful to know width of scat. Definitely NOT raccoon, whose poops do not have that twisted appearance. Coon poop looks like it was squeezed from a giant tube of tooth paste. Opossum poop doesn't look like this, either. Possibilities include fox, coyote, fisher, mink.

When you photograph poop, put something of standard size in the pic for scale. A coin is great for that. Width of scat is more important than length, in distinguishing wild canids and mustelids, any of whose scats contain hair and appear twisted, like the one in your photo. Width is determined by width of intestinal tract, which has an upper limit for each species. Length of poop is more variable.

 

[cowhlb]

I too think fox is most likely, but would be helpful to know width of scat. Definitely NOT raccoon, whose poops do not have that twisted appearance. Coon poop looks like it was squeezed from a giant tube of tooth paste. Opossum poop doesn't look like this, either. Possibilities include fox, coyote, fisher, mink.

When you photograph poop, put something of standard size in the pic for scale. A coin is great for that. Width of scat is more important than length, in distinguishing wild canids and mustelids, any of whose scats contain hair and appear twisted, like the one in your photo. Width is determined by width of intestinal tract, which has an upper limit for each species. Length of poop is more variable.

I will go out and put a quarter next to it and take a picture.