# Poo identification - snake, gecko or something else?



## goodreds (Jul 18, 2010)

Hi there,

I came across this poo in the back yard. I was wondering if any python owners could give me an approx ID based on my photo posted a bit lower down, please?

Bit of background. I initially thought it was a dog poo (or urban fox which is quite common back in the UK where I was from originally) but when I moved it away I noticed that it had the 'white tip' common to the gecko/lizards around our place but an order of magnitude larger. 

I would estimate that it is around 3" long in total and 0.75" diameter (see my index finger in photo for scale). We live in Brisbane and about 1km from the CBD. My gut reaction is it belongs to the blue-tongued skink I have seen around our property but a woman at the museum told me that around 30% of homes in Brisbane have a resident python (which seems a bit high to me)!

Any thoughts much appreciated, thanks.


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## the-lizard-king (Jul 18, 2010)

that looks like bird crap


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2010)

Taste it! 
is it salty?


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## Sterlo (Jul 18, 2010)

You can tell what species it comes from by putting and mouth and rolling in circle motion on tongue.


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## goodreds (Jul 18, 2010)

Haha, right then! I've asked my wife to go and give me her taste-appraisal. 

@the-lizard-king - in all seriousness it seems a bit big (and dry) for a bird crap, although we do have regular overflights from ibis and the occasional pelican is seen. I'd have thought there would have been a splatter pattern from being dropped from a height and it did strike me as quite canine on first analysis.


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## AM Pythons (Jul 18, 2010)

thats definetly morelia spilota mcdowelli, 2.5yo, banded pattern, female,Milton locale just off the highway... or it may just be a seagull crap..lol.


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## punisherSIX (Jul 18, 2010)

Sorry bout that champ, was a big night out and on the way home, well you know, any backyard I could find would do. Thought I cleaned it up but must have missed some.


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2010)

LMFAO :lol:


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## Sterlo (Jul 18, 2010)

How did the circle tongue technique go for you?


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## gecko-mad (Jul 18, 2010)

Don't worry, someone will ID it for you, APS is full of people that give crap IDs, lol.


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## $NaKe PiMp (Jul 18, 2010)

maybe the woman at the museum mean that 30% of homes in Brisbane have a resident poo living in there backyard.Perhaps you should release the poo unharmed in its home territory


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## Brissyboy (Jul 18, 2010)

$NaKe PiMp said:


> maybe the woman at the museum mean that 30% of homes in Brisbane have a resident poo living in there backyard.Perhaps you should release the poo unharmed in its home territory


 say what?


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## goodreds (Jul 18, 2010)

Haha, it's comedy time in here, isn't it! 

Thanks one and all, you've given me a good chuckle this evening and I am glad you've not all come back with "whoa, wait until you see what laid that!"-type comments. 

You've also given me some food for thought as to whether making posts about random poos I've found is such a good idea! Honestly, this is the first time I've done this. I promise I'll make less weird threads from now on.


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## Just_Plain_Nuts (Jul 18, 2010)

possibly snake poo in my opinion...snake between 1 and 2 m maybe


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## 888lowndes888 (Jul 18, 2010)

That definetly looks like bird crap to me!


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## goodreds (Jul 18, 2010)

@Just_Plain_Nuts - thanks, I'll definitely keep my eyes peeled. I'm very keen on the idea of seeing snakes in the wild - as I come from a country where squirrels count as pretty exciting wildlife. If there were to be snakes in our back garden that would be great.

@888lowndes888 & others on the bird crap idea - sorry about the photo, it was an afterthought after I'd moved said item so you're only seeing a portion of what was there. Originally about 3 inches long - it might be a bird but we're too far south for cassowaries!


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## eitak (Jul 18, 2010)

Bird poo, I would say


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## Dipcdame (Jul 18, 2010)

I have only one thing to ask............. is everyone here actually making id's on what did that, or are they just 'going through the motions'??


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## Norm (Jul 18, 2010)

Looks like *******, tastes like *******, must be *******!


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## SouthSydney (Jul 19, 2010)

goodreds said:


> Hi there,
> 
> I came across this poo in the back yard. I was wondering if any python owners could give me an approx ID based on my photo posted a bit lower down, please?
> 
> ...


 


goodreds said:


> Haha, right then! I've asked my wife to go and give me her taste-appraisal.
> 
> @the-lizard-king - in all seriousness *it seems a bit big (and dry) for a bird crap*, although we do have regular overflights from ibis and the occasional pelican is seen. I'd have thought there would have been a splatter pattern from being dropped from a height and it did strike me as quite canine on first analysis.


 
Are you serious? Its too big to be a bird crap, but big enough to be a possible gecko crap? Are you for real? What kind of geckos are you use to seeing??? :shock: And so bird crap always stays wet and mooshy no matter how long its been out??? I've seen some pretty solid looking chicken crap, i.e. not runny, esp. when its been sitting there all day... crumbles in your hand... And I've also seen it still relatively solid when freshly "laid" too...

Personally, without seeing the "full specimen" its a bit harder to take a stab at... But with the way the "white stuff" aka uric acid is "positioned", yes, it looks like a big bird crap... Maybe an Ibis? Although thats just a very rough stab... Although depending on how it was expelled... It could be anything... Considering the "full specimen" isnt shown in the exact state you found it...

If you're seriously keen on the actual ID of it... I suggest going to your library or something and getting out a book called "Tracks, scats, and other traces"... I cant remember the authors, but it helps you ID that stuff really well with pictures of a LOT of animals passings... We learnt all about it at uni... For part of our animal tracking module... Fun stuff... Esp. learning the different smells of different "eaters"... i.e. carnivore poo as opposed to herbivore, insectivore, omnivore poo etc etc etc... :?
The one thing it definately is, is either a reptile or bird... Nothing else has the uric acid with it... There's heaps of factors to consider and heaps of things you could do to narrow it down, but I cant be stuffed going into it...


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## AM Pythons (Jul 19, 2010)

seriously i have chooks.. they crap like that 50 times a day.... bird of some kind for sure..


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## Kristy_07 (Jul 19, 2010)

goodreds said:


> ... and the occasional pelican is seen.



I take it from this that you've never actually experienced pelican crap. I suggest taking a drive to Redcliffe and crossing the bridge back and forth until you do. You will find that pelicans crap about 12L of stuff at a time, making it very recognisable! 



goodreds said:


> I promise I'll make less weird threads from now on.



Despite all the comedy, it's nice to se you're optimistic and open to future poo posts  

In all seriousness, it is most likely a bird - I thought you could have been close to the mark with the ibis guess.


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## goodreds (Jul 19, 2010)

Morning all, thanks for the ongoing suggestions. I think we're getting closer to ID'ing what did this. I'll be keeping a close eye on next door's chooks for starters.

As for the other bird theories, I'm still unsure. I've not seen an ibis in the garden for months - I'm out there quite a bit as my little boy is very keen on playing outside. However, I wasn't aware that birds had uric acid similar to reptiles.

@BadNewsSham - sorry, I wasn't suggesting that it was some sort of super-gecko! I was merely saying it looked similar but obviously much larger, so I was guessing that the blue-tongued skink I've seen around _might_ have been responsible. Thanks very much for the book recommendation. I prob will end up checking it out just to satisfy my curiosity.

I'll update this thread if I discover anything else to report. Thanks again to all of you.


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