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Just inside the mouth of a small cave near a spring in the Mojave Desert northeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, there is a small dark hole in the ceiling. The hole is oval (about 2 inches wide by 6 inches long) and who knows how deep. It appears that something has been flying up into the hole and pooping along the way. It is hard to see in this first photo, but there are several scats on the wall just below the hole. |
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Numerous scats scattered on the walls below the dark hole. |
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Scat on the wall |
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These scats were below a small overhang, so they could not have fallen from above. It appears that they were flung onto the wall while the creature was flying inside the cave. |
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Scat on the floor. All of the scats are about 3-6 cm long. |
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The scat seems to be covered in a mucoidal material that dries to a papery thin, translucent film. |
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Inside the scat, the material is small, fragmentary particles. |
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Scat on rocks on the floor. |
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Scat dripping down wall near the floor. |
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Scat near the floor. Note how the dried mucoidal material is peeling away. |
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Unidentified scat adjacent to bird scat. It appears that Rock Wrens use a small ledge inside the cave. |
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Unidentified scat and bird scat. |
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In this close-up, the prey items can be seen, but it is difficult to tell if they are insect parts. |
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For comparison, this is a typical pile of bat scat (guano) on the floor of an old building. |
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Close-up of typical guano. These are small, elongate pellets that are not covered in mucous. |
; Last updated 240212