Macropod toilet habits

[Chris]

There is an extraordinary concentration of scats in several patches near Lady Lake. They give the appearance of remarkably disciplined toilet habits, with clear lines of demarcation between deposits and almost clear ground.

I suspect the culprits are Foresters, partly because we saw several nearby, but also because I believe Bennetts droppings are smaller.

Is this distribution a common phenomenon? Any theories on why?

(Certainly wouldn't like to be dependent on that lake for water supply )

P6030531 LLDroppingsBW.jpg (374.1 KiB) Viewed 4775 times

P6030533 LL DroppingsSmall.jpg (362.45 KiB) Viewed 4775 times

[north-north-west]

Interesting. Rabbits often do this, have a set area for droppings, away from the warren. But the pellets there are too big for bunnies.

Wouldn't worry about the impact on the water. There's no source of water anywhere that isn't exposed to animal droppings (and don't forget that fish and frogs and things live in there, too) except maybe the polar regions.

[Pteropus]

Many animal species, particularly herbivores, use latrine sites, which can keep faecal matter in one area and so they are not all ways defecating over feeding grounds. The theory is that it keeps parasites in the area of the latrine. Other species might use them to mark territory. I know some macropods defecate randomly (e.g., grey kangaroos), but some most likely exhibit this behaviour. For example, I am sure I have seen mounds of rock wallaby dung, but I am not sure if they actually do use latrine sites.

[Moondog55]

Hares do this too and their droppings look similar to this
Without a scale it's difficult to judge actual dropping size

[Chris]

Hares do this too and their droppings look similar to this
Without a scale it's difficult to judge actual dropping size

You're right MD. I only thought about including a scale too late. However they would have been about 2-3x the diameter of rabbit droppings.

Not too many hares in Tassie. There is a little colony close to home, but not enough for me to have spotted their droppings.
I can't imagine there being large numbers up on the plateau though.

We saw 3 Forester roos up there, and the only tracks we saw in the snow were macropods and what appeared to be devils.

[GPSGuided]

Given the consistency, do they ever have bowel issues?