Mystery Poop

Recently, as Joan and I began working on the fall chores in the back yard, we noticed poop appearing overnight. Relatively small poop, fibrous and gray with a white cap. This photo was taken after the example had been in the sun for several hours, and had started to bleach. It's only an inch or and inch and a half long.

The small size ruled out the usual suspects, such as fox, coyote, raccoons, or roaming cats. The lack of bones ruled out regurgitated pellets from the owls in the woods behind our house. The widespread scattering of these presents implied several individuals. So what creature had produced these? It wasn't immediately obvious to us. 

We also noticed downy feathers appearing, which at first made us think of young owls.

Then one day Joan looked up at the end of the day and saw the culprits. They were preening their feathers and preparing to roost for the night, 30 or 40 feet above the ground.

Turkeys! And indeed, if you ask Mr. Google for images of turkey scat, you'll see the match.

Poop solved. For the last two nights the turkeys haven't show up -- perhaps we're just one stop on their rotation.