I live in western Washington state, in the US, pretty far from the mountains.
I've found these faeces in my backyard, and my friend who lives in the mountains assures me that it's from a bear.
Do you agree with that ID?
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1Apparently, black bears are found across the state and not just in mountains. There seem to be undigested berries in the scat, if that helps with the ID.– Weather VaneCommented May 17 at 19:38
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@WeatherVane sure, but I really can't recall any bear sightings around here. Curious to see if people agree with the ID– user4867444Commented May 17 at 19:40
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1 Answer
I’d say quite likely a bear. Two points:
First, given the volume of scat it is a large animal, and it looks nothing like elk or moose scat (other large land mammals in the US).
Second, bears love berries and scat with all those berries in it is a very good indicator of a bear, regardless of size of the scat (I’ve seen some fairly petite bear scat, likely from smaller young bears).
Bears range widely across many biomes and most try hard to avoid people. In my high desert suburbs I’ve seen coyote, deer, bear, and mountain lion over the years.
As the Washington State wildlife folks (https://wdfw.wa.gov/species-habitats/species/ursus-americanus#desc-range) note, “Black bears are common - even in suburban areas…”
