This may seem like an odd topic, but since launching our popular dog-walking hours we’ve had an increase in comments about dog feces in the Garden. While it is certainly possible that the feces visitors see is dog poop, it’s actually more likely it’s coyote scat!

How do we know? Well, not only do we provide visitors with mutt mitts upon entry during our dog-walking hours, they are also placed at 10 stations throughout the Garden and dog-walkers are reminded that in order for us to continue to offer these hours, everyone needs to do their part in cleaning up after their pets. Plus our Garden staff patrols the trails and paths during and after dog-walking hours to immediately remove anything that was missed. AND our Rangers do another check of the Garden the following morning.

So, while we feel confident our staff and dog-walkers are picking up after our four-legged visitors, we also feel confident it’s coyote scat after a couple of visual inspections (don’t worry, we won’t show you any pictures of coyote scat but you’re free to Google it if you’re interested!).  Coyote scat and dog feces have a few noticeable differences that can help you tell them apart: Both feces are tubular and about the same size, but dog feces is soft while coyote scat is filled with fur and bones during winter and seeds and berries during summer. The sightings around the Garden (almost a week and a half after dog-walking hours) were fresh and heavily filled with seeds, leading us to believe it’s coyote scat! 

We know that coyotes likely come explore our 87 acres in the emptiness of the night. Wild animals live in nature and we just have to learn how to live with them, scat and all!


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