From:
Sukie Crandall
Date: 2004-01-08 23:44:52 UTC
Subject: How firm are wild polecat and ferret stools?
To: ferrethealth@smartgroups.com
Message-Id: <A7ACF44C-4234-11D8-9843-000A95CD182C@mac.com>
I had a food manufacturer bring up an interesting point the other day.
HOW FIRM ARE WILD POLECAT AND FERRET FECES? I don't know how many of
you have looked at wild feces, but it is way to know what animals are
in an area and unlike human stools with our high fiber intake which
soaks up fluids the waste of many animals is rather -- well, I guess
the best way to put it is "splat" or "thick pudding like". This is a
feature which happens a good deal with some wild carnivores, especially
those who tend toward a meat diet that is high in minerals because the
minerals pull even more fluids along with them. So, the question
arises asking what the wild feces are like because it might be that
what exists could be a choice: pudding like stools with a diet which
is more natural, or tubular stools with a diet which has more fiber
than a natural diet (unless a type of fiber can be found which in low
amounts solves the fluid equation). It is an interesting biological
problem to think about, feces aside.