What type of animal is leaving his feces in my basement? It's about the size of half my pinky in our garage/basement.
23 Comments
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It looks like cat poo to me. -
Possum or Raccoon, at least that is what is sounds like to me. -
more like 1/3 of my pinky. it has increased in number too. nasty. our exterminator is coming out late next week but I dont want to wait that long. -
cat and raccoon poop is larger than these
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As much as I hate to say this, I think we need a better visual :) -
I agree with Miriam. Please post a clearer picture and the responses will be more accurate.
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Here are 2 taken with my camera (not horrible phone one)
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Well I am glad that we dont have smell-o-vision on the net yet :D -
Jenny, I don't now the answer to this myself but hopefully someone here on Hometalk will be be able to help you with this soon and you won't have to wait a week for the exterminator.
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I am not a "fecal expert", but would love to know what your exterminator says. Please let us know. -
If that photo is to scale on on a CMU or cinder block, having that white tip, then that looks exactly like lizard scat, most likely a large skink. -
OMG we have even seen "him" before. A skink! You would have thought it would make such big poop!
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Whoa Nelly! I mean OMG Jenny! We could all say a prayer with hopes that whatever that thing is, he/she takes its bad manners & leave immediately! -
Well if it is a Skink try to just get him/her outside the house. They only eat insects and that is why it is sticking around, plenty of food and shelter too.
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That's a lizzard or gecko dropping. They love my garage's southern facing windows. -
is the poop bad to clean myself?
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Treat it as you would any other poop.
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Skinks (blue tail or what I call red nose), are the fastest and strongest of our lizards so he will be hardest to catch. He's providing you with free pest service by eating spider crickets, etc. in what looks like your unfinished basement. They are pretty harmless. If the only trade off is the occasional benign scat, consider co-habitating, giving him a sanctuary, and the visiting kids something to entertain themselves with. The fact that he got in the basement either means you ...»
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Well, I would rather have a lizard in my basement than a snake!
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We have no problem and we are pleasantly surprised. I just want to be sure they poop is safe to be cleaned by me.
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It should be fine to handle reptile poop. There is a small risk of it carrying salmonella, but just be sure to wash your hands thoroughly with hot water and soap after handling it, and small children and pregnant women need to be especially careful (but that kind of goes for just about everything). -
The white tip is the diagnostic key here: reptiles defecate and urinate through the same opening. Urine usually dries on the end of a fecal mass before it comes out and the uric acid crystals make the tip white. -
Thanks Walter, I didn't know that, and I hope I remember if I need to know this in the future.
