Can anyone identify this? (TAS)

[kozevian]

So a week or so ago I stumbled down to Cape Pillar (Tasman National Park, Tasmania) and found this somewhere between Bare Knoll and Tornado Flat, on our way out to the end of peninsula and our eventual campsite.

Initially I though it was scat, then maybe some entrails. It seemed to be quite resistant to light prodding with a bit of light bark. It is also quite symmetrical. I don't have any literature handy, so I thought someone here might be able to shed some light onto what this thing is.

It was found in the middle of the trail. To the top left of the pictures you may notice a trail of droppings (which I presume are wallaby), which formed a line away from this thing for about 40 centimetres.

Very strange indeed!

[Nuts]

Unfortunately, i'd say entrails- that's the rest of the wallaby.

[neilmny]

Er hang on where's the bones?

[Strider]

Doesn't look like anything of animal origin to me. My guess would be some type of fungus.

[matagi]

Those are entrails. I would say large bowel.

[GPSGuided]

RIP.

[Giddy_up]

It looks like the stomach of an animal, entrails are long and can be separated and would be attached to this piece. It's not ovine as the stomach would be more rounded and have more fat on it. I think your on the right track with wallaby or perhaps wombat??

Those folds or mounds would seem to indicate a coarse diet of low grade nutrition as they would increase surface area of the stomach to aid digestion.




"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards"

[GPSGuided]

It looks like the stomach of an animal...

It shows the standard features of the large intestine ie. Haustra and taenia coli running full length. It's no stomach.

[Giddy_up]

It looks like the stomach of an animal...

It shows the standard features of the large intestine ie. Haustra and taenia coli running full length. It's no stomach.

http://www.cnsweb.org/extra/digestverte ... F5_19b.gif


"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards"

[GPSGuided]

It looks like the stomach of an animal...

It shows the standard features of the large intestine ie. Haustra and taenia coli running full length. It's no stomach.

http://www.cnsweb.org/extra/digestverte ... F5_19b.gif

Interesting! Suggesting that kangaroo stomach is quite different in morphology to mammals. Sounds like we'll need a DNA analysis to see which species that specimen is from first.

[Giddy_up]

Kangaroos retain far less water in their digestive tracts by body weight than just about any other animal on the planet. They also have one of the shortest retention times for any fermenter digesting animal as well. They have no need for a large gut to hold and ferment and the tract from the stomach through to the intestine is designed to extract nutrition as fast as possible in the least amount of time.

Kangaroos can also have one baby in the pouch and a fertilised embryo sitting dormant within the mother. As soon as the Joey leaves the pouch the embryo is triggered and will advance through gestation to be born, maximising the opportunities when the seasonal conditions are good.


"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards"

[GPSGuided]

So the question remains, what is that? Guess a more generic answer is required - Part of the digestive track from an unfortunate animal.

[Giddy_up]

So the question remains, what is that? Guess a more generic answer is required - Part of the digestive track from an unfortunate animal.

Spot on.


"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards"

[kozevian]

How unfortunate. Still, my intrigue has been partially satiated.

As an aside, how does this process of disembowelment occur? Is it the result of a sick animal ejecting their insides, or perhaps a more sinister cause?

Upon inspection there seemed to be some small maggot-like creatures wriggling around in one of the holes. I'm surprised there were no other signs that this was a piece of offal, ie no other animals seemed to be taking advantage of this food source.

[GPSGuided]

It's animal eating animals out there in the wild...

This actually reminded me of an episode many years ago. The local police brought into the hospital emergency department a plastic bag full of similar bowel material they found by the side of a major road in Sydney. It was partially decomposed and fully covered by wriggling maggots and they wanted to know if it's human... D'Oh!

[Giddy_up]

I have read your description again and I think that this part of an animal has been carried there by a carnivore. Hence the trail of droppings. Would also explain the absence of the rest of the animal?

That's the best that I can surmise.


"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards"

[Hallu]

Yeah but what carnivore ? Tassie devils and quolls seem a bit small to carry these entrails like that. I reckon eagles would just leave the carcass, so maybe a dog, or a whole pack of devils (but the intestines would be shredded then and they seem in one piece) ?

[Giddy_up]

Don't know Hallu, the fact that its on a track may mean the animal was disturbed and dropped it and ran. Fox, Devil even a big Feral Cat could carry that away from a carcass.


"Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards"

[matagi]

Yeah but what carnivore ? Tassie devils and quolls seem a bit small to carry these entrails like that. I reckon eagles would just leave the carcass, so maybe a dog, or a whole pack of devils (but the intestines would be shredded then and they seem in one piece) ?

Not necessarily. In the picture, the smooth stuff in the middle is most likely mesenteric fat which holds the intestines into a small "parcel" so they could be easily moved as a single mass.

[Hallu]

If it is a fox, you should alert the FOX HOTLINE 1300 FOX OUT (1300 369 688).

[Strider]

This is one for OneStepMore

[stepbystep]

There are currently some rather hungry looking track workers out that way, I suspect them

[GPSGuided]

'Man vs Wild' and this could well be a solid protein and energy meal!

[Nuts]

Fox.. Lol!!! Much! more likely a feral cat, perhaps a sick wallaby.

[Onestepmore]

My guess is large colon. Definitely DOA tho, so I'm of no help ......

[GPSGuided]

My guess is large colon. Definitely DOA tho, so I'm of no help ......

See earlier discussion. It's either colon or stomach, depending on the species.

[TerraMer]

Looks like it's from The Fire Swamp.
Did you happen to spot any ROUSs in the area?

[johnh]

[quote]/quote]
Nearly all on the right track ( except the suggestion that it is track worker's leavings!). Judging by the scale compared to the leaves; the size and shape of the droppings in the top left corner; and having previously seen identical 'left-overs', I'd say it's almost certainly a possums' innards which has become pray to an owl, or eagle which has probably got chicks nearby. On McMillans' Track in Gippsland I once saw similar leavings dropped along a kilometre or so of track, plus 7 tails of phalangers. A Powerful Owl was seen roosting in a tree nearby.
Cheers, johnh

[norts]

Found this one yesterday on the Wylds Craig track, very fresh. No other animals signs in the immediate area.

[Peaksnik]

I came across the fresh remains of a Ringtail possum on the Frenchmans Cap track last Tuesday. The large intestine looked identical to that in the photo that starts this thread. On the way back, I noticed that all the other remains had disappeared except for the large intestine.