Bear pile ID?

[Oldguy]

Local politician out berry picking? They are known for being full of you know what! 

[kckrawler]

Loose moose would be my guess.

 

[buglebrush]

Elk. It's been eating that fresh green grass.

[CAMPMEAT]

Bear. Moose isn't even close to that. Moose is a pellet shape. Never have seen soft moose poo......

[pianoman9701]

Elk. It's been eating that fresh green grass.

...or mushrooms. I've seen them completely liquid after the elk have moved through a good porcini patch.

[bearpaw]

I didn't dig through all of it, but there were no visible berries/seeds/hair, no roughage that is typical of moose/elk.  Nothing but smooth consistent texture. Within 1/2 mile there was the remains of a consumed cow moose, but not fresh.

How old was the eaten cow moose? Could this be bear poo that is digested rotten meat? That can cause a bear to leave a large pile that isn't in the normal round shape and texture you normally see. A pile of bear poo after eating meat can seem similar to chocolate pudding with a strong oder.

A cow has four stomachs and is about the only animal that can completely digest plant matter to the point that it doesn't appear to chewed up plants. Pretty much any other animal is going to have some plant texture in the poo if it's eating plant matter. A lot of cattle are just getting put out on the forest so that may be what this is even though it doesn't look like normal cow poo.

Sometimes ungulates will be loose in the spring and not put out the usual pellets, but that pile looks pretty big, not sure an elk or moose would put out that much in one pile.

What does it smell like?

[quadrafire]

I didn't dig through all of it, but there were no visible berries/seeds/hair, no roughage that is typical of moose/elk.  Nothing but smooth consistent texture. Within 1/2 mile there was the remains of a consumed cow moose, but not fresh.

How old was the eaten cow moose? Could this be bear poo that is digested rotten meat? That can cause a bear to leave a large pile that isn't in the normal round shape and texture you normally see. A pile of bear poo after eating meat can seem similar to chocolate pudding with a strong oder.

A cow has four stomachs and is about the only animal that can completely digest plant matter to the point that it doesn't appear to chewed up plants. Pretty much any other animal is going to have some plant texture in the poo if it's eating plant matter. A lot of cattle are just getting put out on the forest so that may be what this is even though it doesn't look like normal cow poo.

Sometimes ungulates will be loose in the spring and not put out the usual pellets, but that pile looks pretty big, not sure an elk or moose would put out that much in one pile.

What does it smell like?

This was pretty deep in 49, south of the ski hill. I have never seen cattle in there, but couldn't say there is not a rogue critter running around.
 
The cow moose carcass was old, likely several months.

I have access to a microscope at work and looked at the sample under magnification. There is quite a bit of plant material microscopically but that could still be present in an omnivore . One of my colleagues commented that it didn't smell as bad as dog poop, but honestly I didn't smell it. It was not overpowering when I collected the sample.

[2MANY]

I've seen McDonald's cause this.

[idaho guy]

Elk. It's been eating that fresh green grass.

  or moose it is a massive pile- I have seen a lot of loose moose elk tirds like that after to much green grass in the spring. Or bigfoot

[quadrafire]

Anyway to DNA test it? I could go back and get another sample. If it is Bigfoot we may be onto something 
But they always hide their stuff, right?

[Dhoey07]

Moose poop gets really sloppy when they are scrounging for food and eating whatever they can.   That's my vote.

[tlbradford]

I would lean towards moose as well.  It looks like the upper right and left side of the pile is loosely formed into a pellet.  If you had asked me to guess not based on location I would have said cow.

[quadrafire]

Thanks for all the input folks. It is really interesting how nature keeps us guessing about some things. One of the main reasons I get out there and knock around

[JWEBB]

Gonna have to say elk. Must have got into a bad patch of feed

[DOUBLELUNG]

Ruminant on hot feed.  Based on the info in the post I'll vote moose.