Nice pics (for the genre, anyway). I hope we can look forward to more. Maybe a dedicated gallery - turds of Lamma? It's time the dogs had some competition.

Centipedes? Really? I think Victor Meldrew might have something to say about that.

Before this thread dies a death, I'd like it to go on record that I just can't believe our Po Wah Yuen frogs and toads - lovely cute little things - could possible be responsible for the pictured monstrosities. There must be something that sneaks out when we're all asleep and shits on the paths. A small, shy goat perhaps? Come to think of it...

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

A mosquito eating Goat ?

This is one of the last great unsolved mysteries of the universe, and must not be allowed to die!

Can we rule out birds? Don't bird droppings always contain a give-away whitish deposit of uric acid as part of the excreta?

Was centipedes a genuine suggestion?

I, the great naysayer, have to report that I walked back from Sok Kwu Wan the other night and saw the biggest toads I have ever seen on Lamma. Big females trying to get away from the ridiculously tiny males. I also saw some HUGE brownish gray turds that looked like frog turds. Most of the toads that we see on the paths at night are males out calling around and looking for any female to leap upon. They can be almost half the size of the females. So maybe the biggest turds are from the females and the considerably more abundant smaller turds are from the ever-so-delicate males.

I was kidding about the centipedes. Centipede turds contain chunks of human armpit skin and, thus, are very easy to identify.

Marcanthony, don't rely on those HKU profs; they don't know what they are talking about.

OK, so the culprit is the female Lamma goat-toad!

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

toads definitely do these outsize poos. I have seen one in the act!

btw, what is the average lifespan of a frog?

At the risk of appearing a bit of a perv to passers-by, can you get a photo of the next one you see in defecato flagrante?

Yes, a picture of a frog in action would be great. I want to see if there is a grimace. Minibeast, can you get one?

Life span varies by species. Some species, like smaller treefrogs, might live two years, breeding once and then dying. Others, like some of the larger-bodied toads and frogs can probably live up to 8 years or maybe longer if they stay out of the way of snakes and other predators.

It's getting near toad turd season again, so get those cameras ready! I'm not sure that we've really established the identity of the perpetrator beyond doubt. Any picture of a suspect in flagrante excreto would be a first for Lamma, and a valuable addition to your photographic cv.

I am begining to wonder as to the supposed interest or raison detre for certain members interest of the subjects exhibited in this thread.

Lamma Gungs artistic criticism highligted the sanguine clarity and focused attention that Marc Anthony brought to these mysterious droppings through his delightfully vivacious Bratwurstian photography .

Others noted the gargantuan efforts required to excrete such phenomena and hotly debated the wherewithal of ampihibians, reptiles, birds, motherfucking large centipedes or flying mammals to produce such glistening gems of distinction.

Yours truly through abject ennui, endeavours to wring the last vestiges from any succulent subject.

There are others of course whose interests are best left becalmed beyond the pale. But we all wonder and try to deduce where these turds came from.

Perhaps this desire to discover the origins of the above come from an atavistic hunter gatherer instinct lying dormant and awakened only by an occassional cognitive dissonance brought about by incomprehension similarly found among those leaning upon religion.

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Age. Fac ut gaudeam

WTF? Actually, I noticed these mysterious turds right through winter, though perhaps not as common a sight as in the warmer months. I suppose toads or frogs remain the likely culprits but I still haven't caught one in the act. And sometimes they are really quite large - the turds that is - and in places you wouldn't expect frogs/toads to be. So yes, a photo of the act taking place would be welcome. A photo of the shy Lamma goat-toad would be even better.

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

If you really miss these objects in the closed season, replica toad turds can be ordered here for an affordable US$4.95 plus P&P (yes, really!)

http://www.acornnaturalists.com/store/T ... 579C0.aspx

Leave them lying in strategic positions at dinner parties and wait for the hilarious reaction from your guests. Ho ho ho, my word, what a chuckle.

Congrats, guys'n'gals,

this smelly topic just made it onto the home page of this site!

ANYTHING can make it onto the home page if it catches my (sometimes twisted) fancy...

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Too late for that. Fortune Chan's already left Lamma.

Yes

Trouble is he keeps coming back on the evening ferry.