They're back! Someone please identify the critter responsible. Black or dark brown turds, cylindrical, about an inch to an inch and a half long and about as thick as your average electricity cable. Often against walls but also deposited in the middle of the path. Slimy texture, lots of insect casings revealed when squidged. Don't see them during the winter. Definitely not rat pooh. If we had hedgehogs on Lamma I'd lay my money there, but we don't. Snakes? Sorry but don't have a pic.

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Frogs perhaps....... which incidentally have probably the smelliest turds on earth..... IMHO

frogs or toads definitely

An inch or inch and a half turd is pretty big for a frog or toad, unless the two pound cane toad found in Darwin last week was released on Lamma.

Perhaps Marc Anthony, you could collect a few, soak them in water for a bit, tease them apart with forceps, and let us know what you find. That may help us figure this out. A shot of the contents might even win you "Photo of the Day" honors and make your efforts worthwhile.

While the experts in Flora and Fauna are around, I have a question too: how do you locate fire-fly habitats? It seems to be a good time of year for them.

Cant wait to see the insides of a toad-turd. May I suggest you place a plastic toy beside it.

Could it be the black-crapped thrush, Turdus negris?

Ah yes, methinks the frog theorists are correct. I didn't think of them, perhaps because these turds are quite elongated - quite big in fact - and I was thinking more along the lines of snaaaaakes. But there are so many it must be frogs. As I mentioned above I have already had a good poke about in these turds and there are lots of insect casings, thus backing up the frog theory. Or toads. Can't say I sniffed them though, and assuming Guy is correct I'll give that pleasure a miss.

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I think Foxy is right.

One would hear excrutiatingly tortuous exhortations if these erstwhile black ingots were delivered via the amphibians alimentary orfice.

Its elementary considering the time of year!

A bit over 2000 years ago our blessed saviour approached hotel reception, laid down a bunch of nails and queried if he could be put up.

Its the Easter bunny who is leaving chocolate hotdogs.

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It does make you wonder about the relationship between body mass and turd size...e.g. Rats must weigh a fair bit more than your average frog, but their shits are much smaller. Frogs have big mouths though...do they eat more than rats?

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If you say the turds are an inch or inch and a half, they can't be from any of the frogs or toads on Lamma. They are too big. Quarter inch would be more like it. Also, everything goes out one shoot in a frog (urine and crap), so they don't make cylindrical, pellet-like turds, but soft squishy ones. Are there any mammals that hibernate here? Seems like a more likely answer, given your description.

A bit slow at the office - or should that be orifice? - today, hence my return. Hmm...maybe I exaggerated the size a bit, though certainly up to an inch in length. I thought frogs hibernated? No? Even so, they kind of make sense as the likely culprit as I've seen them hopping about - or hanging about - in the right places. If anybody wants a closer look at one of these specimens just check out the ground at your feet once you get out of YSW central...shouldn't take long to find one. I'd much rather they belong to an as yet unidentified beastie - a platypus or marmoset...or little people...wossa time?

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Turds - the story continued. I've quized the ecology Profs at HKU about this...and narrowed it down to...toads or shrews (suncus murinus, otherwise known as the House Shrew) - pretty much as our resident expert Nancy had guessed. Not civets, nor snakes. Apparently toads do (or can) produce quite large, solid turds. Although some of the ones I've seen look too big for toads or shrews I must say. But if the turds contain fruit remains that rules out toads. Anyone seen a shrew hereabouts?

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I saw someone taming on the other day, I said "what is this? " and he said ' ,,,,"

Except that shrews are insectivores and do not eat fruit. The other day I saw a few of these turds on the path, and at least the ones I saw were too big for frogs/toads and also too big for shrews. It is truly baffling. They slightly resembled goose turds to me. Is there any recently migrated, larger bird that eats insects and might powder its nose on the path? This is sure to get Zep in the mix.

Yes I know what you mean about the similarity to goose droppings though they are rather larger and green and very slimy indeed. I'm pretty sure these aren't bird droppings. But still not sure if they contain insect or fruit remains, or both - it's difficult to say. Also I wouldn't have thought shrew turds could be so large. And surely it's a critter which is often encountered - and I haven't seen a shrew yet.

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Really big frogs........... on my walk home every night I have to step over sometimes as many as 20 frogs/toads in a 5metre section of the pathway.
Next morning I walk down the same route & there's lots of poo (as you've described) in exactly the same spot.
It's frogs.

Not rabbits either coz I've got half a dozen of those poos are nothing like that...... and no insects. Rabbits have really small droppings in Hk compared to UK.... now there's food for thought. Smaller bums ?

Sounds like Guy has solved the riddle. Maybe Lamma frogs (or toads?) have big bottoms?

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You're talking the mother of all large assed toads. I have not seen any wild infidel mammals on this island. I agree with the guy in the burqa, its toad excreta.

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Over to Fortune Chan