tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268542543738300058.post9162392116850173635..comments2023-02-13T23:54:18.193-08:00Comments on Trailblazin': adventures in wildlife ecology: What Makes The Otter Crap Red?Trailblazerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09949103831752176052noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268542543738300058.post-30005684505211342892014-02-14T10:36:48.786-08:002014-02-14T10:36:48.786-08:00Don't know if anyone still monitors your site,...Don't know if anyone still monitors your site, but I have a different thought. I'm in the wetlands of CA. No red soil here. Ours is very bland grey. Our otters eat a lot of crayfish, I I believe this plays a large roll in the red color.Corkyhttp://www.yolobasin.orgnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268542543738300058.post-59853142032408055812011-03-21T10:41:33.172-07:002011-03-21T10:41:33.172-07:00Hey Randomtruth...
Asked my colleague today about...Hey Randomtruth...<br /><br />Asked my colleague today about the soil. She said, yeah...iron oxide. Mostly because the soil here has been massively eroded to the point that we are back to original sea bed.<br /><br />Interestingly, there was work done on the soil in this region back in the late 70s. We are in a region referred to as "the Piedmont". The soil here is, in general, incredibly eroded due to the slash and burn agriculture that has come and gone since the time of European settlement. Apparently, we are in our 4th generation of forest on the lansccape that has arisen between agricultural episodes. This fella (Tremmel, in 1979) estimated that the region has lost about a foot of soil since Colonial times.<br /><br />Most of ths soil we have has been the result of the Appalachian Mtns eroding (the soil here is essentially outwash from that erosion). So the soil here is very old and very weathered.<br /><br />Interesting stuff!Trailblazerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09949103831752176052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268542543738300058.post-50339264548179814452011-03-19T17:41:07.158-07:002011-03-19T17:41:07.158-07:00Yeah, iron oxide does seem likely....
I can't...Yeah, iron oxide does seem likely....<br /><br />I can't believe I didn't think of this before, but I'll ask one of my colleagues at work who is a soil ecologist and has done sampling on some of the riparian corridors at this site.<br /><br />I'll have to ask her what the soil make up is!<br /><br />Would be interesting to know if the soil makes a scent like blood in the water!Trailblazerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09949103831752176052noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7268542543738300058.post-16723166116800832822011-03-19T13:55:22.315-07:002011-03-19T13:55:22.315-07:00Interesting. The red in the clay is very likely ir...Interesting. The red in the clay is very likely iron oxide, which I think can be bad for human in very high amounts, but I don't know about animals, such a otters.<br /><br />Funny thing - the iron oxide makes the water smell a bit like blood (that has lots of iron of course). Wonder if the animals notice/like that?randomtruthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01941027847362672057noreply@blogger.com