Evidence of organism inside hay bag

Your specific lizard example might not be relevant in this case, but the anoles that started that population would be an example, and there are quite a few other observations of Brown Anoles in random greenhouses or plant stores that got there like this.

The consensus on those seems to be that they should be considered “legitimate” wild observations:
Escaped pets with no established population
Options for the best way to handle non-established obs (e.g. escaped/released pets)
There’s this observation field for them: Observation field: Escapee/Non-established

2 Likes

I’m certainly biased because it’s my own observation and I want it to be Needs ID or RG, but I think the way I encountered it enables it to be eligible for either grade.

The date is accurate to when I observed it.

The location is accurate for where I observed it.

The organism (or evidence of) appears to be wild to me, because I don’t believe the owl it came from was a pet.

There’s evidence of an organism because the pellet is evidence of an owl.

The evidence is recent since the hay was packed within the last 100 years, also the pellet deteriorates over time and hadn’t.

I think it showcases a series of events that’s not uncommon by any means. This isn’t the first time I’ve found something in a hay bag. I’ve found feathers, bugs and a moth, as well. All of those have been dead but mites and fleas are transported in this way frequently, usually alive. I think the method is worth documenting because it has the potential to lead to the spread of living animals and has in other cases. I think that all is just the story for this pellet, and how it ended up seemingly out of range. I guess that’s just my final thoughts on it.

1 Like

This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.