# Help me identify this weird thing I found on my floor **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 23, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962 "2017-01-23T19:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/1 "2017-01-23T19:59:54Z")
This morning when I came downstairs, I found a weird thing on my floor, and I have no idea what it is. [Here’s a photo of it.](http://www.magespace.net/weird/weirdthing.jpg) It’s about 1" long, dark brown, and kind of rubbery in consistency. As you can see from the bottom of the paper towel, some of it does rub off. Initially I thought it was a small, skinny wayward cat poop, since we have several cats and they occasionally (rarely) will leave a token poop outside the litterbox. However, sniffing it revealed that it has no smell whatsoever. I have never encountered a cat doot that didn’t smell at least a little bit bad, even if it’s old and dried, and this thing was fresh. It didn’t appear to be alive when I found it, nor did it look like a dead creature of some sort, but I can’t be certain. Could it be some kind of slug? I found it a short distance inside the front door. It’s been raining a lot lately, so it could be something we tracked in, I suppose. The cats didn’t seem overly interested in checking it out. As far as I know, aside from the spouse, myself, our cats, and a crested gecko who’s confined to a cage upstairs, there are no other poop-capable creatures living in our house. Any thoughts on what this mystery object might be? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/2 "2017-01-23T20:09:44Z")
Looks like a desiccated pepper of some kind. Maybe it rolled under a cabinet and a cat clawed it out into the light? ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/3 "2017-01-23T20:15:32Z")
It kind of looks like a banana stem. ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/4 "2017-01-23T20:19:19Z")
It’s probably a dried-up worm of some kind. We get those in the garage when it’s been raining. ---
**Author:** ![sunstone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunstone/32/3372_2.png) [@sunstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunstone)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/5 "2017-01-23T20:26:05Z")
I suggest that it is a chrysalis, That is one of the larval stages of various insect groups. Perhaps you can google “insect chrysalis” and find a match. The photo that is supplied doesn’t show enough detail for me to give much more specific help. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/6 "2017-01-23T20:35:15Z")
Alien cocoon. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/7 "2017-01-23T20:36:30Z")
What does it taste like? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/8 "2017-01-23T20:42:35Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > What does it taste like? I’m not _that_ curious about it! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/9 "2017-01-23T20:44:02Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Looks like a desiccated pepper of some kind. Maybe it rolled under a cabinet and a cat clawed it out into the light? Definitely not a pepper (we don’t have any in the house) and definitely not desiccated. It was quite supple and rubbery when I found it this morning. It’s starting to dry out now. ---
**Author:** ![Dickerman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@Dickerman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dickerman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/10 "2017-01-23T20:48:41Z")
Some sort of rodent poop? ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/11 "2017-01-23T20:56:36Z")
> [@Dickerman](#): > > Some sort of rodent poop? Don’t rodents usually leave little pellets? And wouldn’t it smell at least a little bit bad if it’s poop? ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/12 "2017-01-23T21:05:24Z")
Do you have those trees that have those pods that look like penii? I think it looks like one of those. Otherwise, it’s a 90-million-year-old proto-alligator; I have one that looks just this (fossil, not an enormous alligator). ---
**Author:** ![arseNal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@arseNal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arseNal)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/13 "2017-01-23T22:02:52Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > > [@Reply](#): > > > > What does it taste like? > > I’m not _that_ curious about it! 🙂 Username/post does not check out. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/14 "2017-01-23T22:09:17Z")
It looks like a desiccated slug to me. Having lived most of my life in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve seen those before. If you look carefully on the floor can you see a dried up slime trail leading to where it was? ---
**Author:** ![Casey1505](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dc4da7/32.png) [@Casey1505](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Casey1505)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/15 "2017-01-23T22:16:26Z")
Is it a roach? Not the bug… ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/16 "2017-01-23T22:55:10Z")
Dissect it. ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/17 "2017-01-23T23:16:43Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > It looks like a desiccated slug to me. Having lived most of my life in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve seen those before. If you look carefully on the floor can you see a dried up slime trail leading to where it was? Imported into Photoshop, zoomed in on and lightened, I’m thinking, [“slug”](http://schools-wikipedia.org/2006/wp/s/Slug.htm). It seems flat on one side. It seems there’s a “foot fringe” and possibly a mantle. It even seems like there are multiple discs on the end, where the stalks would have been attached. ---
**Author:** ![Stuffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@Stuffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stuffy)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2017, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/18 "2017-01-23T23:22:34Z")
> [@Infovore](#): > > Don’t rodents usually leave little pellets? And wouldn’t it smell at least a little bit bad if it’s poop? Nope not rodent poop. I just had traps for rodents laid at the warehouse. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/19 "2017-01-24T00:10:33Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > Dissect it. That’s what I’m thinking. Cut it open and see what’s inside. ---
**Author:** ![scootergirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e99b99/32.png) [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962/20 "2017-01-24T00:15:49Z")
Set it on fire. The odor may be a clue. If it is part of a banana stem or an old pepper, you’d know right away…maybe. Report back, por favor! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-identify-this-weird-thing-i-found-on-my-floor/777962.md?page=2)