# Something's crapping in the basement window **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2012, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533 "2012-05-30T11:40:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/21 "2012-05-30T18:20:09Z")
I can honestly say that “decision tree on scat” is not a phrase that I have ever read before. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/22 "2012-05-30T18:28:16Z")
Wow, so yeah, raccoon really does fit the description. Thanks Enkel! We really need an SDMB compendium of esoteric web resources. ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/23 "2012-05-30T18:28:49Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I can honestly say that “decision tree on scat” is not a phrase that I have ever read before. Yeah… normally I would think that refered to a management emergency response process… but no, it is actually a pooper picker ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/24 "2012-05-30T18:57:34Z")
I’m still trying to figure out what kind of diabolical mind the OP thinks it would take to move a plastic bubble and shit on a windowsill. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/25 "2012-05-30T20:41:45Z")
It doesn’t take brains to defecate. And being diabolical doesn’t require intelligence. In fact, if I suspected a bitter ex-employee had a vendetta against me, the first thing I would expect them to do is poop in a bag and leave it flaming on my doorstep. ---
**Author:** ![Soylent\_Juicy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@Soylent\_Juicy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Soylent_Juicy)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/26 "2012-05-30T20:51:25Z")
I could see it being a raccoon. I found a huge pile of shit outside my front door one morning - it looked like someone had moved my Blue Box, shat behind it and put it back. I was all WTF?! and posted a pic to Facebook. My friend commented that it was raccoon crap. I don’t know if the raccoon moved the box back or one of my neighbours did (shared porch.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/27 "2012-05-30T22:10:36Z")
Homeless person. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/28 "2012-05-31T10:39:01Z")
The Phantom Pooper strikes again! I just walked outside to check and while the bubble over the window is undisturbed (there are about 20 bricks holding it down. It would be difficult for an animal to move) there is a fairly large and rather fresh looking pile of poop right next to the bubble. This pile doesn’t look as large as the previous examples but I suspect it’s the same critter and now that it’s not down in the window well and I can clearly see it, I’m suspecting raccoon or possum, maybe even a large cat though, like I mentioned, my cat is 19 lbs and I scoop his litter box and he never leaves a pile that big. Not the size of the turds so much but the sheer volume of it. Never thought I’d spend this much time examining shit but I have to admit, it does make a great story. I told my daughter yesterday and she said the same thing as **kayaker** maybe it’s my mother in law. And while she is declining mentally and sometimes exhibits strange behavior (Mother in law, not my daughter 🙂 ), I just can’t imagine it. Thanks for the interesting and informative link **Enkel**. Phantom Pooper! A superhero for the new millennium. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/29 "2012-05-31T12:05:11Z")
Googled “raccoon scat” just for shits and giggles and found this [page](http://www.bear-tracker.com/coon.html) that has a warning you might want to keep in mind: > [@](#): > > Raccoon scat may contain the eggs of raccoon roundworm, Baylisascaris procyonis, which can be fatal to humans, so handling it is not advisable. If you do find a raccoon latrine in your attic or near your home, get professional help with the cleanup. If you clean it up yourself, you risk exposing yourself to the disease. Baylisascaris procyonis “is a well-known cause of visceral, ocular, and neural larva migrans in humans and other animals”. Further down it notes that droppings are usually left in “latrines” which raccoons visit repeatedly. Seeing as how the Phantom Pooper keeps coming back to the same spot, it probably is a raccoon instead of your husband or mother-in-law. A human would be more likely to think “Where ELSE can I poop that will freak **velvetjones** out?” ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/30 "2012-05-31T12:36:34Z")
> [@velvetjones](#): > > Phantom Pooper! A superhero for the new millennium. Stately Wayne Manor’s outhouse. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/31 "2012-05-31T12:42:14Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > Stately Wayne Manor’s outhouse. And/or The Scat Cave? ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/32 "2012-05-31T12:49:01Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > And/or The Scat Cave? For the win! I sometimes have good results deterring an animal from repeat visits using mothballs. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/33 "2012-05-31T13:01:36Z")
Yeah, now you to find out what smells racoons dislike. Then treat your grounds with 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:** [May 31, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/34 "2012-05-31T13:47:37Z")
> [@Zeldar](#): > > And/or The Scat Cave? Scat-man! Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na… …and his sidekick Ploppin! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/35 "2012-05-31T13:52:18Z")
> **[Scatman Crothers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scatman_Crothers)** > > Benjamin Sherman Crothers (May 23, 1910 – November 22, 1986), known professionally as Scatman Crothers, was an American actor and musician. He is known for playing Louie the Garbage Man on the TV show Chico and the Man, and Dick Hallorann in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining (1980). He was also a prolific voice-over actor who provided the voices of Meadowlark Lemon in the Harlem Globetrotters animated TV series, Jazz the Autobot in The Transformers and The Transformers: The Movie (1986), the title Cr... ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/36 "2012-05-31T13:58:46Z")
> [@SnakesCatLady](#): > > I sometimes have good results deterring an animal from repeat visits using mothballs. Just add sling shot and your chances of deterant would easily double. I’m sure mothballs would make one mean suppository. 😉 “Wha…? What’s all that racket? A _raccon_??? What the Hell’s gotten into that thing…?!” ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/37 "2012-05-31T14:03:20Z")
Target sells organic pest repellent. We might try that but Mr. Jones has called animal control and asked for assistance given what **Olentzero** posted we don’t want to take chances. I thought about mothballs but this is near where my dryer vents and I don’t really want the smell of mothballs getting down into my dryer. ---
**Author:** ![VunderBob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/839c29/32.png) [@VunderBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VunderBob)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/38 "2012-05-31T14:04:55Z")
Raccoons succumb easily to subsonic subcutaneous lead poisoning. Just sayin’… ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/39 "2012-05-31T14:49:56Z")
> [@VunderBob](#): > > Raccoons succumb easily to subsonic subcutaneous lead poisoning. Just sayin’… I was just about to google that when I realized. :smack: Subsonic = speed at which bullets leave the barrel of a gun. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533/40 "2012-05-31T15:24:46Z")
**VunderBob** you’re welcome to come over and try your luck at shooting the critter. I can pay you in home made wine 🙂 I don’t own a gun nor have I ever so I’m more likely to blow my own toes off than get the critter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/somethings-crapping-in-the-basement-window/623533.md?page=3)