I find that surprising as the termites would have to get through a rawhide or fiberglass wrap over the tree first. I wouldn't think this would be very appetizing to a termite. Do you still have the pic? Also, if it is termite waist, it very well could have fallen on the saddle from somewhere else.

One thing for sure. Until you know for sure, DO NOT bring the saddle into your home. That can become very costly.

If by chance your saddle does have termites in it or you suspect that it does, maybe you can go to your local exterminators and ask them to put your saddle in a box and fumigate it like they do with houses. Very little chemical would be needed so it shouldn't cost that much. Hey, they may give you a good discount as it's such a novel and strange request.

 

Pic attached. That is the top of the saddle pad that my saddle sits on top of. It has a saddle cover on top of it so no way anything could have fallen onto the saddle and gotten in the gullet area. It had to have been there from the underside.

Saddle is currently still at the barn. Not sure about how we’re gonna kill them but that is a good idea!

 

Ooof! I hope not!

Is the wood tree on your saddle rawhide or fiberglass wrapped? Not all are.

 

I’m pretty sure it is but I honestly haven’t looked. I mean there isn’t any exposed wood when you look at the underneath of the saddle, it’s all leather so I assume that means it’s wrapped? Sorry, I’m not the most knowledgeable about saddles😂

 

Good Lord! Never have I heard of such a thing! Are they in your barn then?

 

Sounds to me more you have a mice infestation and they are nesting...
Unless you store your saddle upside down...how did "termite" dropping accumulate on the saddle?
My saddles tree opens to the floor...the floor should be littered with mess...:|


OK...isn't this time of the year when termites are more dormant?
Swarm in spring, don't think I've ever seen a new presenting issue in winter...
They also commonly leave "trails" of debris...talk to a exterminating company and quick.

:runninghorse2:...

 

Sounds to me more you have a mice infestation and they are nesting...
Unless you store your saddle upside down...how did "termite" dropping accumulate on the saddle?
My saddles tree opens to the floor...the floor should be littered with mess...<img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://www.horseforum.com/images/smilies/icon_neutral.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Neutral" class="inlineimg" />


OK...isn't this time of the year when termites are more dormant?
Swarm in spring, don't think I've ever seen a new presenting issue in winter...
They also commonly leave "trails" of debris...talk to a exterminating company and quick.

<img style="max-width:100%;" src="http://www.horseforum.com/images/smilies/runninghorse2.gif" border="0" alt="" title="Runninghorse2" class="inlineimg" />...

The saddle is stored on top of a felt saddle pad so all the droppings were piled in between the two, like in the gullet area of the saddle. There is a saddle cover over the top of the saddle so no way anything could’ve just been dropped onto it and fallen into that area. It was either put there by mice or excreted from bugs from the inside of the saddle. I’m still praying it was mice but I’m not convinced

 

Can you lift the jockey and see what material your tree is?

Some fiberglass and ralide tree makers just put the coating on the edge of their trees, though, leaving a lot of wood exposed.

BTW - "Wood" is a slang term for saddle here. If someone says "nice wood" or comments "Joe got a new wood" we all understand. But it really messes with non-ranch types.

 

I'm guessing carpenter ants.


As someone who had to deal with termites in a house we bought, I can tell you what the TerminX guy told us:


Termites cannot, will not, go very far above ground unless they can make tunnels of soil and mud above the surface for access. They are very temperature sensitive and cannot deal with surface temps without those tunnels for access. Was your saddle on the ground? If not, unless they tunneled up a wooden stand, I doubt it's termites.


Carpenter ants, OTOH? Make a similar mess but are ants. The mess you have there doesn't look like termites at all. Also, they wouldn't be on the wool. They need moist conditions AND cool temps.

 

I that case, does it help to hang the saddle by the gullet and horn?

I was in a line camp once that had mice so bad I hung all my gear by wires. The saddles I hung by a large loop through the gullet and up again around the horn.

 

It is a very high probability that it’s mice and not termites. Not sure what season you’re in, but if it’s anything like us we have white fluffy stuff outside, and it is very common for mice to leave the fields and come into any building and nook and crannies such as saddles in the fall/winter.

If it was termites, you would probably see sawdust everywhere not poop. Or at least sawdust mixed with poop. Mind you I’m not an expert on termites. Just my 2 cents 😄

Looks like seeds to me. But it’s hard to zoom in on the pic as it’s small.

 

Some of that sure looks like mouse turds to me...

Had them once in a house we rented when we rented it...yea, no! :-x
Moved in and out the same day...:frown_color:
I don't do rodents, period!

However... it could be bat turds too...

You don't want to kill bats as they are a natural mosquito and flying insect killer...


You do though want to establish a new home for them...whether bat or mouse...not your saddle for sure!!
:runninghorse2:...

 

The particles look rather big to me to be termite waste. Looking at the picture from my phone so I had to enlarge it and it gets a little blurry. Take it to a pest control person and they will definitely be able to tell you what it is. They are the experts at this sort of stuff.

 

We have a lot of field mice here, and at one point had a pretty large infestation in our garage cabinets. While I've never had them nest in a saddle, I'm to the point where I don't underestimate those little guys. Big ol' western saddle with a big gullet and wool flocking would make a nice mouse house, and that sure does look like mouse poop. Kind of hard to tell from the photo - I know you might not want to zoom in on that but uh, is there any chance of getting us a closer view for identification? Or just call the exterminator and get an answer. =P

 

Sorry about the pic, most of the ‘stuff’ was swept away but I will try to get a better pic today. We’re going to spray for termites and ants as the product is two in one. I’ll do a thorough saddle inspection today as well and see if there are any visible tunnels or not. It is the cold season here so animals could be looking to nest and found my saddle as the perfect spot.

 

I'm going to question mice as they would have likely torn the pad up and scratched or chewed the leather. Bats I could buy but not sure what is in your area. They would slide right under and sleep until time to come out and hunt.

 

I don't see how mice or bats could manage to leave that much poop between a saddle and pad... but I suppose mice are not impossible since they do get into very small spaces. I'd suggest you scrape some of these droppings next time, put them in a jar, and take them to an exterminator so they can identify them! You want to know what you're dealing with here.

 

Here’s a couple more pics, not the greatest quality as my phone is older. They’re extremely round, nearly perfect spheres. Makes me question if they’re poop at all as most poop, even the pics of termite frass that I’ve seen, is more oval shaped. I’m wondering maybe vole? Also we have tons of little birds and finches around so maybe that’s a possibility too? We have voles and moles on property and have for years. There’s also mouse/small rodent droppings all throughout the tack room on the floor so I know for sure they’re in there.

I sprayed the exposed wood areas and gullet of saddle with the recommended termite/ant spray just to be safe. There wasn’t any additional ‘stuff’ today so I’m hoping it stays that way. It looks a lot like millet... wondering if someone left out bird or chicken feed and something started storing it there. The exposed wood didn’t have any holes or pin holes so far as I could see. I’m really hoping it was just a rodent storing some snacks 🙏🏻🙏🏻

 

Yes, that seems most likely - some rodent was storing food. I agree, excrements (at least for mice) are not that shape. If you can get your hands on one of those little balls, I'd break it open to see if you can identify it as grain. Just use a sharp, exacto knife and some fine pliers.

 

Same thing happened in my tack room and it WAS mice. They chose that location (between saddle and pad) because it was sheltered from the cold. Little tossers nibbled on my felt pad, too. 😣 When we got rid of the mouse population the problem went away.

This reminds me of a funny story...years ago when I boarded at a show barn, they decided to expand the indoor arena, so they asked some of us boarders to help clear out blankets and tack from the areas that were going to be under construction. The blankets were all on racks on one wall and many had not been touched for YEARS. Each of us grabbed a couple and pulled on them at the same time...and all of a sudden it was like The Pied Piper had just landed. A RIVER of mice came streaking out from under those blankets, right toward all of us. You've never heard or seen such a commotion ever! Screaming dressage ladies running for their lives. And then we all fell into hysterical laughter. Never did see where all those mice WENT! But we were glad they WENT!

 

Now I'm confused. Second photo looks like rabbit pellets...possibly squirrel. Both are very possible for WA. But that second photo looks very different from the first photo - is it the same stuff as last time? Perhaps you have a variety of critters...one trying to store things, and the others drawn in by the stored food. If not, I wonder which mystery critter is doing this.

PS: Unless your saddle was on the ground, highly doubt it's a mole or gopher - they're tunnelers with bad vision. No idea about vole. Apparently 'field mouse' is another name for a vole? They're ground dwellers with good eyesight. @QtrBel made a good point that mice probably would have made a scratched/chewed mess of your saddle. And neither the saddle nor the pad was chewed up. We do have bats all along the west coast states - I'm in N. Cali and have some that like to snooze in my barn.

 

All photos are of the same stuff. I can’t figure out how to make the first photo larger as I know some have mentioned it is hard to zoom in and see. I assure you it is the exact same though, little round balls that are a black/purple/red color mix. There was probably like 2 cups worth of the stuff shoved up in the gullet area. I’m not sure how much poop an animal (mammal or bugs) make in a week but that fact makes me think it is more likely a food source. I just don’t see a bat or mouse or termites excreting that much in 7 ish days but I’m also not an expert. I’ll try to do what was mentioned previously and cut a couple of them open to see what’s inside.

 

See if this helps identify what it is:

https://www.abeepestpro.com/differences-types-of-pest-droppings-poop.htm

 

When I was a kid my aunt had her kids call poop hockey. After reading all the comments I believe you folks are one of the biggest groups of hockeyologists I've ever seen! LOL. I have to lean towards the explanation that it is a mouse storing millet or milo. I've had this happen once when I stored saddle pads on the saddles so the pad set on the horn and cantle letting air circulate both over and under the pads. After finding a cache of feed and mouse poop on top my saddle I never did this again.

 

If it's bats by any chance (I think it's mice)....if you do set up a bat house make sure it's not too close to your living space or your horses lest we forget bats tend to be a reservoir species for one of the most deadly viruses aka rabies. You don't really feel when they bite due to their very sharp and thin teeth you and if you overlook that, get symptoms in the 2 month period...let's just say your dead. All it takes is a scrape, not even a bite. Though me having a bit of a fear of such a horrid thing I would call an exterminator regardless. Bats are pests too, and you can find other ways to get rid of mosquitoes without much of a chance at having a serious risk literally hanging above your head..

 

I would say a rodent storing food or if it was clumped and stuck together then little bird roosting on your saddle after feasting on some type of berries and it's dropping are landing underneath. It looks more like seeds to me.

 

The problem with bats is that they will - if there are openings - nest in houses or under eaves where they can gain entry into houses when windows and doors or attic accesses are left open. They are very opportunistic when it comes to housing in my experience. Bats are not going to attack unless cornered or handled so don't corner or handle them unless you now what you are doing. Unless they bat is sick or injured they are not going to be in your personal space. It is because bites are often unnoticed that bats are considered a serious threat. So best is to report if you see them during the day. Do not handle if they are on the ground. And, if you find one in your house hire someone to check for a colony and remove if present.

 

My 2 cents: roaches. This is their poop, piles of round red/brown/black thingies. I recently had an infestation in my saddle; wound up finding 100 roaches all up in there. You never see them during the day 'cause, well, that's how they roll. I happened to notice one scampering underneath the saddle skirt when I went out to the barn one night. Had to take the saddle and "drop" or bang it on the concrete to knock the roaches out so I could stomp on them. I considered sealing it up in a bag with pesticide but decided against it. I can't imagine what would have happened if they started coming out while I was riding; horse would have probably freaked!
These are pics I took on my lanai which has roaches in my pots, so I know that's what they are. Ignore the white powder; I use diatomaceous earth to get rid of them. These are a bit deteriorated so they're not as perfectly round, but I'll bet that's exactly what you have, assuming it's about the same size as the poop in my pic. Ugh.