I admit to being stymied by the scat I found near Port Isabel, Texas. The large size and quantity reminded me of elk but they aren’t commonly found in that part of the state. My poop mystery was cleared up by an interpretive sign at the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park that discussed invasive species.

Nilgai, large Asian antelope, were imported to south Texas for game hunting by the King Ranch in the 1930s. Of course, as so often happens with introduced species, without natural predators, the nilgai reproduced rapidly and have expanded beyond the ranch. There are now an estimated 15,000 of them wandering south Texas.