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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Found Things


We came upon this leg with a hoof this morning on a fieldwork excursion near Tortugas Mountain. Research Associate Becca, who has an insatiable urge to get too close to these kinds of finds, had to be scolded away. I am not sure what type of animal it belonged to, though it looks something like a cow leg to me. Which raises the question: what is the lower section of a cow leg doing out here in the desert? Parts of the Organ Mountains are free range for cattle, so it's possible that this partial limb was carried here by a predator.

2 comments:

Matthew said...

I understand now why people become vegetarian.

We occasionally find bones that coyotes have left...the coyotes, themselves very beautiful, have to exist, and so kill whatever they can to feed their young.

Many of our nights are filled with the spooky calls and howls of our coyote neighbors as they celebrate a kill.

Matthew said...
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