We bury all the cattle or sheep who die on the place, but if a skull shows up years later, washed out by a storm or dug up by predators (yes, it's happened), it's fair game.
These bones, aged by nature, mostly came from the valley in which I live-- but a few were found on the desert. The last one was purchased in Mexico.
And the following is a mystery-- which is why I am posting on this subject. To what animal does this skull belong? We thought maybe coyote or fox but the photos we saw online don't look right for its shape. It was found in one of our fields without the front teeth but does have a side tooth that looks like a predator.
The painter, Georgia O'Keeffe, famously painted skulls from New Mexico. I have yet to use any of mine as models, but you never know-- maybe someday.
7 comments:
I thought of O'Keefe, immediately...!
I Love all these bones!They are so wonderfully weathered. I am of no help where that last one is concerned---or for that matter, any of them. I don't have a clue, but I love the way the look. And I don't thimk it is ghoulish, at all,my dear Rain.
Yes, it doesn't look right for a canine. Badger?
Mark, theoretically we don't have badgers in our area (or haven't had but things do change), but I had thought maybe opossum or nutria; but when I looked at their skulls it didn't seem quite right. We have beaver but those front openings for teeth aren't wide enough for them. It's mystifying me.
I love her paintings of bones, Naomi. She so used the region where she lived with her art ;)
Mark, your tip on the badger has led us to think perhaps it's a skunk because it does resemble a badger head but we don't have them in my part of Western Oregon. We do though have skunks aplenty that often get hit by cars. So far it seems likeliest.
or a raccoon... ... ...
ALIENS!!!!! ;)
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