Carcass Pics

Ed and I went out this evening to take more pics of the carcass to aid in identification. My cousin is pretty sure it's a raccoon, and now that I look at it with that thought I have to agree. After taking pics I moved it further off the trail and we'll wait for the skull to be ready.

This little carrion beetle (or whatever) was the only one left clinging on after I dragged the carcass to an open area. The beetle (or bug?) is flattish


I need to go back and check those fang-y teeth, as it looks here like the left upper one is really long


We had originally thought the foot had a couple of dark hair spots, but when I enlarged another pic like this the spots look like ticks - something else I want to check out better


The 5 toes clearly show it can't be a canine, and look at that sole!


While I was taking pics of the deer skull which hangs on a tree branch Ed kept standing up and trying to inspect it. So I put it on the ground and he sniffed it all over then began licking the eye socket


After thoroughly inspecting the skull he began to cover it up with loose soil and leaf litter. I wish I'd had my wider lens on for these pics but I didn't have time to change


Ed's really making sure he's satisfied with the coverage; he shoved the dirt and leaves with his snout for about 2 minutes


I know I have turtle basking pics from the other day, but it's kind of rare (from my experience) to see them bask facing each other


And this is a new wormy web in a small tree on the main west trail just before the 2nd trail to the left; of course I'll have to check it later. If you click on the pic to enlarge it you can see a web worm/tent caterpillar/whatever in the very upper part of the long strand on the right branch

I've finally learned a time step, and am working on 2 more, although I didn't have time to tap tonight. After my 1 hr, 20 min hike I stopped by my mom's for a while to show her the carcass pics.