More Bones

I got a late start hiking, arriving just before 5 pm. I parked in the lower and headed west for the purpose of raccoon carcass pics and to gather some small rocks to look for fossils. I ended up getting bone pics instead of fossil-looking rocks. Total hike 2 hr, 10 min. Here are the pics in hiking order:


This might be a northern cloudywing. It was at the top just before the upper


This sassy robin kept leading me along the path from the upper to the gate


I'm assuming this is a leg bone from a deer. It was just off the trail that's close to the road. What I can't figure out is why the shorter bone off the joint is sawed off. Since the joint isn't quite picked clean I hid it and plan to inspect it later.


Maybe 25 yds or so from the 'leg bone' was this vertebra all nice and clean. It's probably from the same animal


Cute little whirlpool in the Rock City ravine stream. After swirling around it drains down each side below. I wonder how many thousands of years this has been going on in order to create such a nice smooth bowl in the rock


Across the stream and up through the rough I found this box turtle shell. It also has the bottom piece of plastron which unfortunately broke off when I put it in the bag. From the few marginal scutes left on it I can tell it was a common 3-toed, like the ones I have


A long cool rock in the trail


This redbud is growing upside down now thanks to the Dec. ice storm. The arrow shows where the trunk broke


I couldn't believe the raccoon has been picked this clean in such a short time!

Click to enlarge, and you will see just in front of the orbit (eye socket, but now I have to call it an orbit thanks to the skull ID manual my cousin sent me) and going down to the ground from there a bunch of what looks like maybe larvae of the carrion beetle finishing it off. The icky tissue-y hairy mass has sloughed off and is at the bottom of the pic under the mouth area.


One of its feet

I also want to mention that the chickadees were out flitting and singing in full force throughout the ravine area.