On one of our morning walks this past week, Emma came to me with something in her mouth. This usually means she has found something dead (and usually disgusting) and sure enough, when I asked her to drop it, she carefully deposited a skull at my feet. Love those soft Labrador mouths...The vultures had done a decent job of cleanup: there was just some ligament and soft tissue left, and I carried it home, boiled it and put it in enzyme cleaner. (The Web is such a wonderful place for information).
I found it was a bobcat, and in cleaning up the skull I found it was not a young animal as its canines had worn against each other. I think it came to its demise at the mouth of another animal, a coyote or perhaps a mountain lion, as its skull was punctured on top and its jaw broken.
Meanwhile, it is still sitting outside in the cold frame getting rid of the rest of its smell before it is brought in for display next to the kit fox skull. Nice find, Emma!
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