It was when I was searching for the deer last Saturday that I found this (photo). I was following the deer tracks on the north west side of the wood.

Between the north edge of the woods and a single tree line of willow, there is a long, narrow track. Lying on the side of this track, I found the leg. My first thoughts were that of a fox. There isn’t a fox earth in the woods, but I had seen many foxes in the area. Significantly (or not as the case may be) some appear to have a limp (see last Jan post).

I searched the vicinity, but couldn’t find any evidence as to how this came about. There was no blood, no other fur, no other parts, and more importantly no other tracks that might have given me a clue of what happened. I certainly haven’t seen any traps in the area either.

I’m not an expert by any means, but it appears the leg had not been severed cleanly. There are no teeth marks on what’s left either. As to how it arrived at this particular spot I can only guess at it being dropped by a carrion eating bird. I looked up at the nearby rookery and wondered if the rooks could in fact manage to carry what might be (for them) quite a weight in their beaks. How far would they have carried it? I have seen a couple of Buzzards in the area, but I’ve never seen them land in the area.

There were too many questions. I have to get some assistance on this one, so I’ve posed the conundrum to the folks on BCUK. I’ll post an update on their theories next week sometime. One thing I have since realised is that the leg of a fox is very dark, almost black. This leg doesn’t look that dark, so it could possible be a small dog. Intriguing; gruesome, but intriguing.

Pablo.