Interesting sight.

[Ky hills]

A few days ago, I went down to check on a couple yearling calves and to check perimeter fences.
Coming up to an open gate to an interior field I saw something odd. It was a bone of some sort sitting up on top of a wood gate post.
On down a little further I saw some tracks in a creek, that I believe were black bear but they were degraded. Also saw a strange big pile of manure at the side of the creek, that was kind of a combination of rolls and looser consistency. It was fiberous inside.
There was also a tree that had bark stripped off straight up one side. With some pieces of wood about 4 ft that looked to have been dragged several yards uphill.
Today I was out walking our chubby heeler through a field that is going to be cut for hay if the weather cooperates. The neighbor cutting the hay had made a few swaths through it about a month ago, and we haven’t been back there since then.
Today, I saw another fence post in a boundary line fence at the back of that field with another piece of bone pushed into a crack on top of a fence post about middle ways of that field, That one is a decent ways away from the other bone on a post.
No idea what kind of animal the bones are from but I’m figuring calf many a few months old. No idea where they come from as we and most folks around utilize the local county road dept dead animal pickup service in which they compost them. The neighbor that we join on that side probably doesn’t always know when they lose one so probably from there.
I know coyotes will carry bones around, and maybe foxes but I can’t see them being capable of leaving bones on fence posts.
Does that seem like something a bear would do. I could see them standing against a fence and maybe doing that,
Wife wondered if somebody might be having something weird going on.
Surely it’s not a Sasquatch marking its boundaries, I’d have to change a lot of thought processes to believe that one, which I don’t but this is kind of strange finding two of them.

 

[M.Magis]

Squirrels will carry small pieces around to chew on them.

 

[Ky hills]

Squirrels will carry small pieces around to chew on them.

That’s an angle I didn’t think of. We do have fox squirrels. The thing though that I can’t see is unless coyotes or maybe foxes carried the bones fairly close to the squirrels I can’t see squirrels dragging them very far.
I thought at the time about a good size bird carrying them and lighting on the post with them, but that wouldn’t be likely as these are clean stripped and dried out. One piece is actually sitting in a split at the top of the post like it was placed there and pushed down in.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

@Ky hills, I'm a "doubter" when it comes to Sasquatch, but as I was reading what you posted, Sasquatch came to mind. Do I think it was? No. The pile of manure, stripped bark, and degraded tracks seem to indicate bear, or at least something larger. Moose came to mind with the stripped bark, although time of year when it happened is unknown. Right now I wouldn't think moose. The wood dragged uphill has me puzzled. Potentially some kids with nothing better to do than just mess around with not point?

 

[Ky hills]

@Ky hills, I'm a "doubter" when it comes to Sasquatch, but as I was reading what you posted, Sasquatch came to mind. Do I think it was? No. The pile of manure, stripped bark, and degraded tracks seem to indicate bear, or at least something larger. Moose came to mind with the stripped bark, although time of year when it happened is unknown. Right now I wouldn't think moose. The wood dragged uphill has me puzzled. Potentially some kids with nothing better to do than just mess around with not point?

Yeah, I’m pretty much a non believer being a little over 99.99% sure there is no such thing as a Sasquatch, I just said that for humor.
We don’t have mooses in KY.
We do have black bear and have seen them and or signs of their activity several times over the last probably 15-20 years, although we haven’t seen any conclusive signs of bear presence for probably 3 years until recently, though they were probably around in the vicinity.
The bark was stripped off very high, it would have been out of reach for a deer and moose too.
I figure only a bear could climb and do that. It was a dead tree and a little layer of wood maybe 2-3 inches came off with it, in the couple pieces I found.
There could very well be trespassers coming through, I have been told by a couple of folks my age, that when we were children that they explored this property. I thought oh so you were the ones trespassing.
I’ve found turtle jugs set up in ponds years ago, and things like that.
I haven’t seen any signs of trespassers in several years, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t there.

 

[Travlr]

A few days ago, I went down to check on a couple yearling calves and to check perimeter fences.
Coming up to an open gate to an interior field I saw something odd. It was a bone of some sort sitting up on top of a wood gate post.
On down a little further I saw some tracks in a creek, that I believe were black bear but they were degraded. Also saw a strange big pile of manure at the side of the creek, that was kind of a combination of rolls and looser consistency. It was fiberous inside.
There was also a tree that had bark stripped off straight up one side. With some pieces of wood about 4 ft that looked to have been dragged several yards uphill.
Today I was out walking our chubby heeler through a field that is going to be cut for hay if the weather cooperates. The neighbor cutting the hay had made a few swaths through it about a month ago, and we haven’t been back there since then.
Today, I saw another fence post in a boundary line fence at the back of that field with another piece of bone pushed into a crack on top of a fence post about middle ways of that field, That one is a decent ways away from the other bone on a post.
No idea what kind of animal the bones are from but I’m figuring calf many a few months old. No idea where they come from as we and most folks around utilize the local county road dept dead animal pickup service in which they compost them. The neighbor that we join on that side probably doesn’t always know when they lose one so probably from there.
I know coyotes will carry bones around, and maybe foxes but I can’t see them being capable of leaving bones on fence posts.
Does that seem like something a bear would do. I could see them standing against a fence and maybe doing that,
Wife wondered if somebody might be having something weird going on.
Surely it’s not a Sasquatch marking its boundaries, I’d have to change a lot of thought processes to believe that one, which I don’t but this is kind of strange finding two of them.

There is a bird that skewers bugs on thorns. (From Wiki) "Butcherbirds are insect eaters for the most part, but will also feed on small lizards and other vertebrates. They get their name from their habit of impaling captured prey on a thorn, tree fork, or crevice. This "larder" is used to support the victim while it is being eaten, to store prey for later consumption, or to attract mates."

Maybe the vultures are learning to do it? Or a raccoon? Or somebody has a sense of humor...

 

[Ky hills]

There is a bird that skewers bugs on thorns. (From Wiki) "Butcherbirds are insect eaters for the most part, but will also feed on small lizards and other vertebrates. They get their name from their habit of impaling captured prey on a thorn, tree fork, or crevice. This "larder" is used to support the victim while it is being eaten, to store prey for later consumption, or to attract mates."

Maybe the vultures are learning to do it? Or a raccoon? Or somebody has a sense of humor...

At first I thought about buzzards, but the bones were dry and seemed older, so I figure buzzards, etc wouldn’t be interested in them.
Raccoons were something I’ve considered too, and could be a logical possibility as they are plentiful.
I looked it up just now and it said raccoons will gnaw on bones but typically fish or poultry bones that are softer and that they generally avoided harder bibs as they could damage their teeth.
If it’s somebody that would be a weird sense of humor, and I’d be concerned as to where they are finding the bones.
I can see some strange mindset person doing something like that, but kind of unlikely they are roaming the countryside distributing bones, but who knows we do live in a crazy area.

 

[kenny thomas]

Some people strip elm trees and maybe other tree species to sell the bark. The bones could be a handle they wrap the the bark around to pull it.
I think the possible bear tracks and poop is unrelated to the bones on a post.

 

[Ky hills]

 

[TCRanch]

Do you have mountain lions around there? They will sometimes drag their kill up a tree to keep it somewhat safe from other predators. Shortly after we moved to the ranch full time, a neighbor (which is anyone in a 5–10-mile radius) was missing some calves and the Game Warden said, "look up". Sure enough, he found the remains of at least one calf in a tree.

 

[Travlr]

Do you have mountain lions around there? They will sometimes drag their kill up a tree to keep it somewhat safe from other predators. Shortly after we moved to the ranch full time, a neighbor (which is anyone in a 5–10-mile radius) was missing some calves and the Game Warden said, "look up". Sure enough, he found the remains of at least one calf in a tree.

I'd rather say bobcat on a fencepost... but those bones aren't fresh.

I think it was a human. I've placed things in odd places at times. We had one area where we went hiking a lot and there was a lot of broken glass around. I started putting any big pieces in the middle of any red ant hills we passed. Just something to do.

 

[Ky hills]

Do you have mountain lions around there? They will sometimes drag their kill up a tree to keep it somewhat safe from other predators. Shortly after we moved to the ranch full time, a neighbor (which is anyone in a 5–10-mile radius) was missing some calves and the Game Warden said, "look up". Sure enough, he found the remains of at least one calf in a tree.

The official word is we don’t have mountain lions. Yet, there’s been 2 confirmed killed mountain lions in the state. The first was probably 20 years ago when a young mountain lion was confirmed killed by a vehicle on a southern KY road, and a few years ago a wildlife officer was called to situation in an an adjoining county, where a homeowner reported a mountain lion in a tree. The officer made a decision to shoot the animal as it was getting close to dark and he didn’t want it to be a threat to the people around there. It caused quite a bit of controversy as a lot of folks were upset that he killed it.
Then the official word was there are no mountains here and the animals dna matched a population of mountain lions from South Dakota, and that was the last word.

 

[TCRanch]

The official word is we don’t have mountain lions. Yet, there’s been 2 confirmed killed mountain lions in the state. The first was probably 20 years ago when a young mountain lion was confirmed killed by a vehicle on a southern KY road, and a few years ago a wildlife officer was called to situation in an an adjoining county, where a homeowner reported a mountain lion in a tree. The officer made a decision to shoot the animal as it was getting close to dark and he didn’t want it to be a threat to the people around there. It caused quite a bit of controversy as a lot of folks were upset that he killed it.
Then the official word was there are no mountains here and the animals dna matched a population of mountain lions from South Dakota, and that was the last word.

Yup, the "official word" is subjective and often contradicted by game cameras, destruction, in-person sightings, tracks, etc.

 

[kenny thomas]

The tree pictures helped a lot. That appears to be a dead Ash tree that has been hit by lightning.
Very good chance the tracks are a bear. There are lots of bear in your area and mine now but they are rarely seen. The bear scat should have blackberries in it right now.
The bones I think were put there by humans.

 

[Philip-TX]

Came he to say what Kenny just did.......(so ^^ditto^^ Rush fans)

 

[Ky hills]

The tree pictures helped a lot. That appears to be a dead Ash tree that has been hit by lightning.
Very good chance the tracks are a bear. There are lots of bear in your area and mine now but they are rarely seen. The bear scat should have blackberries in it right now.
The bones I think were put there by humans.

I believe you’re right about those things.
It’s frustrating to think that somebody has been roaming around and picking up bones from who knows where and leaving them around. That could explain why our old mammoth jenny was acting so skittish.

 

[Ouachita]

…… Or somebody has a sense of humor...

When I see a dead armadillo belly-up in the road, I put a beer can over the snout and a few empties around it.

 

[M.Magis]

Definitely a dead ash hit by lightening. The first bone has obvious fresh squirrel chew marks on it. The one stuck in the post was placed there by a person.

 

[Mark Reynolds]

There is a bird that skewers bugs on thorns. (From Wiki) "Butcherbirds are insect eaters for the most part, but will also feed on small lizards and other vertebrates. They get their name from their habit of impaling captured prey on a thorn, tree fork, or crevice. This "larder" is used to support the victim while it is being eaten, to store prey for later consumption, or to attract mates."

Maybe the vultures are learning to do it? Or a raccoon? Or somebody has a sense of humor...

"Shrikes" (Loggerhead shrike and the Northern Shrike) are your "butcherbirds". I saw one once. I've never found a "kitchen" belonging to one. I can imagine that Valad The Impaler (aka: Dracula) would be impressed if he ever saw a tree like this.