I never quite know what I will stumble upon when I wander about in remote areas of the woods, fields, and marshes of Huntley Meadows Park. This past weekend I spotted this skull, which I guess is that of a White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus), a common species where I live. How did this deer meet its demise? Was it old age, disease, starvation, or a predator?
Somehow this simple image of a skull seems appropriate for Halloween Week. Happy Halloween in advance.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
This is a striking image and quite appropriate for the season. I recently shared (in a post about teaching my kids about Georgia O’Keeffe) that my kids love skulls and skeletons and react like they just found treasure when we stumble upon remains in the woods. I think it’s cool for them to see the structures underpinning a variety of animals, to note the similarities and differences, look for the elements that can identify the creature.
I guess I could do with some art history lessons along with your kids–I think of only flowers when I think of Georgia O’Keeffe. I looked up some of her images on-line and, of course, now understand better how the skull photo fits in. Your boys would have been really excited about my discovery a couple of years ago of a beaver skull with one of its front teeth still present. (Check out the posting https://michaelqpowell.wordpress.com/2014/01/08/skull-of-a-beaver/).
I checked out your beaver skull photos. That’s very cool. I’m going to show them to my boys who will be in awe. I think the most unusual skull we’ve found was a badger. It’s mostly rodents and deer that we’ve found.
I’m sure the boys will like it. I was surprised to see how orange the remaining tooth was. Apparently an adult beaver’s big teeth turn orange because of its diet.
Very cool Halloween photo, Michael. How fortunate to have found it so much intact.
Thanks, Jet. There is definitely some story behind that skull. I did not note any bones in the area, so I wonder what happened to the rest of the body.
A wonderful beginning to any Halloween story.
Thanks, Charlie.
Nice find. I don’t see too many bones in the woods. You’d think there would be more.
I suspect that animals drag them away to more secluded locations to gnaw on them, but I too don’t see animal remains very often.