Cold case - Oh deer, roe deer. (be advised - links to dead animal images!)

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Adze

Native
Oct 9, 2009
1,874
0
Cumbria
www.adamhughes.net
What you thinking. Someone trophy hunting. ??

It's a possibility, although with no obvious blood pattern at the site it's either been dumped on the shore post decapitation or, if someone trophied the head, they stumbled on it long enough after death that the blood had already congealed.

If there's no convincing argument for local scavengers removing it then there isn't much other option than human intervention of one form or another.
 

Stevie777

Native
Jun 28, 2014
1,443
1
Strathclyde, Scotland
They're Australian (fictional or not)... the 'above' meant the post re this being a civilized country ;) We cross posted.
Gotcha...strange one that the head has been removed. scavengers usually go for the meaty back end first.

If someone came across the Deer dead and decided to take the head then fair do's but they could have buried the carcass. If they killed the Dear for the head alone then poor form.. The meat on that animal could have fed a few families. Illegal Kill? Probably.
 

mrmike

Full Member
Sep 22, 2010
344
36
Hexham, Northumberland
See above...
Entirely my fault, I do apologise....

Perhaps it was a combination of a vehicle strike and someone finding the carcass later and removing the head.
In my experience it is the eyes and innards that get eaten first by scavengers.

Sent from my SM-T230 using Tapatalk
 

rorymax

Settler
Jun 5, 2014
943
0
Scotland
Adze,

I find it all very puzzling, your vehicle strike makes sense, the missing head - very odd, I am inclined to go with Stevie777 and a trophy hunter for now.

Rib cage bones missing \ cut out, I don't know what animal(s) could have done that.

Hopefully you can determine what actually occurred, very intriguing and interesting, thanks for posting.

rorymax
 

Adze

Native
Oct 9, 2009
1,874
0
Cumbria
www.adamhughes.net
Adze,

I find it all very puzzling, your vehicle strike makes sense, the missing head - very odd, I am inclined to go with Stevie777 and a trophy hunter for now.

Rib cage bones missing \ cut out, I don't know what animal(s) could have done that.

Hopefully you can determine what actually occurred, very intriguing and interesting, thanks for posting.

rorymax

I doubt we'll ever get anything conclusive - but I think a best fit might go something like this:

Deer hit by car, not killed and dies on the shore shortly after. From the amount eaten either a large scavenger, i.e. someone's dog which got loose overnight followed by smaller scavengers or just enough smaller scavengers find the corpse and consume it. At some point someone finds the partially consumed carcass and removes the head as a trophy leaving the remains for further scavenging, most likely by birds and you can bet every dog walker that day had to drag their pooch off it if it during the day which might account for the general 'cleanness' of the site and the gnawing of the now exposed neck.
 

Stevie777

Native
Jun 28, 2014
1,443
1
Strathclyde, Scotland
Adze,

I find it all very puzzling, your vehicle strike makes sense, the missing head - very odd, I am inclined to go with Stevie777 and a trophy hunter for now.

Rib cage bones missing \ cut out, I don't know what animal(s) could have done that.

Hopefully you can determine what actually occurred, very intriguing and interesting, thanks for posting.

rorymax
If say the Dear was hit by a car the impact could have broken the ribs making it easy for larger predator, ie Fox/Badger, to tear off. The fact that the Head was missing, (looks a clean cut BTW) tells me someone grabbed the head and vamoosed. What does the law in England say with regards to dead animals/road kill.?
 

Fraxinus

Settler
Oct 26, 2008
935
31
Canterbury
Are there vultures in this area?

- Woodsorrel

Yeah but they stick to running hotels and b&b's ;)

No wild vultures in the UK, afaik, but buzzards and other opportunistic birds of prey are about.

I think the head was taken postmortem, some people collect animal skulls, so the RTA storyline would seem to fit. Sad end for the deer though.

Rob.
 

rorymax

Settler
Jun 5, 2014
943
0
Scotland
Yeah but they stick to running hotels and b&b's ;)

No wild vultures in the UK, afaik, but buzzards and other opportunistic birds of prey are about.

I think the head was taken postmortem, some people collect animal skulls, so the RTA storyline would seem to fit. Sad end for the deer though.

Rob.

Can someone tell me how to insert multiple quotes from different posters, showing the original post in a call-out box as shown above.

(Call-out Box: I think that's what it's called, please correct if wrong)

Thanks
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Can someone tell me how to insert multiple quotes from different posters, showing the original post in a call-out box as shown above.

(Call-out Box: I think that's what it's called, please correct if wrong)

Thanks
Hi J.
Something on your mind? personally I don't buy the RTA theory and the head taken by a bone collector, another thing I cant get my head around is if the deer died on the beach and was consumed on the spot surely there should be more fur round the corpse, on the edges of the skin some of the edges look very straight, more like a knife cut than torn open by scavengers.
Maybe I'm reading to much in to the sign and looking for something a bit more sinister, the RTA is very plausible and the congealed blood in the lower part of the cadavers would suggest it died in that position.
 
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rorymax

Settler
Jun 5, 2014
943
0
Scotland
Hi J.
personally I don't buy the RTA theory and the head taken by a bone collector

I agree.

And now that the Dropbear theory has been debunked, I still think midges are responsible.


Not your English midges but a midge raiding party from Scotland looking to have a bit of foreign fare before the winter rest up.

The Raiding Midge is the most vicious and aggressive of the midge genus; only a rare few animals can defend themselves against the Raider Midge (the Haggis of course being the best known).


Different parts of Scotland have their own sub species of Raider Midge, the main suspects would be of the deadly Loch Carron Clan, said clan is known to favour the Lake District and surrounds in years ending with a 0 or a 5.

If the OP would obtain a bloated midge (many will have gorged themselves to death) from the scene, then DNA analysis will likely confirm the Loch Carron Clan as being responsible.

Dropbears indeed, phooey.
 

dewi

Full Member
May 26, 2015
2,647
12
Cheshire
You forget though that the English dropbear is quite different from its Australian cousin.

The Australian dropbear will not touch the head... primarily due to the safetywear many Australians wear... the cork dangling hat. It scares the pants off a dropbear... which is why dropbears rarely wear trousers.

The English dropbear however has developed a fetish for the beenie hats and anything with a brim... so they target the head.

Was the deer wearing a hat when it was killed? That is the question!
 

rorymax

Settler
Jun 5, 2014
943
0
Scotland
Hi 21st century pict,

I went back to view the pics, indeed the skin does look to have been cut by a knife as you say, and the lack of bits fur laying around is another good observation, perhaps little by little we will find out more.

rorymax
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Well you know the old saying " If you want to get a head, get a hat"
Looking at the chunk out a that body, if it washed up on any other beach I would have said Great White Midge.
 

dewi

Full Member
May 26, 2015
2,647
12
Cheshire
In all seriousness, the head hasn't been chopped or cut off... most of the spine that connects to the skull is still there... if it had been chopped cleanly as has been suggested, that bit of the spine would be missing as well.

Most likely is the deer has died near or in the water, it has spent time in the water (hence the fur remaining intact) and when its been washed up on a shoreline, scavengers have helped themselves to what is left. The loosened head will have been pulled away by a badger or a fox, whilst the interior will be a combination between scavengers, birds and insects.

Whatever took that head pulled it away from the body rather than cutting it away... the head has some of the juiciest bits... brains, eyes, tongue... even the snout. Nice bit of lunch to the scavenger who took it.
 
Mar 15, 2011
1,118
7
on the heather
Hi 21st century pict,

I went back to view the pics, indeed the skin does look to have been cut by a knife as you say, and the lack of bits fur laying around is another good observation, perhaps little by little we will find out more.

rorymax

I wish we could zoom in further, I would like to see if there are any cut marks on the neck, my first impression was a snare. I would also want a closer look at the bones on the hind, (Hind No pun intended) legs, if there were any cut marks then we would know the meet was harvested.
 
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