Skulls

The purpose of this forum is to help people identify things they've seen while out hiking: wildflowers, trees, birds, insects, small animals, animal tracks, even geographical features like buttes or streams
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Chase
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Skulls

Post by Chase » April 3rd, 2015, 4:04 pm

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A week earlier:

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viking
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Re: Skulls

Post by viking » April 3rd, 2015, 8:10 pm

Without looking anything up, I would say the first skull looks like a cat. All the later ones are deer family.

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Chase
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Re: Skulls

Post by Chase » April 4th, 2015, 4:35 am

Thanks, Viking. I wonder about the smaller one since cats have tiny teeth in the front and these look a little larger. From the side, however, it does seem feline. Here's my cat, Norman, modeling the side view during a nap.

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bobcat
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Re: Skulls

Post by bobcat » April 4th, 2015, 4:44 pm

The first one is a little dog, probably a chihuahua. The other looks like a deer.

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BurnsideBob
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Re: Skulls

Post by BurnsideBob » May 4th, 2015, 9:23 am

Hi Chase:

I didn't see your "Skull" thread until last night.

I think your first skull might be a fox's. I found a similar skull, not nearly so fresh, in White River Canyon last summer. I found it in an area that had abundant fox tracks in recently fallen snow drifts.

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If I'm correct, the donor of your skull would have looked like:

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I keep making protein shakes but they always turn out like margaritas.

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adamschneider
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Re: Skulls

Post by adamschneider » May 4th, 2015, 9:34 am

Google image searches for "fox skull" and "cat skull" make me think that the first one is neither of those; the fronts of foxes' skulls are too long and narrow, and cats' skulls are more rounded. The one you found has a distinct "snout" that narrows down at the front; I'd say it looks more like a dog.

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Waffle Stomper
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Re: Skulls

Post by Waffle Stomper » May 4th, 2015, 12:21 pm

chihuahua perhaps on the first one. http://www.skullsunlimited.com/record_v ... hp?id=8215
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

Lurch
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Re: Skulls

Post by Lurch » May 5th, 2015, 7:01 am

Those cleaned up nicely! Did you peroxide them?

Where'd you find #1? I think I might actually side with Waffle on that, if it was a urban find I think you found some sorta domesticated dog. Most mammal profiles for wild critters around here don't have a prominent forehead like that

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Chase
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Re: Skulls

Post by Chase » May 5th, 2015, 11:31 am

Both were found in a Gresham swamp near urban developments. They were soaked in bleach water for a week and brushed with an old toothbrush and Colgate.

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Waffle Stomper
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Re: Skulls

Post by Waffle Stomper » May 6th, 2015, 6:55 am

Those are both good finds. I too wondered how you cleaned them up.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." - John Muir

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