What sort of creature did these bones belong to?

September 24, 2015 11:37 AM

We found some freaky looking bones in our back garden. We live in North West London, so there's not much in the way of large mammalian traffic around these parts. Any ideas?
posted by Optamystic to Home & Garden (17 answers total)

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posted by andrewcooke at 11:39 AM on September 24, 2015

Response by poster: Sorry try this link
posted by Optamystic at 11:51 AM on September 24, 2015

Could they be turkey leg bones, discarded by a human and brought into your garden by a dog or cat for gnawing?
posted by ejs at 11:55 AM on September 24, 2015

This is based only on the first image and might be nuts...could it be the remnant of a roast leg of lamb? I can't find a great photo but this one shows the bones with an chef's knife for scale.
posted by cabingirl at 11:57 AM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

About how big are they? I agree that they look like turkey or chicken bones.
posted by Gneisskate at 11:58 AM on September 24, 2015

I also agree that they look like bones from meat because they do look like they have been cooked.
posted by vunder at 12:05 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

I would think pig. The stones of the wall look fairly old, is this at the back of a garden that could have been used as a privy/junk pile/midden?
posted by the uncomplicated soups of my childhood at 12:07 PM on September 24, 2015

Response by poster: They're way bigger than turkey or chicken bones. Probably (hopefully) pig or lamb. Not human though, right?
posted by Optamystic at 12:39 PM on September 24, 2015

How big are they from end to end? Because I've seen turkey drumstick bones that look almost exactly like the first one and that one was a good 12 inches from end to end.
posted by joyceanmachine at 12:42 PM on September 24, 2015

Fox?
posted by corvine at 1:04 PM on September 24, 2015

I agree with cabingirl; I immediately thought of a lamb shankbone such as is placed on a seder plate at Passover.
posted by RRgal at 1:04 PM on September 24, 2015

We live in North West London, so there's not much in the way of large mammalian traffic around these parts.

Then you'd be the only part of London that doesn't have foxes running around. I vote either a fox or something a fox brought in.

We don't really know how big they are though. The plants and wall arent' good at providing scale.
posted by vacapinta at 1:32 PM on September 24, 2015

Any chance you can pull them out of the ground and get clearer photos with something to show the size? I'm thinking maybe dog. Could be the grave of a previous owner's pet.
posted by Redstart at 1:38 PM on September 24, 2015

There are some positively huge beef and bison femur bones sold for dogs. I'm no good at bone identification, but those do look cooked and gnawed.
posted by thetortoise at 1:42 PM on September 24, 2015 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks all. OK, will take better pics tomorrow, but we're definitely leaning toward lamb.
posted by Optamystic at 1:44 PM on September 24, 2015

I thought turkey or goose.
posted by bonobothegreat at 10:02 PM on September 24, 2015

The look to have been roasted or smoked, like they sell for dogs.
posted by Neekee at 8:36 AM on September 25, 2015