Again with the boar's head...

Most peculiarly, the Bangor Daily News reported that a rash of various animal body parts and animal home invasions peppered the Hancock area the other week. Even more oddly, it all seemed to be the result of perfectly natural animal behavior. Shown here is a more traditional "with garland" version of a boar's head, as opposed to the more contemporary "at the end of the driveway" Maine version.

Woman finds boar's head in driveway
By Bill Trotter
Wednesday, March 19, 2008 - Bangor Daily News

BAR HARBOR, Maine - A wild boar's head was found Monday in the driveway of a local home, but at this point there is no reason to think there is anything suspicious or criminal about the incident, according to police.

A woman returned to her home on Sand Point Road around noon Monday to find the severed head in her driveway, Officer Thom Tardiff said Tuesday. The head seemed to be the result of a recent kill, he said.
...
The woman is a dog sitter and speculated that one of the dogs she is taking care of may have found the head somewhere and dragged it into the driveway, the officer said. He said the woman had the head moved into the nearby woods.
...
"Hopefully, it’s the last boar head I see in the near future," he said.

It’s not the only strange animal incident Tardiff has dealt with this week. The officer also received a report of a severed deer leg found March 12 on Route 3 between Champlain and Dorr mountains. The leg bore old wounds, he said, and could have been severed when the deer was hit by a vehicle. No three-legged deer was found at the scene.

Also on March 12, Tardiff received a complaint about a basement being trashed in a home on Barberry Lane. Someone or something broke in through a window, knocked over furniture and tore down exposed insulation, but did not go through any unlocked doors, he said. A basement door that leads outside had been forced outward, bending a bolt that had held it shut.

Based on the damage and the apparent path the invader took in getting into and out of the basement, Tardiff said, it appeared a bear was to blame, though there was no sign of claw marks or bear tracks in or outside the home.

"It was very odd," the officer said.

view full article by clicking here: [Source]

Horse Dies after Mystery Attack

Thanks to Amos Quito over at New England Anomaly for picking this up. A sad story, and another question mark on the board of possible mountain lion encounters in northern New England of late.

Officials Say Mountain Lion Unlikely In Horse Attack
Family's Show Horse Fatally Wounded

WHITEFIELD, N.H. -- A Whitefield family said Monday that their beloved show horse was attacked and killed by a mountain lion, but experts said that's not possible.

Shirly Smith said that something attacked her 15-year-old palomino, Miss Dixie, nine days ago.

"She was just whinnying, and then we saw blood everywhere," Smith said.

The Smiths moved their other horses inside after they found Miss Dixie with scratches and gouges in her flesh.

"We got cold towels to put on the worst wounds on her chest to stop the bleeding," Smith said.

Despite emergency surgery, the horse didn't survive.
...
"Just judging from the width on the flank, it could possibly be a bear," Fish and Game Officer Matt Holmes said. "Considering what animals inhabit the area, that was the only thing I could come up with."

The Smiths said they believe a mountain lion could be responsible, but experts said that's unlikely. The Fish and Game Department gets about 100 reports of mountain lion sightings every year, but they said it has been 100 years or more since mountain lions roamed the Granite State.

Wildlife expert Rob Calvert said that he believes a bear might have startled the horse, setting off a chain of events that fatally injured her. Because of his finding, the state will pay for the Smiths' veterinarian bills, which added up to $600.
[Click here to read full story: Source]

Photo of Miss Dixie from WMUR site.