For spring break, I visited my sister who lives in Naples, Florida with her husband and two kids. They just moved to a new neighborhood, and there is a relatively large woodland area behind her house. In the beautiful 80 degree weather, I stepped outside to investigate with my brother-in-law. The trees were very different from those I would see in Vermont. Instead of maples and oaks, there were palm trees and Jamaica Dogwood. Unfortunately, I did not see any live wildlife in this spot. I did, however, see a Great Blue Heron while driving one day.
Anyway, my brother, Matt, led me through the brush and thorns to something very interesting… a skeleton. Like a full skeleton. Head, body, extremities, everything. It was pretty large, too – maybe the size of a raccoon. Its head had huge teeth and long, sharp canines.
Its body was pretty typical, but at the end of its legs was something strange. Instead of normal feet, there seemed to be paddles of some sort. I still am not sure what they were or what the animal was, but the mystery of it is pretty exciting.
Decaying corpse with paddle-like feet (?)