Not so wondrous

From time to time, I see stuff out in the woods that jars, that does seem quite right.

-- On New Year's Day, Fran and I decided to take a walk down to the river (the Wild and Scenic Chattooga River.) At the Forest Service gate to this location, we found a large, fresh-killed black bear. Several of its claws had been clipped off. This carcass definitely seemed out of place. But the story did not end there: Some days later, someone severed its head off. Then, several days after that, someone burned the entire site. All that was left was part of the bear's rib cage, sticking up out of the charred earth.

-- In early spring, there were reports of avian flu affecting birds in this county. I'm not sure if it was the flu or not, but it was strange to run across a big turkey buzzard hobbling along a country road. It could not fly or get out of the way of the truck.

-- Then, just a few weeks ago, we came across the body of a dead broadwing hawk in an area of national forestland that had recently been crisped under what the agency terms a "prescribed burn." Someone had cut off this hawk's tail feathers, apparently as a souvenir trophy for the broad black-and-white bands that decorate this hawk's tail.