FOLLOWUP: Admiral animal mystery partly solved

| West Seattle news | Wildlife

Last Saturday, we published a reader report from Barrett, wondering about a furred animal part that turned up in his Admiral yard. Others offered theories, and he pursued with wildlife experts. Here’s what he heard back:

The Woodland Park Zoo confirmed that it is in fact partial remains of a black bear. They offered 2 possible explanations. The first is that it was hunted and brought to West Seattle to be processed. These remains could be waste scavenged from the hunter’s property. Since it is way outside bear hunting season for Washington, this has been reported to WDFW. The second explanation the zoo put forth is that the bear traveled here from the east side and deceased from any number of urban hazards. Another great idea I’ve heard from a few people now is that the remains were dropped by a large bird of prey. This is a pretty good catch-all theory…and as a bonus it preserves some faith in humanity.

So the mystery is partly solved. (We have had a few past bear sightings …)

sam-c February 26, 2021 (4:50 pm)

Wow ! that’s amazing (black bear remains). Thank you for sharing the follow up information.

zipda February 26, 2021 (7:20 pm)

More likely West Seattle werewolf

1994 February 26, 2021 (8:05 pm)

Thank you Barrett for following up and sharing. Good to know what could potentially be roaming about. I saw an entire deer carcass on the beach at Lincoln Park years ago and wondered if it tried swimming cross Sound but the swim was too much for it.

M February 27, 2021 (12:10 am)

I’d bet a bird of prey dropped it. We occasionally get mysterious things – like fish parts, parts of small animals half eaten and bones in our yard. Super creepy – but it’s the birds from Alki that drop them! I have seen it happen a few times and was relieved when I realized it wasn’t a creepy neighbor doing it. I’d be curious to know if the remains are close to a large tree – where birds of prey like to sit and pick apart their food – much of which drops to the ground. It’s easy to forget how large our eagles and owls can get and how capable of killing a small animal they are.