An isthmus cuts through a swamp near my home. Brush, trees, and thorns clutter the terrain. Winter is the best season to explore it. The ground isn't mucky.
A game trail led me into the morass. There I discovered a deer skull.
Parts of the head were missing. Pine cones filled a cavity that housed its brain.
How did the animal die? An ambush by coyotes? Those carnivores are prevalent where I live. During winters they hunt in packs. They might have figured out that deer funnel through this isthmus.
Have coyotes turned the isthmus into a killing zone? During another hike through here, I found the bones of a different creature.
People are intrigued by skeletal remains. Why the fascination? Perhaps it's not bones alone that pique curiosity. What's also garners interest are the locations where living creatures took their final steps.
The site of death--a location--and the sight of death--bones--reminds us off our mortality.
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