Ever find weird things while skinning animals? I skinned a coyote out tonight that had a ton of bird shot in his back. Not really surprised though as a lot of guys shoot at them while small game hunting. What crazy things have you guys found?

I get a lot of that here. seems like more so in foxes.

About 40%-50% here have butt shot in them not unusual to find old bullet scares in some also. Surprising to find that with bird hunting being so down the last few years.

Years ago found a very old broad head in a coyote. Just ahead of rear hip. All healed up for a long time. Great big lump I didn't understand until I skinned it.

Will

I find steel or lead shot in beaver, especially if I trap near a populous area.

Caught a Lynx with three bb's in its butt this year and one with a broken and healed rib cage and a piece of the rib healed between the hide and body.

Skinned a ‘rat a few days ago with a pus pocket the size of a golf ball on his hindquarter. Drained it off and found what looked like a number 4 birdshot in him.

Son shot a spring tom turkey with a 1" long x 1/2" diameter twig in its breast meat. Completely healed up. I would like to know the story behind that one.

Usually find bullets of some kind every year. The weirder ones, it could be just me though, is when you find ticks on the skin side and not the fur side of a coyote.

About ten years ago my friend was skinning a buck he shot and when he went to cut the back straps out there was a broad head in one completely surrounded by scar tissue, all healed up ina block. Wasn’t more than a 1/4 inch from the spine.

Had a double tag years back on the NE border shot 2 birds and on the way back to the truck they just stunk~ When I went to clean them one had a stick like above wrapped in scar tissue it stunk bad. My guess is it happened flying back up to the roost and into a branch.

Or during landing. They dont seem to care how many rows of corn they take out when they come in for their "landings".

428 porcupine quills in a wolverines back count? He must have been really proud of that meal he found. Me, I was not so impressed, when I found the first one. The rest were not as painful for me.

I also commonly find them stuck in my marten around the face and neck.

I, also, have found sticks in turkey meat. I believe, like Jerry, that they get that by flying into sticks. As for other weird stuff, I have wished for years that when I started my taxidermy career I'd saved all the bullets, bullet fragments, slugs, broad-heads, birdshot, and buckshot pellets I found while skinning and fleshing animals in the shop. I have no doubt that I would have been able to fill several mason jars.....and that wouldn't even count the ones that were used to kill the animals, just the ones from earlier wounding. Birdshot in bear was very common. Me thinks many homeowners blast a bear in the butt with fine shot under the assumption that it will make them vamoose without any real harm to the bear. Some of these beasts must have been miserable for a long time after some of the intentional woundings I found. As for unintentional wounds..... I have shot turkey and waterfowl (ducks as well as geese)that have had old pellet wounds that caused leg bones to be broken, then heal up after the bone slid down along the other half, resulting in legs an inch or several shorter than usual. Imagine how those birds got through that without Vicodin! Anyone, taxidermist or not, that has deer hunted a few decades will have stories of the terrible wounds they found deer to have survived. Some of these animals never limped or acted "gimped up" at all. I took in an 8 pt to mount once with a broadhead inside it's brain. I assumed it was a short tracking job, but found out the hunter actually had shot this particular buck with his rifle as it chased a doe through the woods!