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This dog was found mummified in a tree!

Credits: Screenshot Youtube / The Daily Woo

In the South East of the United States, a dog was found fully preserved in a tree trunk, like a mummy in a sarcophagus. So how did this come about? 

The Southern Forest World Museum of Waycross, Georgia (United States) houses an extremely rare specimen in its woodwork collection: a dog mummified in the trunk of a tree. This amazing story, going back to the 1960s, was told by a Reddit user on 10th January 2018.

It all started when a team of loggers were cutting trees in the Haralson region, on the border between Georgia and Alabama. While the loggers were filling their trucks with the fruits of their day’s labour, the corpse of a mummified animal was found in a chestnut tree. It was in fact a dog, with his mouth open and his paws seeming to have been frozen still while he was in full motion.

The loggers brought their find to the Southern Forest World Museum in Waycross, who decided to investigate what had happened. In 2002, the museum director Holly Beasley announced on the Jacksonville.com website that the dog, named Stuckie, was four years old when he died in the 1960s, and was probably taking part in a hunt with his master. The dog became stuck in the hollow tree, possibly on the hunt for a raccoon or a squirrel.

The body of the dog appears to have been frozen in time, and was found in a very well preserved state. According to Holly Beasley, this is due to the physical conditions inside the tree, which is a dry, confined space, in which the tree resin helped preserve the dog. Furthermore, the air hole at the top of the tree would have left out the smell of a decaying animal, which is probably why the smell didn’t attract insects or other animals which would normally get rid of all traces.

Sources : RedditMashableJacksonville.com