I Found A Skull In An Apple Tree

Although I only have a container garden, my kid really wanted an apple tree so I busted out the biggest grow bag we have and went to go buy them one at the feed store. We get home and prep the bag with our container soil mix and open the bag around the tree to pull the roots out. The tree is stuck in the bag but the sawdust medium comes pouring right out. I tug at the tree some and my kid twists the bag and as soon as the tree comes loose a skull pops out onto their lap. Now my kid is screaming and tears form in their eyes and there rocking back and forth. I get the skull off their lap and toss it down to take my kid inside and try to calm them down. It looked like the top half of a lamb or goat kid maybe, it looked like it had polled horns as there were horn bumps that were perfectly smooth. I call the store and there like well you can bring it in or send us some pictures and we will contact the distributor. I bring it in and they take the skull and apologize, that's it. I'm not one to be a grumpy customer but I can't help but feel like maybe they should have offered me another tree or something or offer my kid a toy or tshirt or something to make up for the mildly traumatizing experience. I just hope my kid isn't scared to plant another tree (or more likely berry bushes due to limited space).

Gail,

That certainly isn’t a sight you see every day!  Hopefully the kids can get over the original trauma.  If you don’t expect to mount the skull or keep it as some momentous, I would think about leaving the skull in the potting mix.  Bone meal is an excellent source of phosphorus and I would expect an actual skull to be a sort of extremely slow release of phosphorus.

All in all, probably not a bad find.

Eric

Post some pictures. I would love to see it.
Also it is usually good post bad reviews with pics on the internet. Their PR group usually see it and help out. But if you go to the local store and talk to my cousin. Not much that he is going to do making effectively min wages.

Possibly a good time for some life lessons perhaps? Everything has it's time and place, death and decay is as much a part of the process as is the life we cherish. Everything we do has both positive and negative impacts on the world around us, both are equally valuable lessons to learn.

Ben Waimata wrote:Possibly a good time for some life lessons perhaps? Everything has it's time and place, death and decay is as much a part of the process as is the life we cherish. Everything we do has both positive and negative impacts on the world around us, both are equally valuable lessons to learn.

I agree. There are skulls/bones laying all over out here from the coyotes, big birds, bob cats, and stuff just passing on.

Eric Hanson wrote:Gail,

That certainly isn’t a sight you see every day!  Hopefully the kids can get over the original trauma.  If you don’t expect to mount the skull or keep it as some momentous, I would think about leaving the skull in the potting mix.  Bone meal is an excellent source of phosphorus and I would expect an actual skull to be a sort of extremely slow release of phosphorus.

All in all, probably not a bad find.

Eric

I already returned the skull to the store, my kid wanted it OUT of the garden. It was traumatizing because it was so unexpected and at first other than eye sockets and bone the skull was covered up so it was not too distinctively animal looking. My kids have watched deer and chickens being processed so with the reality of it being just an animal am sure my littlest will get over it. I usually make bone meal from my bone broth leftover bones by cooking them till there mush then putting in the dehydrator and then blending or smashing it up. I guess the skull is the reason it was the tallest tree with the most leaves in the selection at the store.  

S Bengi wrote:Post some pictures. I would love to see it.
Also it is usually good post bad reviews with pics on the internet. Their PR group usually see it and help out. But if you go to the local store and talk to my cousin. Not much that he is going to do making effectively min wages.

I took some pictures with my phone. It might take me a bit to figure out how to post them on here. Hopefully someone can help identify if my guess of a lamb or goat kid is correct.

Ben Waimata wrote:Possibly a good time for some life lessons perhaps? Everything has it's time and place, death and decay is as much a part of the process as is the life we cherish. Everything we do has both positive and negative impacts on the world around us, both are equally valuable lessons to learn.

Yeah, but having a partially covered skull fall out onto your lap and stare up at you is a little more stressful than a lifecycle lesson. My older kids have dispatched and processed chickens. My youngest, who this happened to, fishes and cleans the fish. We have antlers and turtle shells for decorations and when we go out hiking and find remains we try to identify what type of animal it is from. This is a kiddo that even enjoys dissecting owl pellets and tries to figure out what the owls last meal was.

Much ado about nothing. Your kid will now have another real life memory, not the fake stuff on tv.
Probably got there by accident or maybe a prank

Gail,

I guess if my kids wanted it out that badly I would do so as well.

Eric