fossilized lungs? carved bone?  wave-etched beach rock? did any of you know what this was at first sight?  if so, i am really impressed, and can we meet for coffee?

it is the intervertebral disc of a whitetail deer. the cushionlike pad between the vertebrae. we human animals have the same thing. when we “slip a disk” this is the pesky thing that bulges out and often puts pressure on a nearby nerve. the spinal cord runs up through the vertebra at the notch in the top of the heart shape. we found the spine of a whitetail deer beside my son’s soccer field this summer. the bones were picked clean, but mostly intact. i am guessing the work of coyotes. most of the vertebrae had these discs still attached.  this one had fallen off.  the heart shape was so striking, that my son pocketed it right off.  today, i found it on his dresser, and have borrowed it to share with you.

whitetail deer intervertebral disc

found beside the soccer fields of chippewa middle school, shoreview, minnesota