If a picture's worth 1,000 words...

...then I'll spare you trying to come up with the 1,000 most disgusting words you can come up with, along with a bit of gagging, and not post a picture of what I found yesterday. Kelly and I went over to the house to take care of the pool yesterday afternoon, and I made a bit of a gruesome discovery in the skimmer basket. When I first pulled it out of the pool, I thought it was weird that there was something white and slimy in the basket; when I shook it out on the ground, I discovered that it was the disembodied leg of... a raven? a chicken? a hawk? I'm telling you, this bird was BIG, and it had some serious talons too. So, of course, that begged the next question... where the heck was the rest of the carcass?? I went cautiously poking through every crook and cranny of the pool, pump, traps, deck - but nothing showed up. The only thing I can figure is that someone's cat took down this bird, and only made it into our yard with the leg. Though, with the size of the bird, I wouldn't be at all surprised if I found the body of the cat somewhere too. It might have killed the bird, but I'm guessing that it took a beating in the process. Ick. Ick. Ick. Needless to say, I put in an extra chlorine tablet, just for good measure.