When should I be concerned about finding bones on my property?

[Battlepants]

So, suburb guy turned living a bit in the country. Bought this house around 6 months ago and the property was suffering some neglect (massively overgrown grassy fields, overgrown gardens, ect). Been clearing land to make it both useful to myself and easier on the eyes and I keep finding bones of various shapes and sizes in just random places.

Some examples:
Some flat long bone near the washout to the north of the house
Some ~2 sq inch bone flake in the front garden
Half a jawbone (with teeth) in the garage

It's worth noting that I do see the occasional wild animal make their way across my property, so very reasonable to suspect that these are animals that just got caught by some local predator.

Just... at what point do I get concerned and maybe call someone to ID these bones? Or is this one of those "just keep your head down, let nature be and carry something to defend yourself" sorta thing?

 

[SilverBirds]

I live in a heavily forested area and find bones all the time. You will have some sort of predator's which could include foxes, coyotes, bobcats, bears, raccoons, and opossums, that will leave remains of things they've eaten. I don't think getting them ID is really necessary.

 

[RoyalChick]

So, suburb guy turned living a bit in the country. Bought this house around 6 months ago and the property was suffering some neglect (massively overgrown grassy fields, overgrown gardens, ect). Been clearing land to make it both useful to myself and easier on the eyes and I keep finding bones of various shapes and sizes in just random places.

Some examples:
Some flat long bone near the washout to the north of the house
Some ~2 sq inch bone flake in the front garden
Half a jawbone (with teeth) in the garage

It's worth noting that I do see the occasional wild animal make their way across my property, so very reasonable to suspect that these are animals that just got caught by some local predator.

Just... at what point do I get concerned and maybe call someone to ID these bones? Or is this one of those "just keep your head down, let nature be and carry something to defend yourself" sorta thing?

Are you thinking they are human?

 

[Brooks_]

at what point do I get concerned and maybe call someone to ID these bones? Or

When they look human.

 

[Battlepants]

To the human question - I don't know. The jaw bone is too small to be human (honestly thinking racoon or something similar), but the others are very unclear what body part they even were.

 

[SilverBirds]

To the human question - I don't know. The jaw bone is too small to be human (honestly thinking racoon or something similar), but the others are very unclear what body part they even were.

If you would to post pictures of any you can.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

If it doesn’t look human I wouldn’t be concerned. If they do look possibly human you can contact the police through the non Emergancy number for your area. Finding animals bones is pretty common in the country wether it’s from wild or domestic animals. So not really anything to be worried about.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Just... at what point do I get concerned

When they serve a search warrant.

 

[RoyalChick]

To the human question - I don't know. The jaw bone is too small to be human (honestly thinking racoon or something similar), but the others are very unclear what body part they even were.

Share pictures we may be able to identify human or not.

 

[azurbanclucker]

When they serve a search warrant.

When they look human.

Beat me to it.