Ooops! Severed Foot Belongs To Bear, Not A Child

Alabama Foot Police say a severed foot brought home by a family dog belongs to a bear - and not a child as an orthopedic surgeon first thought.

by The Associated Press

Published: Thu, September 25, 2008 - 5:39 pm CST

RUSSELLVILLE, Ala. (AP) - Authorities in Alabama say a severed
foot brought home by a family dog belongs to a bear - and not a
child as they first thought.
Police in Russellville spent two days searching surrounding
wooded areas for a small child after a family dog brought the foot
to its home late Saturday.
Chief Chris Hargett says the structure of the bear's foot was
close enough to a human's to fool an orthopedic surgeon who
examined it. But forensic tests later found its origin.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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southfan1981 Says:

Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 11:23 pm

http://www.lab.fws.gov/idnotes/IDG11_BearHumanFeet.pdf

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/blog/view/113
“the bear paw is the closest mammalian anatomical structure to resemble the human foot. similarly, certain skeletal structures of pigs are often confused for human bones, such as femurs. forensic anthropologists use them to study human anatomy when human specimens are not available. that being known, ‘tis not VERY weird mix-up, i’d say. ’

mustuknow Says:

Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 9:42 pm

OKAY, pigs have hooves not feet and I can assure you that no childs foot that I have ever seen even looks remotely close to a pigs foot…...

southfan1981 Says:

Sat, Oct 04, 2008 at 1:58 pm

Golly, in fifth grade I read a short story that described how similar the two are. Dontcha know metatarsals and metacarpals for both species as well as those of pigs are surprisingly comparable. I am glad the doctor took his time to verify. At least he didn’t say, “I’ll get back to you on that one.”

mustuknow Says:

Fri, Sep 26, 2008 at 7:09 am

Funny Wait4Me!!! I just cannot imagine they looked that much alike. Wasn’t the skin texture different, or the soles of the foot or wasn’t the nails an indication???? Of course, now the question is WHERE IS THE BEAR?