Anyone know what these are? (found in woods)

unit

unit

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Nov 22, 2009
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I took the boy on a hike here in central Missouri. We found these laying in the mud about 20 inches apart. They are basically identical except they are mirror images of one another. I would guess they are claws of some sort, but they seem a little big and long for anything I would expect in these parts.

Anyone got a good idea as to exactly what these came from?

I ask here, because you guys rock! Thanks in advance.

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after rinsing them off:

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I will post up more images from the hike later.

Thanks again.
 
Rodent inisors of some sort.. Juvenile Beaver, or adult groundhog or pocupine perhaps.. Either way cool Find.
 
No..Not teeth...Claws of some type. Possibly beaver or water Neutria. Rodent of some kind. Too big to be rat but maybe gopher or similar creature.
 
If I had to guess, I would say they are perhaps badger claws (a left, and a right).

I have no idea for sure what they are though. They have a slick almost greasy texture like ivory. One end is hollow (as if there were a root growing there) and the other end is worn blunt (like a dogs claw wears from walking on concrete).

If they were teeth, they seem pretty blunt and soft, and curved to an extent that hey would be ineffective for much.

There was not much else (that I found) around the area I found these (no bones).

I appreciate any replies.
 
Anrkst6973 said:
No..Not teeth...Claws of some type. Possibly beaver or water Neutria. Rodent of some kind. Too big to be rat but maybe gopher or similar creature.
Click to expand...

I am inclined to agree with you, but the area I found these has not had beaver for well over 10 years (possibly more). An area ~5 miles away had beavers in the area perhaps 20 years ago...I happened upon a very large (for this area) dead specimen of beaver in that area ~25 years ago and its claws were not this large (and they were black). Perhaps these could have bleached over time, but this trail is fairly well traveled...I would have expected them to be disturbed/destroyed before much change could have happened.

There is a fairly large lake nearby where these were found (perhaps a mile).

Thanks for the consideration!
 
I found this pic on wikimedia... carved beaver teeth from the Pac NW. Looks to me like what you found.
800px-Beaver_teeth_dice_-_Log_House_Museum.jpg



I'll defer to those with first hand experience, though.
 
Those look pretty close actually, though I can not see a flat side (they look round in that wiki image). The ones I found would somewhat resemble a "D" if you cut a cross section. They are "flat" side up in the last image I posted, and "flat" side down in the second last image.

I NEVER would have guessed these were teeth...they look more like a claw to me. Well...like my sig line says...
 
Looks like plain ol woodchuck teeth to me, I think beaver would be much wider if we compare adult to adult.
 
Yeah. Now that I hold them together with the "flat" sides together they really do look like teeth but a little narrower than I expect for beaver.
 
They're teeth, maybe a squirrel. If you never played around with a squirrel's skull, there's a lot of room for the teeth. If you find the skull, you will see that a big portion of the teeth can slide into it.
 
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