LOOK! Skull found along a popular NJ hiking trail – What animal is it?

(More photos below)

It's not something you come across every day. Just how often do you find a skull while going on a hike?

It's one of the many reasons why I remain observant while I'm in the woods. From snakes to turtles, and everything in between, New Jersey's forests are always full of surprises.

Fortunately, the bones we found were not human. If they were, then I'd be calling the authorities instead of sharing our findings here.

How we found them

My son asked if we could go for a hike on this particular day. He found a branch that he thought belonged to a particular type of bush and wanted to compare it to some other bushes he knew grew in the area.

The weather was nice, so we decided to head out. We live in Monmouth County in an area where a lot of trails already exist, so we didn't have to travel far.

We head to an area that my son wanted to go to. Again, he was on a mission to find a particular plant.

But while we were hiking, something else caught our eye. It wasn't on the trail, but rather off to the side in the woods.

What is that?

We saw something whitish that looked out of place. It didn't seem to match the other rocks in the area, nor was there anything else around it that matched.

So we decided to walk toward it since curiosity got the best of us. As we walked closer, we noticed a few other odd things.

The first was what we clearly could tell was a bone. It appeared to be a backbone, but I wasn't entirely sure.

More scattered around

My other son, who wasn't with us at the time, loves to study bones. Ever since he could talk, he's always said how much he wants to study bones or be a Paleontologist when he grows up.

So we decided to take this particular bone with us so we could give it to him. But we didn't have to go far to find even more.

This time, we found bones that appeared to resemble ribs. At least, that's what we thought at first. Check it out.

That's no rock

After pondering what these could be, we decided we'd bring these bones home as well. Now at this point, we were very close to the object we set out to see in the first place.

And from where we were now, it became clear that this was no rock. In fact, we would eventually realize that all the bones we found thus far were part of this one that caught our eye in the first place.

What we found was some sort of animal skull. And those other bones were also part of it.

What a find!

This really excited us. And my son, who was with me, couldn't wait to bring this home to my other son, who loves to study up on bones.

Would he have any idea what this could be? Do you have any idea what this could be?

What would you do if you came across a skull like this? Would you also take it with you, or leave it behind? Such a cool find!

Pretty much intact

Here's a look at the underside of the skull. Notice the rows of teeth still perfectly intact?

In fact, the only teeth that appear to be missing were the two front ones. I don't know why, but that's what it was. Once we were home, we were able to piece all of it together.

The other bones we found were actually part of the lower jaw. Oh, and a side note. One of the teeth on this skull was loose, so my son decided to jiggle it out. Here it is below.

It all came together

Along with what was the lower jaw, that first bone we thought was part of the spine seemed to be part of the neck, which, of course, is also part of the spine.

When my other son came out to look at it, he claimed he knew exactly what it was - a deer skull. Yes, my 9-year-old son knows more about this stuff than I do.

We brought this home to him because we knew he'd like it. Just check out below how it looks when you put it all together. Such an awesome find.

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 Sunday morning host & content contributor Mike Brant. Any opinions expressed are his own.