Startling images of blood-soaked snow have sparked a host of terrifying theories about what could have left such a gruesome scene in a breathtaking setting.
Luca Mehl came across the bloody mess without a carcass in sight during a day of skating on Crescent Lake on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula.
He was surprised by the bright red snow and took a series of photos as he investigated what could have happened before him.
In a message at Facebook, he posted the question on the Internet to explore the possibilities, sparking a fascinating debate.
“Hunters and outdoorsmen,” he wrote on December 21. “I saw this murder site while ice skating on the Kenai Peninsula, Alaska. Quite a small campsite without bones or intestines.
Mehl also found tufts of white fur that he believed to be from a Dall sheep and “large brown feces (wild animal feces) that appear to be composed primarily of grasses.”
‘I saw no sign of towing or transport. It’s a big wide open lake (frozen) and I expect I could follow a drag trail or see debris nearby,” he added.
More than fifty people shared their thoughts, with some suggesting that the feces came from the dead animal’s intestines and may have been all that was left of it.
Others thought the animal’s carcass might have been frozen beneath the lake.
Pictured: the bloody scene Luc Mehl discovered days ago while skating on Crescent Lake
The murder location is depicted from a different angle. Mehl posted these photos on Facebook in hopes of getting opinions from others
‘I’d say the brown stuff is the contents of the rumen, not feces. What was the terrain like above the location. Could a Dall sheep or a mountain goat have fallen there?’ Jordan Manley wrote.
The rumen is a digestive organ found in cattle, sheep and goats. This makes it possible that the carcass once at this location could have come from a Dall sheep or a mountain goat, both of which are native to Alaska.
Most viewers seemed to agree that it was a sheep or mountain goat that had died, although there was disagreement about what or who had killed it.
“I suspect they are poachers due to the strange location,” wrote Sean Doody. “But possible predation by wolves.”
“A bear would have been better at taking the carcass than wolves,” Roman Dial argued.
‘Father-in-law is a trapper, hunter and conservationist. He says brown bear and mountain goat (from the gut pile). The hair is too long for a sheep. And everything else ate it,” Elisabeth Balster Dabney theorized.
One person came up with a hypothesis that didn’t even require anyone or anything to kill the animal.
‘If an ungulate ends up in an icy lake, it usually cannot get up or get out without help. “He may have landed on the icy lake and was unable to get back up because he slipped on the ice,” they wrote, adding that birds could have feasted on the body for an extended period of time.
The feces Mehl found, although others thought these brown deposits may have been the stomach contents of the animal that was killed
This piece of hair led Mehl to believe that the dead animal was a Dall sheep
This phenomenon has happened observed in white-tailed deerwho sometimes have to be rescued from frozen lakes in which they become trapped. Their hooves provide no traction and after a while they exhaust themselves trying to break free.
Another shared a version of this theory, writing, “I suspect eagles killed or swept away a fallen sheep that couldn’t get up. I found several deer remains on the ice. Skeletons were far from complete. Eagles may have taken parts.”
One person even claimed to have seen eagles dropping mountain goats. This is another natural phenomenon that has been observed and even captured on video.
One video posted on YouTube 16 years ago showed a giant eagle fighting a mountain goat on the edge before grabbing one of its legs with a claw.
The eagle then ripped the goat off the cliff, causing it to fall hundreds of feet to its death. The eagle flew away unharmed.
Several other people thought the blood Mehl found was left behind because a landslide disabled or killed the animal.
Perhaps the most mythical theory presented was that a mountain lion was responsible for dragging the carcass.
Mehl said this was not possible, but there are in fact rare sightings of lions in Alaska, according to the state report. Department of Fish and Game. So rare that locals consider them Bigfoot.
Pictured: A female mountain lion stands in a grassy area
“Mountain lion sightings are reported every year in Alaska, but the cats are so rare in the state that stories often take on the mythical quality of Bigfoot sightings,” according to a Department of Fish and Game blog post.
“Reports have come from as far north and west as the Kenai Peninsula and the Palmer area.”
Mehl disagreed with people who thought the animal was dragged there by poachers or a predator.
“I didn’t see any sign of towing or transportation. It is a large wide open lake (frozen) and I expect I could follow a drag trail or see debris nearby,” Mehl wrote.
Mehl also contacted McClatchy News and put credibility behind the idea that an animal could become trapped in the ice and slowly die as scavengers fed on its flesh.
“Earlier this winter we saw a diver stranded on ice in the same lake,” Mehl wrote in an email to the outlet.
‘No open water for him to fly from. And it looked injured, probably because it had been partially frozen into the ice the night before. It was doomed.’