posted March 09, 2014 11:20 AM            

Mary Zeldenrust said Saturday that she spotted the remains along the side of Patricia Drive, around the corner from her home.

She called police to respond and speculated that it could be part of some kind of religious ritual.

She said she thought at first someone was trying to bait a bear -- that is until she approached the scene.

"At first I did not comprehend what I was looking at," she said.

Zeldenrust said she saw two terracotta-style plates, with a baby goat or sheep head on top, and a rooster head on top of the goat or sheep head. Around the perimeter of each plate was an arrangement of feathers.

A third, larger plate had white linen covering it, like a tablecloth, Zeldenrust said. When she lifted the sheet, she saw the remains of a large mutilated chicken.

"I just saw some feathers and a lot of blood, and I just put it back down," she said.

Zeldenrust said she has never seen anything like it, though someone did dump a box that held a deer head and broken legs in the area last year. She said she believes that was different, though, and was probably a poached deer.

Zeldenrust said it did not seem as though the animals had been killed at the scene, but they were left in the open.

"Whatever took place took place somewhere else," she said.

Zeldenrust said in researching online, she believes it could be permitted for a group to kill animals as part of a sacrificial ritual. But as the owner of six dogs, four of them rescues, she was shocked.