Today's Weird: Why Hang Up a Fish Skeleton?

Finding the skeletal remains of fish along the American River wouldn't necessarily be too much of a surprise for most Fair Oaksians. Finding the remains dangling, strung up on a stick, hanging from the side of a fence, however, is a little different.

Such was the case for Fair Oaks Patch reader Alan Canton when, taking his customary walk down the American River Parkway, he came across the skeleton.

He wrote in an e-mail:

"I took these photos at the south end of the Bridge Street bridge at 9:30 this morning. Maybe I should take these as a kid-prank and joke, but I find something very disturbing about whomever would take the time and effort to do this kind of thing and that maybe there is a "message" being sent or a statement being made?"

A call to California's Department of Fish and Game didn't elicit too many answers as to why someone would hang the remains, but spokeswoman Jeanine Phillips admitted it's not something her department gets many calls about either. Phillips was, however, able to identify the type of fish, which leads this reporter to ask two things:

1. Can you identify the fish this once was?
2. Why hang up a fish skeleton?

Are we missing something here? Is there more to this story than meets the eye? Let us know what you think in the comments section.