A Whole Lot of Animal Heads Seem To Be Showing Up In Prospect Park
Now that it’s conceivably nice enough to take a walk in the park (albeit a brisk one), wouldn’t it be nice if, say, someone started leaving the heads of decapitated goats and chickens all over the place? Oh good, we thought so, too!
Gothamist has been on the decapitated animals beat for a while now (credit where it’s due), and after posting about a goat head found in Prospect Park earlier this week, were inundated with photos of other goat parts found strewn around the park in recent months. Seems sinister and like a weird counterpoint to True Detective, sure, but in actuality this kind of thing seems to get attention every couple of years or so. The severed heads are generally thought to be related to traditional Santeria rituals, which are legal.
What’s not so legal is just leaving said severed heads in public spaces for all to see; Gothamist notes that “the law requires remains be properly discarded,” and a priest of “African Traditional Religions” told the site that these errant heads aren’t representative of traditional rituals, in that “it’s disrespectful because when we normally dispose of an animal, it shouldn’t be found by others like that, especially in a park with kids or families.” Curb your dead goat, etc.
Anyway, something to keep an eye out for, or willfully ignore, depending. Yesterday brought the discovery of a “large platter” of rooster heads in Dr. Ronald McNair Park. Today could be full of fresh new joys!
Follow Virginia K. Smith on Twitter @vksmith.