(The sheriff's suggestion of food storage might be the best explanation; Montana did host the Unibomber for many years)
http://www.helenair.com/articles/2009/05/13/local/60lo_090513_chickens.prt
Hiker finds headless chickens in tree
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 05/13/09
A woman hiking up Austin Road near the railroad crossing made a macabre discovery Tuesday afternoon when she found seven headless chickens hanging from a tree.
The woman, who declined to file an official complaint, said she was hiking up Austin Road near the first railroad crossing on early Tuesday afternoon.
Along her hike, she took a right above the rail shack when she saw the dead animals strung in the tree. None of the chickens had their heads.
“It didn’t look like they bled out there, because there wasn’t any blood on the ground,” said Lewis and Clark County Sheriff Leo Dutton. “They cut them down and threw them off the trail.”
Dutton said it looked like the chickens had been in the tree for about a week. He called the incident “worthy of note” and said it was posted on the department’s bulletin board.
“You never know what it is,” Dutton said. “This is kind of out of character. It could be a ritualistic thing, or it could be that someone living off the land stored them up there. There’s any number of things, but it’s worth watching.”
Reporter Martin Kidston: 447-4086 or mkidston@helenair.com
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