# Is there any truth to the "cow skull lying in the desert" trope? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 31, 2021, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586 "2021-10-31T22:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586/22 "2021-11-02T22:27:13Z")
Did you mean “alkali”? One of my Facebook friends has taught elementary-school science, and once took her class to a wooded area in the region to collect various specimens, including creek water. They actually found a cow skull out in the woods, here in Iowa. For her, that was quite a find. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2021, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586/23 "2021-11-02T22:44:53Z")
> [@sitchensis](#): > > I would say that bones would last a lot longer in arid areas. The supply would be smaller but the staying power would be decades. A few become fossils and can be found millions of years later. Ask [Sue](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_(dinosaur)), from South Dakota. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2021, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586/24 "2021-11-03T04:07:47Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I used to live in Taos. I’ve found quite a few cow skulls in the high desert. That would be “just around the bend” from Abiquiu, where that one woman could not find anything else to paint. (Just around the bend relative to most of the rest of us.) ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2021, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586/25 "2021-11-03T11:32:26Z")
For a time I lived in her old studio. It was cool because all of her art friends that stayed there wrote their names on the kitchen wall. Interesting history. ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586/26 "2021-11-04T23:34:33Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > That would be “just around the bend” from Abiquiu, where that one woman could not find anything else to paint. That’s “just up the street” from me. I have found bones (not skulls though) in some of our canyons. Tripler Non-radioactive bones, if-ya-get-my-drift. ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586/27 "2021-11-04T23:37:58Z")
# [Is there any truth to the “cow skull lying in the desert” trope?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586) Yeah, it’s real enough. I’ve seen dead cows in the desert while wandering around…as well as cows and other animals in various stages of decomposition (I know, totally yucky). And I’ve seen cow skulls on people’s property as well. I recall there was a bull skull with horns that was in my folk’s ramada in Tucson when I was a kid. I don’t know the exact cause of death in any of these cases, but I’d guess most are natural, not human-driven (or aliens 😛 ). ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2021, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586/28 "2021-11-04T23:57:20Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > I’ve seen tons of cow skulls/skeletons in the desert. And plenty live cattle, they’re free-grazed. > [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Yeah, a ton of the western US is desert, and cattle is a major agricultural industry in those areas. > [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > I used to live in Taos. I’ve found quite a few cow skulls in the high desert. > [@XT](#): > > Yeah, it’s real enough. I’ve seen dead cows in the desert while wandering around Ditto to all of this. I’ve been blocked on roads twice in the CA Mojave by belligerent herds of semi-feral longhorns. This was in very arid high desert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-any-truth-to-the-cow-skull-lying-in-the-desert-trope/953586.md?page=1)