# Mammoth bone found near Goose Lake in Wiscosnin **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269 "2010-02-09T13:00:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2010, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/1 "2010-02-09T13:00:08Z")
Mammoths are one of those prehistoric remains you’ll find in Wisconsin. A man found the 33" bone last fall. [Here is the article with a picture.](http://portagedailyregister.com/news/local/article_bde1c72a-153c-11df-9d22-001cc4c002e0.html) I hope they find more of the skeleton this year. I’ve always wanted to find a mammoth bone during my wilderness meanderings, but no this guy does. :mad: I also hope to find a nice sized diamond in the glacier rubble on day, which is even less likely. One can always hope and keep an observant eye looking about. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 6:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/2 "2010-02-11T06:34:45Z")
“Arzigian said the item is too large to be the bone of any mammal currently indigenous to Wisconsin.” [Amy Poehler] Really? [/Amy Poehler] ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/3 "2010-02-11T11:52:52Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > “Arzigian said the item is too large to be the bone of any mammal currently indigenous to Wisconsin.” > > [Amy Poehler] Really? [/Amy Poehler] I thought who really needed to say that. The bison and cows just don’t get that large. I suppose it could be Babe the blue ox’s grave.:eek: We did have circuses in Wisconsin so I suppose it could have been an elephant from one of those. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/4 "2010-02-11T15:25:08Z")
Next week this will progress a bit further in determining what this find means. [Today’s article.](http://portagedailyregister.com/news/article_cdbf7d30-16cd-11df-a97d-001cc4c03286.html) This could eventually be a major find in Wisconsin, which we haven’t had for ages. Even if it’s only this bone it’s worth the attention. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/5 "2010-02-11T15:46:43Z")
Hope it’s a mastodon instead. They’re way cooler. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/6 "2010-02-11T16:41:42Z")
I heard they found a goose in Mammoth Lake in California. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/7 "2010-02-11T17:14:30Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Hope it’s a mastodon instead. They’re way cooler. I figure there is just as good a chance it’s a mastodon. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2010, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/8 "2010-02-11T19:42:05Z")
I wish I had a mammoth bone, I’d put in in my pocket! I’d like to buy some happiness, but noone seems to stock it. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2010, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/9 "2010-02-16T13:51:07Z")
The bone is some type of elephant. Tentatively it’s an immature mammoth. [Today’s update](http://portagedailyregister.com/news/article_dbdd00ee-1aa2-11df-991d-001cc4c002e0.html) ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/10 "2010-02-17T05:03:48Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > I thought who really needed to say that. The bison and cows just don’t get that large. I suppose it could be Babe the blue ox’s grave.:eek: We did have circuses in Wisconsin so I suppose it could have been an elephant from one of those. My comment was based on the photo in the article. I wonder if even elephant bones get that big. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/11 "2010-02-17T05:09:12Z")
Interesting follow-up articles, Harmonious. Keep us posted. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2010, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/12 "2010-02-17T05:11:32Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > My comment was based on the photo in the article. I wonder if even elephant bones get that big. I am an expert. I once rode an elephant for about 30 seconds. With several other people. At a Ren Faire. (Where is that smilie for poshness?) ---
**Author:** ![Harmonious\_Discord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/74df32/32.png) [@Harmonious\_Discord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonious_Discord)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/13 "2010-03-23T13:05:17Z")
[Bone returned.](http://portagedailyregister.com/news/local/article_5cb56af8-3637-11df-a8c3-001cc4c002e0.html) It’s been stated that there is a 95% chance this was a left humerus from an elephant. I think this is just a random percentage that came out of the guy’s mouth. I have to disagree with a statement that said the find was near Circus World Museum which is in Baraboo and the former site of The Ringling Bros. Circus. The bone was found near Oxford. We had a lot of circuses in this state. There was a train wreck 40 miles north of Oxford in 1910 involving two elephants being killed. Nobody will likely ever know where the elephant came from. Too bad we lucked out on a new mammoth find. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/14 "2010-03-23T13:54:01Z")
> [@Harmonious\_Discord](#): > > The bone is some type of elephant. Tentatively it’s an immature mammoth. > > [Today’s update](http://portagedailyregister.com/news/article_dbdd00ee-1aa2-11df-991d-001cc4c002e0.html) Nitpick: mammoths aren’t a type of elephant. They’re both proboscideans, but elephantidae and mammutidae are separate families within the order. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/15 "2010-03-23T15:34:26Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Nitpick: mammoths aren’t a type of elephant. They’re both proboscideans, but elephantidae and mammutidae are separate families within the order. [Mastodons](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mastodon) are mammutidae, [mammoths](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth) are elephantidae. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mammoth-bone-found-near-goose-lake-in-wiscosnin/528269/16 "2010-03-23T16:16:50Z")
Oops. So they are. :smack: