As crispy fallen leaves on the ground marked September含羞草研究社檚 final days, Tracy Mildenberger was out running the same route Victoria area that she strides along every day.
While stopping to change her music, she looked up and saw what at first glance appeared to be animal hands or feet protruding from a pile of leaves.
Thinking it was a funny setup of Halloween decorations, she then resumed her run. But then she thought the arrangement being on the sidewalk was oddly public, so she decided to turn around as it dawned on her it could be an animal in need of help underneath the leaves.
Not wanting to get too close, she took a picture of the exposed extremities before going home and posting it on a Victoria Facebook page 含羞草研究社� asking the online members whether they thought it was a dead dog or a Halloween prank.
含羞草研究社淚 said look 含羞草研究社業 don含羞草研究社檛 know if this is funny or concerning,含羞草研究社� but could somebody else go check it out?含羞草研究社� she said.
What ensued over the next couple of hours was an evolving discussion about what the feet belonged to, who should brave taking a closer look and the group literally and figuratively getting to the bottom of the leaf pile mystery.
含羞草研究社淚t just turned into this hilariously amusing online debate,含羞草研究社� Mildenberger said.
The hundreds of comments began with people pondering whether the feet were real or fake, with some saying it was definitely a prank. Then Mildenberger had to fend off calls for her to be the one who should investigate, either by moving the leaves or using a stick to poke what lied beneath.
含羞草研究社淭hey said 含羞草研究社榃hy don含羞草研究社檛 you check it out含羞草研究社� and I said 含羞草研究社淲hy don含羞草研究社檛 YOU check it out,含羞草研究社櫤卟菅芯可鐫 she said.
Her curiosity was mixed with concern about a dog or child trudging through the leaves, so Mildenberger volunteered to drive people to the spot if they offered to wade into the pile含羞草研究社檚 unknown.
Even though it was the first animal that came to mind, she got a lot of flack from commenters for her hasty post asking if it might be a dog含羞草研究社檚 feet. Mildenberger herself was laughing at her own suggestion as she tried to stir the discussion back to the mystery at hand.
含羞草研究社淲hen they saw the pictures, everybody was like, honey, those are not dog含羞草研究社檚 feet,含羞草研究社� she said with a laugh.
Comments saying the feet belonged to a raccoon started pouring in as the friendly banter among strangers continued. There were demands for updates from those eagerly following the situation, with many others saying they were just there to take in the frantic and funny debates.
Mildenberger received multiple private messages during the five-hour discussion. One was from someone saying they couldn含羞草研究社檛 find the post and they wanted to sit down with a cup of tea and read through the entertaining comments.
Another was from the 含羞草研究社渉ero含羞草研究社� who wanted to help the animal and eventually bagged up what turned out to be a dead raccoon.
A third message was from a guy who offered to deal with the animal, but in doing so also proposed taking Mildenberger out on a date.
For the one who started the debate, its online attention was likely due to a mix of the public含羞草研究社檚 curiosity about the incident and concern for the animal.
含羞草研究社淎s it kind of progressed throughout the few hours I had it up, everybody was just laughing with me 含羞草研究社� and at me 含羞草研究社� and I was just loving it,含羞草研究社� Mildenberger said. 含羞草研究社淚 just had so much fun and I could tell everybody else had fun.含羞草研究社�
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