LANGLEY, Wash. – A puppy is being credited with unearthing a piece of prehistoric history along Puget Sound in Washington state.
An Island County dog owner says his pup literally dug up a woolly mammoth tooth from his own back yard.
Kirk Lacewell says he has lived in Langley for about six years. His dog Scout isn’t his first pet, but he’s been a fun new addition to his family. A few weeks ago, Kirk noticed Scout paying close attention to something in his back yard.
“I saw him with what looked like a rock to me one day a couple months ago, I didn’t think anything of it,” said Lacewell. “The next day he had that rock again.”
Something about Scout’s find seemed off to Lacewell so he cleaned it up and called the experts at the University of Washington.
“I called the museum over there and the paleontologists examined the pictures and told me this was part of a woolly mammoth tooth,” said Lacewell.
He told KCPQ the tooth could be 13,000 years old and although the discovery wasn't a first for Western Washington, it certainly was for Scout.
Now Lacewell and his neighbors wonder what other prehistoric treasures could be hiding underneath the soil on Whidbey Island.
“Andy Warhol said everybody’s going to have fifteen minutes of fame,” said Lacewell. “Well, Scout and I are famous for fifteen minutes now.”
Lacewell says he plans to keep Scout’s find as a family heirloom and in the coming months, who knows what other gems scout can sniff out from his own back yard.
“If we find the rest of the woolly mammoth in the backyard we’ll call you back,” he said.
