The author did indeed say that, I should know- he’s me! I do appreciate the non-worm possibilities you are offering. To be honest, if I had thought of the intestine hypothesis myself, I would have included that in this article. It is an interesting bit of speculation, and probably at least as likely as a worm 8 inches in diameter. The grossness factor also seems about right, but I agree the color is perhaps not a good match. Very good input on your part anyway, and I thank you for doing the research on intestine diameters of various species. You are braver than I. I dread to think what Google images turns up on that.

I still wonder what a huge piece of horse intestine would be doing torn off and laying discarded by the side of a river, but you are right, without knowing the area, it is indeed hard to say. I don’t have a lot of information in that regard except to say that apparently it was a fairly rural area, which leads me to think a butcher shop in the immediate vicinity is unlikely, however you never know. It certainly seems worth considering as a possibility in a bizarre case like this, where there are so many unanswered questions. All we can do is speculate. Nothing wrong with throwing these ideas out there, and I’m glad you did.

Considering the apparently decayed state of the carcass piece, and the proximity to the river, I too considered the possibility of bloating. It would help to explain the size of the thing, and is well within the realm of possibilities. We all know that bloated, decaying carcasses can exhibit bizarre appearances, and an organ like an intestine would be likely to do so as well.

To clarify about the length estimate, the two who found the piece based that purely on the hefty diameter of the thing and the assumption that it was indeed a section of worm. I would not lend too much scientific credibility to that estimate, as it seems to have just been a guess posited by those that found it.

Whatever it was, it certainly was weird. I appreciate your input on the matter.

I also wanted to let you know that your words of praise for this article were very much appreciated. They really meant a lot to me, so thank you. I really do try to put my all into researching and putting these articles together so knowing they are enjoyed makes it all worth it.

Cryptidsrus- Yeah, I’ve never had too much of a problem with worms, but I certainly think I can understand the aversion some people feel towards them. They sure aren’t the most charismatic organisms.

Hope the images provided here didn’t ruin any meals.

“…and how it might have ended up detached and left by the side of a river like that.” As to detachment, I’m sure there’s lots of ways, but any one would be speculation, especially without knowing the area. This could have been downstream from a butcher shop for all we know. But I’d say it’s a good possibility that whatever was found wasn’t left by the side of the river but washed down the river, especially as the author notes there was some decomposition. Hmm… actually, if it had been in the water, whatever it is (intestine, worm, etc.) could have swelled considerably. When I was a youngster, my brother and I had some pet salamanders, one of whom decided it would no longer eat store-bought salamander food anymore. My brother took to catching worms at night and feeding them to the salamander. I’ll say from personal experience that a piece of worm left in water for less than 24 hours does indeed swell up. Maybe it was a giant worm after all, one that also plumped up from water absorption! Just another thought.

By the way, let me commend you Mr. Swancer on an excellently written piece, thoroughly researched and brimming with useful information. It raised all sorts of thoughtful possibilities without straying from the facts and made several intriguing connections between disparate cases and places. Oh, and the pictures alone are enough to give me nightmares. Thank you for one of the most well-researched and thought-provoking articles on any subject matter that I’ve read in the last few months.

What if it was actually a piece of *intestine* from an animal, and not an animal itself? That would explain the tears, the skin, even the segmentation:
http://www.saburchill.com/images02/080106041.jpg

“In neighboring New Zealand, there is another large worm known as the North Auckland worm… which reaches a length of … 4.5 feet. These worms have the added … feature of glowing in the dark. By some accounts, the light the worms emit is said to be bright enough to read by.”

Ok, which Kiwis out there want to pitch in and help me make Loren the world’s most exotic (and disgusting) book light for Christmas?