The Book The Blue Ghost Tunnel Making of a Legend has a new back cover.

Hauntings and Ghostly Activity on The Canadian Prairie

The wide-open prairie can be a spooky place late at night. I discovered this last weekend, while driving across the lonely stretch of land between Spruce Woods Provincial Park and Brandon. The pale light of the full moon made every cluster of trees seem haunted and gave the mist that hung over the land an unearthly glow.

Why was I travelling across the prairie at one o’clock in the morning, instead of being sound asleep in my tent at Spruce Woods' Kiche Manitou campground? My travel partner and I were heading towards the weirdest provincial park in Manitoba – the Criddle/Vane Homestead Provincial Heritage Park.

The Criddle/Vane Homestead sits at the end of a farm road, off Provincial Road 340, 40 kilometres southeast of Brandon. Percy Criddle brought his family over from England in 1882, hoping to make his fortune by growing wheat on the Canadian Prairies.

This sounds like the story of most immigrants to Western Canada during this period, but with the Criddles there was a twist. The Criddle family wasn’t like most families. Percy not only brought his wife and children to Manitoba, but he also brought his mistress and the children he shared with her along with them. For 24 years, this very unconventional (even by today's standards) family lived in a tiny loghouse on the homestead.

In 1906, Percy built a sprawling farmhouse for his large extended family, along with tennis courts and a golf course. Percy’s descendents excelled at both the arts and sciences, establishing a weather station and Manitoba’s first entomology lab on the property.

The family sold the homestead in 1960 and in 2004 it was preserved as a provincial heritage park. Local legend has it that the farmhouse is haunted by the spirits of the Criddle family. I’m not the type of person who believes in ghosts, but the opportunity to explore a "haunted" house was too great to pass up.

As my travel partner and I drove down the isolated farm road, the farmhouse came into view from behind a small copse of trees. In the moonlight, it looked like it could easily stand in as a setting for a zombie movie. If you’ve seen Night of the Living Dead, you’ll know what I mean.

We had been at the homestead earlier in the day and the house was spooky looking - even in the daylight. At night, the house looked downright terrifying. The light of the full moon and the mist rising off the ground didn't help.

We entered the house, flashlights in hand, and began our exploration. In the main hallway of the first floor, an ominous epitaph, "Get Out!" was carved deeply into the wall, but we attributed that more to local vandals and less to angry spirits. The house was empty, just a few tables and chairs.

We climbed upstairs and wandered through the six or seven bedrooms that housed the Criddle clan. There were a lot of creaks and squeaks emanating from the floor boards, but nothing that sounded supernatural.

Back on the main level, we discovered the stairs leading down to the basement. After a couple minutes of discussion -- mostly "You go first," "No, you go first" -- we decided that it would be better if we stayed out of the basement. We had both seen too many bad horror movies and a vision of the ending of The Blair Witch Project was flashing in both our heads.

Then we heard the howls of coyotes, not far from the farmhouse. Already a little spooked, we took this as a sign to head back to our campsite. In the end, we didn’t see or hear any ghosts, but the house on its own was scary enough. It’s an interesting site to visit during the daytime, but at night it’s down right spooky.

Arriving back at Kiche Manitou, we were pulled over by a conservation officer, who wondered why we were pulling into the campground that late at night. I think my answer, "We were exploring a haunted house," threw her off because she gave me a strange look and hesitantly said, "That sounds interesting…" I can imagine that was one explanation she had not heard before.

Kiche Manitou is the main campground for Spruce Woods Provincial Park. The campground sits on the banks of the Assiniboine River, just off Highway 5, 185 kilometres southwest of Winnipeg. To the north of the campground is one of the most interesting natural sites in Manitoba, the Spirit Sands.

Often labelled a desert, the Spirit Sands actually receives roughly twice the amount of precipitation that a true desert receives. This additional precipitation means that a lot of the sand dunes are covered in vegetation, however there are still many exposed dunes.

These dunes are relics of Lake Agassiz. Over 15,000 years ago, a much larger and more powerful Assiniboine River flowed into Lake Agassiz in this area. The river deposited 6,500 square kilometres of sand at its massive delta. As plants and wildlife colonized this area, only four square kilometres of sand dunes were left uncovered.

At the west end of the dunes is the Devils Punch Bowl. This pond is in a depression between sand dunes and is fed by underground springs, which give it an unnatural lime-green colour.

The hike through the sand dunes and to the Devil’s Punch Bowl is roughly 10 kilometres, and includes a few steep climbs through loose sand. The hike through the dunes is spectacular. The Devil’s Punch Bowl isn’t worth the trek.

Leaving Spruce Woods, we stopped next at Portage Spillway Provincial Park and Yellow Quill Provincial Park, two parks literally across the Trans Canada Highway from each other just outside of Portage La Prairie. Both parks are essentially highway rest stops, so not much needs to be said about them.

For the upcoming Canada Day weekend, I'm heading to the two most northerly road-accessible provincial parks in Manitoba, Zed Lake and Burge Lake, near Lynn Lake. It should be quite the adventure.

Haunted La Boheme, Bed & Breakfast in Edmonton, Alberta

Edmonton Sun, November 5, 2009

The tale of a woman who was chopped to bits and burned in the furnace at a northeast Edmonton building doesn’t scare people away.

In fact, it attracts them.

On Halloween, the 1912-era former luxury apartment building turned bed and breakfast was fully booked with guests curious to see the slain woman’s ghost.

“People just love it,” said Mike Comeau, co-owner and caretaker of La Boheme, 6427 112 Ave.

According to legend, Comeau says, the building’s original caretaker murdered his wife and dragged her down three flights of stairs.

“The word is he cut her up in pieces and burned her body in the furnace.”

The original coal-fired boiler where the gruesome crime is said to have taken place is still in use, though it’s been converted to gas.

Although the truth of the horrific murder is uncertain and there are no records of it at the city archives, many overnight guests say there’s a spirit haunting the creaky floored antique-style rooms.

Last winter, a regular customer was sleeping in suite 7, said to be the most haunted room when he says his bed lifted right off the ground.

“I was screaming, ‘Stop!’ and I was slapping myself to make sure I was awake,” said Larry Finnson, an advertising businessman from Winnipeg.

Another time a female employee was doing laundry in the dimly lit basement near the furnace room when she felt someone touch her.

She was so startled she ran up the stairs screaming and never came back, said Comeau.

Author Barbara Smith wrote about the bed and breakfast in her 1996 book More Ghost Stories of Alberta.

She doesn’t know the murder tale, but witnessed the unexplained while having coffee at La Boheme in the spring of 1995.

As she asked the former owner of the building if it was haunted, Smith said the lid of the sugar bowl lifted off the dish and onto the table.

“There’s a ghost there,” said Finnson, who described himself as a skeptic turned believer.

“The ghost ain’t gonna hurt you but it will freak you out if (it) wants to.”

Hatley Castle, Victoria, British Columbia

Here is a photo set from The Hatley Castle Investigation:

The Hume Hotel, Nelson, British Columbia

Sometimes you look for them in dark crypts and abandoned cemeteries. Other times you happen upon them in homes and in old battlefields. And sometimes you are drawn to them and they drawn to you. Here is the true tale of one night at the Historic Hume Hotel in Nelson, British Columbia.

The Nelson area has a rich history of exploration and mining. Explorers and adventurers employed by the North West Trading Company and the Hudson Bay Company were the first to enter the Kootenay and Columbia River valleys while searching for fur trade routes. David Thompson travelled the Kootenay River as well as the full length of the Columbia River between the years 1807 and 1811. In September 1876, gold was discovered at Forty-nine Creek, nine miles west of Nelson, resulting in a minor rush of prospectors from the United States.

The mining industry helped to create the foundation for a community and on March 18, 1897 the City of Nelson was born when the Letters of Patent were issued. The first mayor of Nelson was John "Truth" Houston. Once incorporated, Nelson became a hub of activity for the West Kootenay region. Sternwheelers plied the waters of Kootenay Lake and the West Arm, and development of the new city, including the construction of the Hume Hotel, proceeded quickly.

On March 17, 1898, the Hume Hotel opened with a grand celebration the likes of which had seldom been seen in Nelson. The fan-fair that accompanied the occasion underscored the sense of pride felt not only by J. Fred and Lydia Hume, original owners and one of Nelson's pioneer families, but also the local community in general. No consideration was left unchecked and the opening was a celebration of the skill, determination, and hard work that went in to the hotel's construction.

It also heralded a new era for Nelson, which had been incorporated the year before, and provided a sense of hope and optimism for residents of the new city as they forged ahead into the 20th century. Work on the Hume Hotel began on Saturday, June 12, 1897.

At that time, Nelson's landscape was considerably different from today. A deep ravine, created by Ward Creek, essentially divided the city in two, with the dirt roads of Vernon and Baker Streets passable only by way of wood frame bridges.

The Hume Hotel, which sat on the corner of Ward and Vernon, was an impressive figure within this scene. The hotel was designed by Alexander Charles Ewart, who carefully considered all the architectural details, from piazza views to bay windows to inset balconies. With much thought also given to ornate detailing and state-of-the-art amenities like electric lights and steam radiators, all for a total cost of $60,000, the hotel was indeed a marvel to behold.



After nine years of successful operation, on March 11, 1907, J. Fred sold the Hume Hotel to Wilmer C. Wells, a political man who served as commissioner of lands and works for two terms under Premiers James Dunsmuir and E.G. Prior respectively. Wells brought in his two sons, George and James, to run the hotel, and fully intended to construct additions in response to the growing demand in Nelson for first-class accommodations. Wells, however, never did fulfill his commitment, and on October 14, 1912 he sold the hotel to George Benwell, an hotelier of considerable repute, for a sum of $85,000. Benwell's tenure irrevocably changed the Hume Hotel. Following the revolutionary architectural standards of Frank Lloyd Wright, in May 1929 a massive interior and exterior renovation was completed.

The Hume Hotel was so different in appearance that it was, as described in the Daily News, "hardly recognizable." The magnificent cupola, which towered over Vernon and Ward Streets, was removed; the balconies were extended outward flush with the exterior walls; the entrance was moved to its present location; and many other changes were made. Benwell, following in Hume's footsteps, also considered modern amenities and state-of-the-art technology a necessity. He installed a telephone exchange and phone in every room, a dumb waiter, a French steel range, steam tables and electric dishwasher in the kitchen, and an icemaker capable of producing 600 pounds of ice daily. The level of service, sophistication, and general hospitality excellence, which were hallmarks of the Hume era, were also the hallmarks of the Benwell era.

By 1979, the Hume Hotel was in a serious state of deterioration. Benwell had sold the hotel in the 1940s, and after a series of owners failed to keep up the standards established by Hume and Benwell, the Hume Hotel was nearly condemned. Bills were left unpaid, the power was disconnected, and it sat empty for several months. Ernie Rushworth, who at that time carried the first mortgage on the property, called on Dave Martin, who had helped Rushworth successfully revitalize a run-down hotel in the Yukon.

He asked Dave if he would be interested in the purchasing the Hume. After careful consideration, the purchase was completed and an exhaustive heritage restoration project began. Nelson was undergoing a similar initiative in the same period so the timing was excellent. In December of 1980, the Hume Hotel was reborn as the Heritage Inn, and once-again became a proud symbol for the people of Nelson. The restoration project took one million dollars to complete, twice the original budget, and was carefully undertaken by designer David Thompson. The massive renovations were wrought with pitfalls—the interior was completely gutted and the hotel's electrical and plumbing systems redone. A number of hidden treasures were revealed during this time, many of which have been carefully restored and are now part of the Heritage Inn ambiance. In the Library Lounge, for example, you can see the original old brick fireplace, which had been hidden from view by a plaster wall.

Adding to the success of the project, many local residents provided antiques, photos and artifacts to decorate the interior, and local trades people recreated many of the original embellishments, sometimes working from old photographs. The opening ceremony, on December 8, 1980 was an auspicious occasion, with many local dignitaries in attendance.

The highlight of the night was the presence of three generations of Hume descendants: Freeda Hume Bolton (the 80 year old daughter of J. Fred and Lydia), her daughter Dawn, and her grandson Jay Fred Bolton. Freeda presided over the ribbon cutting ceremony and 'knighted' Dave Martin Sir Lancelot. In 2005, major changes to the hotel’s exterior façade were completed which included an outdoor patio for the General Store Restaurant as well as the hotel’s signature rooftop ‘crown’.

For twenty-five years as the Heritage Inn, the Martins continued the tradition of hospitality excellence started in 1898 by J. Fred and Lydia Hume. At the completion of the exterior renovation, the hotel went back to its roots to be renamed as the original proprietor once titled it, the Hume Hotel, paying homage to a local legend and a storied history on the corner of Vernon and Ward Street.

Members of the Hume family were again on-hand for the festive grand re-opening as they were exactly twenty-five years ago.

The Investigation Begins

As always, I begin my investigations with no knowledge of the history or the haunt. I come in fresh and with an open mind. I owe it to the reader and more importantly to myself to see what truth comes out. I arrived at the Hume Hotel in late afternoon on a very hot and smoke-filled summer in 2009.

The BC forest fires raged in the interior and tourism was low. I pulled in Nelson noting all the historical structures and the beauty of the city itself. Pulling into the Hume I felt a distinct welcoming feeling, a calling if you wish. I entered the front entrance and immediately I felt eyes on me. I was being watched. This same feeling overpowered my wife as she entered as well and on several occasions she mentioned it. The eyes that were watching us were piercing and they emanated from a portrait of Lydia June Hume which hung on the staircase.

I also got the feeling that something was not right and my attention was brought to an elevator. The elevator was installed sometime later and the shaft blocked the magnificent view of the grand staircase. Checking in, I got to choose my room save for one that was pre-booked. I chose the 2nd floor. Room 221. Room 221 was actually historic Room #4 and #5. You see, during the early days, hotel rooms were not that large and most did not contain a washroom at all. The redeveloped room was a combination of two historic rooms. The room was very comfortable and offered a fantastic view of the Provincial Court House incidentally the same view people paid top dollar for to see a public hanging in the front yard.

The room above- 335, was the prize room for the viewing. The Hume held a lottery to see who would get the room and the best view. This room was the one that was previously booked. I guess the view is still the best. I toured around Nelson and came back to conduct an investigation. It didn’t take too long to meet the ghosts of the Hume face to face. Firstly, I found myself wondering the hall ways and staircases. At each level I felt as if someone was following me. A female. “Mrs. Hume?” I asked. But did not get a response. Mrs. Hume, who I assumed was following me stopped at the 3rd floor and did not continue further. Coming back down I spotted a poem on the 2nd floor. It’s title? The Ghosts of the Hume Hotel. Interesting I thought. They know this place is haunted. I got the immediate feeling of suicides, murder and thievery.

I continued on to the other rooms and into the bar and restaurant and found nothing other than the distinct feeling of being watched and followed. I returned to my room and lay on the bed when suddenly an apparition appeared.

A man in a strikingly dark suit and fedora. He sat in a lone, empty chair smiling as he puffed on a cigar. He knew I saw him because he smiled when I squinted my eyes and strained to see the illusion.

The man tipped his head as to say, “Hello” and then melted away. I had the feeling this man had a secret. His secret I knew by the smile on his face. Without a spoken word more, I knew his secret. I waited, patiently and did not see him again. I shuffled in the bed and turned on all my recording devices. The night was peaceful for me and I had one of the best sleeps I could ask for. My wife, on the other hand, did not. She, too, saw an apparition. She saw a male pacing in the room back and forth and then sitting on the bed itself. She believed it to be me, but then saw me fast asleep beside her. Startled and scared she was going to wake me when the vision vanished.

That morning, in the shower, wondering what I had picked up on EVP, I heard a sentence spoken to me as if a person stood next to me. “You’ll have a safe trip lad.” When I returned to my home I checked for any recordings and found none.

My photos, also, proved to hold no ghostly images. Now it was time to do my research. In 2005,

The Nelson Paranormal League, a group of Paranormal Enthusiasts filmed their documentary Haunt at the Hume along with Thea Trussler a psychic who conducted a reading on the structure.

A brief clip is available one Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlaGaPZwyYE which shows a teaser of the documentary. For more info contact the NPL at 250-505-5016 or email nelsonparanormal@shaw.ca

Over the course of the last 75 plus years there have been recordings of strange happenings at the Hume Hotel. Many guests and employees believe the ghost to be that of Fred Hume himself. Room 335 of the Hume Hotel has become synonymous with paranormal activities.

Stories from guests include the full physical manifestation of a man in a top hat raising his brandy snifter in a cheer to an incoming guest. One guest asked to be moved to a different room, stating she had never experienced such a phenomena, and while she felt no malicious intent from the figure, she was certainly uncomfortable knowing she would be sharing the room. Staff have experienced numerous occurrences of paranormal activity including the television set turning on and off of its own accord, the tap beginning to drip as they are doing their cleaning duties and despite the best efforts of repairs, it continues to do so without measurable reasons. Temperature fluctuations are also a regular occurrence, often times attributed to paranormal activity.

The room has its own history, as conveyed in the film, The Haunt at the Hume. It is believed there was a prospector who favoured that room as his meeting place for an illicit affair. His love of the room may explain the appearance of the man in the top hat. Room 335 also has a darker past.

The only hanging to occur in Nelson stirred much attention and the entertainment factor of a hanging seemed to inspire the hotel to capitalize on the morbid event. The hotel sold lottery tickets to gain the best viewing rooms of the hanging that was to occur in the yard in front of the courthouse. The readings Thea conducted on the room had her experience the excitement of the day and then the sheer horror of a man being killed.

The shock that reverberated through the winning lottery ticket party was palpable in the very walls of the room. Why was room 335 denied on my investigation? Was Lydia Hume following me as I enjoyed my time investigating the Hume and who was the man in room 221? Was he the same as witnessed in 335 or simply a different spirit altogether?

The Hume is there, waiting. Waiting to be discovered and the secrets revealed.

http://www.humehotel.com
http://nelsonparanormalleague.blogspot.com/
http://www.intuitivedirections.ca/thea_trussler.html

Out of the Dark: The Photo Album

Here is a direct link to the photo album. It will be updated for each investigation we do.

http://www.solarismarketing.ca/outofthedark/gallery1/Out%20of%20the%20Dark%20Photos/index.htm

Episode Three: The Apartment

The Out of the Dark team investigates one of the team's private residences. J.J. Brewster, investigator takes the team to his house to find out what is keeping him up at night. The team utilizes a Ouija Board and witnesses objects move by their own accord.

J.J. Brewster has since moved to a new residence, as with the other many previous occupants. Find out who is haunting and what they want.

Director’s Notes:

Out of the Dark investigator J.J. Brewster has expressed that he perhaps is experiencing something in his downtown Calgary residence. He invited the rest of the team to perform a Quija Board session to speak directly to the spirits who have been causing him sleepless nights.

The team witnesses an object move on its own accord and uses the Ouija Board to speak to the spirits of J.J.’s home.

J.J. has since moved out of the residence, as several previous tenants have done. According to a neighbor, “No one really stays for very long.”

Episode One: The Lougheed House

The Out of the Dark team investigates one of Western Canada's most influential family homes - Historic Lougheed House in Calgary, Alberta Canada.

Does this sandstone mansion dating back to the 1890s hold the spirits of the past? The Out of the Dark team investigates.

Director’s Notes:

When I first spoke to the director of Lougheed House he explained that his house is not really considered haunted and being a historic and cultural centre he did not want the property exploited for the sake of entertainment.

We spoke at length about my ideas, methods of investigating and my devotion to investigating homes with possible spirits. Shortly thereafter, we were granted an all-access evening to investigate the home and the grounds.

This was the first investigation the Out of the Dark team conducted. Unfortunately, team member Angela Watt could not make the time commitment. For the others it was an evening of awe of the history, majesty and mystery this grand mansion provided.

It was first time any of them had stepped into Lougheed and my second. The team was oblivious to the location until the final minute and heard nothing of the history or rumored haunting. For some it would provide a déjà vu experience, while for others it would only add to their skepticism.

Buffalo Jump Station, Alberta, Canada

Buffalo Jump Station was once a thriving stop for rail travelers and motorists driving the Trans Canada Highway.

In 1883 the CPR had laid tracks and developed a railway station to accommodate travelers heading to and from the booming town of Gleichen and the new Siksika Nation lands.

The communities thrived through the 1920s and 1930s but after WWII the town of Gleichen saw its population drop from over 1000 to just 300.

Buffalo Jump Station remained in business servicing automobiles and selling native arts and crafts. But motorists with more fuel efficient cars drove past the station and in the early 1970s it was abandoned.

The CPR railway station was moved west of Cochrane, Alberta. The large garage fell in the 1990s and was completely destroyed.

The prairie lands are still, save for the sound of the wind and the passing transport. The land also echoes history and longing.

A mile to the west is a cliff over which the Natives used to drive buffalo, and to this day buffalo bones may be found there. Twelve miles to the southeast, the great Chief Crowfoot is buried, and nearby is a cairn commemorating the signing of Treaty No. 7.

But passing motorist and rail travelers will never know. They will never hear of the tales of the early pioneers nor will they hear of the tales of buffalo hunts and bloody Native battles.

And they will never know that the Station is said to be haunted by two Native spirits.

I approached the Station building and the door suddenly swung open. An invitation or simply a gust of wind?



The Station sits on a cinderblock foundation that has fallen inward causing a great deal of damage to the structure. The first floor held a craft room, a kitchen and washrooms. I felt nothing in the first room, but as I approached the kitchen I noticed a hole in the floor leading to the basement.



The kitchen offered no more than silence. The washrooms were completely destroyed and again, this area felt lonely, but not haunted. The second floor and stairs were so rotten I could not proceed.



I made my way to the back of the house and peered into the basement. It was filled with liter and so much damage that it was dangerous to go further. Three of the four cinderblock walls had given way.

But here I could sense something. But I could not pick up anything more. I knew something was here and then I turned and went into the backyard where the feeling was more prominant.

It was a spirit. Not connected to the Station, nor the CPR, nor the pioneers. This felt old, very old. I got the words "I wander" as the wind whiped by my ears. A storm was coming. The spirit was gone.

I made my way to where the garage and CPR station were and found nothing but scraps on the floor. I proceeded to walk the grounds, but found nothing else of interest. The wandering spirit was no where, yet, as I looked out at the vast, empty prairie I knew it was everywhere.

The Wheatland House

By John Savoie

On a lonely road, overtaken by nature and the unforgiving prairie landscape, a house appears to have weathered over a 100 years of life only to be left abandoned and empty.

The farmhouse in Wheatland County has attracted the attention of myself and a few sensitive individuals over the course of the last two years.

On one impromptu scouting trip we arrived close to 11pm as the sun made its way over the rocky mountains and darkness covered the land. The house reflected the last rays of the warm rays and cast eerie shadows across its yard.

We peaked inside the windows and we listened. A friend noticed a wispy smoke-like movement from one side of the front bedroom to the hallway. He immediately backed off and went around the other side of the house and with a frantic voice said, "I'm not going in there."

I felt an energy also. One that pulled me in to investigate and also one that warned me to stay away. I chose my gut instincts and followed my friend around the side of the house and took a few pictures and decided to come back for a full investigation another day.

On June 29, 2009 I made my way back to the property and brought along with me a psychic and also my investigating equipment. I arrived during daylight hours to take full advantage of my surroundings.

I made my way through a tangle of shrubs, bushes and trees as a falcon screetched above in the cloudless sky. I found the front door and opened it slowly, cautiously, in preparation to meet any animal or circumstance. The main living area was in terrible shape with a red sofa against one wall.

The front bedroom door was closed and did not feel inviting. I turned and walked into the living space and snapped a few pictures of this room and the window which overlooked the western sky. This room felt lonely, but did not feel threatening or haunted.

I quickly turned and once again looked to the closed door. Something was in that room...I could feel it. But I didn't open that door, not yet. Something was warning me deep inside and I could sense it. Someone was keeping that door shut for a reason. It held a secret.

I made my way to the back of the house where I found a second bedroom, a kitchen and a mudroom. The mudroom held a feeling of hard work, loneliness and longing.



I returned once again to the front of the house and concentrated on the door and what lay beyond. There was something behind it. A spirit. I could sense him. I snapped a picture of the door and then proceeded to open the door.



I opened the door feeling a rush of a spirit wash over me and then dissipate as if it did not want to be sensed nor disturbed. The room was small and had one board covered window. It also contained the stairs leading to the crawlspace under the house. I waited in this room, recorder, camera, video tape and EMF detector all activated, but the spirit who was guarding this room was gone.




In this room with no view, in the crawlspace on the left side ledge was a single, silver key dating back to the turn of the century. What was it for? Was this the guarded object?

My companion psychic never entered the house. Instead she remained outside and said she was not welcome inside.

I made my way around the property and we walked the acreage noting an old site for a vegtable garden. Dark clouds covered the sun and night was fast approaching. In the back yard I found the skull of a young cow - perhaps the dinner of a coyote or perhaps a warning.

Below are additional photos of the house: