PARK SLOPE — A severed goat head was discovered in Prospect Park on Monday, park officials confirmed.
The animal body part was found Monday when David Rabig was strolling in a wooded area about 9 a.m. with his girlfriend's Boston Terrier, Leo.
The dog chased a squirrel up a tree near the Lincoln Road entrance and then sniffed out the head, which was laying under a dusting of snow with the number "93" printed on a tag in its ear.
"At first I thought it was a frozen squirrel or kitten, then I saw the tag and horns and realized what it was," Rabig said via email. "I would describe my reaction as unsettled."
He added that there were no footprints around the head, which was first reported by Gothamist, so he assumed it was placed there sometime before the snowfall Sunday night.
Rabig alerted a park worker about his discovery later in the day, he said.
He said the worker "acted genuinely scared and told me not to disturb the head."
Another goat head was found in the park about four years ago, the Prospect Park Alliance confirmed. "This is not a regular occurrence," Prospect Park Alliance spokesman Eric Landau said.
Prospect Park frequenter and wildlife enthusiast Mary Beth Artz said the goat found four years ago was "possibly used for Santeria or other religious rituals."
Goat heads were not the only unsettling animal parts to be found in the park, Artz added.
"A few years back cow tongues were found nailed to trees," she said via email. "Chickens are often seen, both dead and alive — the alive, often wandering the park until rescued."
Workers in the park on Tuesday said they've made other animal-related discoveries in the park in the past several years.
"They dump goats, chickens, dogs," said an employee who's worked in the park more than 25 years. "I remember back in the 80s we had to get a dog out of the lake. They just dumped the head. We never found a body."
