I saw this on my way to school a few days ago, lying on the sidewalk on Merivale Avenue. It was about a foot long. I have no idea what it is. It looked like rabbit fur wrapped tightly around a metal cylinder. But why would anyone wrap rabbit fur tightly around a metal cylinder?
Maybe it is part of a wrecked electric shoe buffer? The metal part turns and the fur buffs your shoes.
I was thinking it is the insides of some sort of muffler. THe fur is for both thermal and noise insulation and the whole thing fits inside another can.
An electric rabbit?
A very intriguing mystery.
The end sticking toward the camera in the second photo looks like it’s supposed to be on the ground. Standing it up that way might give more contextual clues.
Other questions include: is the bottom part stretched, or was it always wider than the base? Is the top part of it (or any part of it) attached to the cylinder, or is it loosely held on?
– RG>
Yeah, I am pretty sure it’s not fur. It’s some sort of insulation – asbestos or fiberglass maybe. I think the tube it is wrapped around got hot, not noisy. Get a stick and pull off the insulation so we can see the metal part…
Something to do with heating or exhaust, probably from a small engine or furnace or the like the fur is fiberglass insulation – it’s just old and dirty.
Papa Pan and I concur.
But why does the first picture have legs?!
Damn, I was wondering where I left my [redacted].
I have no idea, but I’ll bet Duncan would.
Were there any greyhounds lurking around?
I’m glad so many of you believe it’s a car part. I was hoping it was something innocuous like that. I kept thinking a rabbit had met an untimely end somehow. (Although GC’s right, it does look like there are feet in the first picture.)
Oh, and Julia? I didn’t touch it or bring it home, so I can’t peel back parts to show you other views. I left it there, and it was gone the next morning.
Probably just as well. If it was asbestos or even fiberglass, you’d have wanted to wear an hazmat suit!