Pursuit
Bertha said it was a hunting dog. The beast probably was chasing its prey, a raccoon or squirrel, and followed it through a hole in the tree deep into the trunk. The beast turned out to have died in 1960 and to have been about four years old. This finding sent a wave of shock through the room. They had all been convinced that the dried up body had ended up in the tree much longer ago.
It seemed as if the dog himself had sensed how dire its situation had been, since he had tried his hardest to force his way out. Scratches could be found all around him, probably caused by its frenzied escape attempt. He had climbed higher and higher in the tree trunk and probably hadn’t noticed that the trunk was getting narrower.