Folklore and places · Brendan T. Byrne State Forest

How Dead Ostrich Bog got its name

Recorded oral history · Exact bog unlocated

An ostrich in a cranberry bog sounds like a Pine Barrens tall tale. A 1983 Library of Congress field recording preserves a forest superintendent’s firsthand account of the discovery—and of the local name it left behind.

A name made in the woods

During a driving tour for the Library of Congress Pinelands Folklife Project, Bethmann explained how a ranger, Peg Lister, took him to an overgrown, disused cranberry bog after finding a dead ostrich there. His account places the bog “out toward Mt. Misery, by Reeves Bogs” and says the discovery occurred about two years before the 1983 interview. As staff returned to the area for woodcutting work, “Dead Ostrich Bog” entered their radio conversations and became a working place-name. Read Hufford’s audiocassette log, pp. 23 and 26.

The detail matters because Bethmann was talking about how informal names arise. In the same conversation he noted that a named crossing could be familiar to only a few residents and never appear on a map. “Dead Ostrich Bog” records a moment when a surprising find became a shared reference point among forest workers; it is not evidence that the name was ever officially adopted.

What the story does not establish

Bethmann said the bird lacked its head and feet. He and Lister wondered where it came from and why those parts were missing. The log offers guesses, including an animal collection, but no owner, transport record, examination, or determined cause of death. The suggested explanations should remain guesses. The account also says wild dogs fed on the remains and the bird gradually sank into the bog; this is Bethmann’s recollection, not a documented wildlife investigation.

The interview describes a real discovery as remembered by a named participant, but no second record has yet confirmed the date, identified the bird, or located the specific bog. The state forest trail map labels Reeves Cranberry Bogs and Mount Misery; it does not label Dead Ostrich Bog.

Use the map carefully

The map circle is a broad orientation around Mount Misery and Reeves Bogs, not the ostrich find site or a route to a particular bog. The source never gives a road, grid reference, or walking trail. Visitors should use the state forest’s published trails and current access guidance rather than try to reach an inferred site through wetland or closed tracks.

Sources and next question

Mary Hufford, audiocassette logs, Pinelands Folklife Project, Library of Congress, pp. 23, 26 — Bethmann’s account of the find, informal name, and approximate vicinity.
Library of Congress collection finding aid — Identifies the September 21, 1983 tour, interviewer, superintendent, and surviving audio.
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Brendan T. Byrne State Forest trail map — Shows the named Reeves Cranberry Bogs and Mount Misery area.

A contemporaneous ranger log, photograph, or park place-name record could establish whether the informal name persisted and locate the disused bog more closely.