A Kirk Michael man regrets not informing archaeologists of a strange skull his pet had come across during a walk.

Liam Rice has spoken to the Examiner after Manx National Heritage (MNH) last week announced that a 10,000-year-old giant deer skeleton was discovered without its head on the shore near Kirk Michael.

The 24-year-old explained: ’My mother shared an article about the skeleton missing its head with me and asked "do you not remember?"

’I then skimmed through my Instagram and put two and two together, as there was a photo I’d taken in October of a skull I’d found near Orrisdale, while on a long walk from Kirk Michael towards Ballaugh.

’Luna, my dog, had found it by sniffing it out.

’Originally I thought it was a sheep’s head.

’It looked quite cool and so I thought "should I take it back?" I also thought about decorating it and then selling it on eBay, as some people do that,’ said the art enthusiast and Manx SPCA worker.

’I picked the skull up, but decided that I couldn’t be bothered carrying it all the way home, as it was quite heavy. It was also a bit gross and I didn’t really want it in my house.

’However, I went back the next day to get it because I thought it might be something the Manx Museum might be interested in, but it was gone.

’Either someone got it or the tide had taken it.

He added: ’I’m annoyed that I had the chance to bring it in and I didn’t.

’I’d taken a picture with it, so I had the opportunity.’

A prehistoric animal skeleton was later spotted by members of the public in the same area, who contacted the Manx Museum.

The remains were excavated by a MNH team last month.

Its head, antlers and the top of its spine were nowhere to be found.

Having looked at Liam’s photo, Laura McCoy, curator of natural history with MNH, believes his discovery is ’definitely’ of a giant deer skull.

However, she is not 100% certain it is the exact missing head.

She said: ’It’s like asking "if you have found a leaf, which tree did it come from?"

’We need the chance to test the skull to know for certain.

’It’s still wonderful to get Liam’s photo and that he thought to take a picture of it.

’It was also quite handy that there was a dog in the photo, which gave the skull some scale.

’We think a lady who has got in touch has the missing skull, which we will go and see at some point.

’But this will need tests for a conclusion to be drawn.’

She added: ’It’s nice that people are excited about it and thinking about contacting MNH and the Manx Museum.’

One possibility of why no head was found, listed by the curator, included the deer’s body becoming trapped in a bog with its head exposed to the elements or scavengers.

Laura added: ’We’re now waiting for specialists, who’ve been studying this specimen for a long time, to come over and analyse the skeleton.

’What’s really exciting about this find is that we can take samples of the specimen and what was found around it, which will give us some context.

’The last specimens, including the one in featured in the Manx Museum, were collected more than 100 years ago and so we don’t have the samples that were around those skeletons.’

Liam and his dog Luna made the headlines recently when images of the two - mirroring each other’s expressions - were shared on social media.