CLENDENIN, W.Va. (December 2, 2009)—A mysterious egg that a hunter found in central West Virginia turns out to have been a practical joke.

Days after Sherman Farley found a giant egg while hunting near Clendenin, another man has admitted he planted it in the woods as a joke.

Prankster Herbert Herold said he got the ostrich egg from Benedict Haid Farm, about three miles from where Farley found it.

Herold left it in the woods, hoping his brother Bill, who was hunting nearby, would find it, but Farley found it first, and the 4.5-pound egg with a diameter of 18 inches had wildlife experts puzzled.

Farley's wife, Rosie, has emptied and bleached the egg, which now sits on her kitchen counter.