Dogs reacting in Tipton County, Tennessee

On Sunday night July 15 (about midnight) I walked out of my garage and I smelled something musky, like a buck in rut or wet dog and I commented to my father about that, but just shrugged it off. It was overcast that night. On that particular night, across the road at another neighbors house, I could hear dogs barking, figured they were barking at coyotes or deer, at about the same time I could smell that musky smell. On July 16th, I walked out of my garage to leave for work at about 7:30 am, when I noticed that one of the trees in my yard had a limb that was hanging down. I did not think anything of it at the time, except that I thought it was weird, since on the day before, there were no storms, heavy wind and the limb was fine, because I had mowed around the tree on the afternoon of July 15. I returned home from work at 5 pm, changed clothes and decided to go look at the limb. I noticed that the limb was not broken in two, like someone had hung on it, but twisted so that is split. I took some clippers and cut it off. The more I thought about it, the more I was puzzled, so I decided to go out to the burn pile that I had laid it on, and cut the twist out of the limb and take it inside to study closer. Showing my father, we both were puzzled. The limb looked like if you took a rope and twisted it, and the middle of the rope separates. Enclosed are some photos that I took of the area, the limb and tree, along with an aerial photo showing where the tree is located and the layout of the land. I did search for footprints and any other evidence, but there were none to be found. I will also be getting the twist checked out, I only wish I would have kept it together and on the tree to begin with, since it would have been easier to study. Lesson learned this time. There has been no further sightings, or damage found since.