Honestly looks a lot like someone stopped washing their braids, it grew into one solid encrusted shit-loc, and then they chopped it off.

Or it's a wig from the fifth circle of hell.

Edit - like, I can't definitively say that's what it is, but when you've been around as many homeless crust punks as I have, you've seen a lot of dread horror stories.

That is something I don't think I would pick up.

round these parts we call that a tumbleweave

It looks like they're in the dark taking a picture with the phone "flash". Any chance of getting pictures in better lighting and not holding it so there's less blur?

Here's a slightly improved picture:

Edit to add: also, at this point it looks like a "why the hell did you pick that up?" or an, "eww, you touched it!"

Wig turned inside out, and then some.

I agree it looks like a wig. But maybe we are seeing the “inside” that would be pinned into existing hair. Ask her if she can flip it over?

some fool threw a polyester hat in the fire

Macro plastic

Could it be a hairball from a big cat?

Cthulhu

Maybe trophies of some serial killer

It kind of looks like an overgrown hoof that's decomposing.