Vulture Vision! Or Zombie Bambi's travel, part 3

[wraithfodder]

This is gonna be brief, and to not offend the sensibilities of those who would prefer to pass on the nocturnal doings of a dead deer, sticking it under the cut...

 

Well, we'd planned to moving Bambi's remains to the back yard, the woodsy rarelyl trodd upon by mere mortals, er, humans, but then on Saturday morning,  I looked out the window. Wow, a turkey vulture. A BIG black turkey vulture was busy poking and ripping and tugging at the remains (which now consist of skull, spine, half the rib cage (as the rest had been chewn off) and one hind leg.)  I have binoculars so spent a while just watching the vulture trying to dismantle the bones and then walking off across the lawn to search for giblets.

So, the remains are still feeding the animal population outside and since you have to actually look for the remains, we're going to leave it for the time being - out own private Wild Kingdom Animal Planet Show. Plus we figure if we move the bones, the vultures might not come back for the scattered entrails, which fortunately are dwindling in size but well, I'd prefer those bloated black bits be gone.

And the other two legs, and pile of fur and ears, were untouched as of this morning, but I figure if something really wants them, they'll find them. Did notice this morning that the bones had totally changed position, and all the flesh/fur was taken off the lower leg and the hoof had been gnawed into. I was thinking the lower leg wasn't going to get touched, but I was mistaken. I'm still waiting to see if anybody cracks open the skull, but I've seen deer skull in rivers, etc. and the skulls are usually intact. Bugs might eat brains but I think raccoons, etc. are just passing on that organ.

I might post some pictures but if I do, yes, there will be plenty of warnings, or maybe I'll just upload to Flickr (as there is a large roadkill contingent on that site, really) and point toward links...

But, this has been a fascinating CSI-type experience in seeing just how a carcass gets eaten down to nothing. And it's been six days now and the coyotes, vultures and whatnot have done a pretty good job, considering there's a road not far away and they get disturbed.

And that's it for now. :)

Comments

[libra-traveller.livejournal.com]

Heh heh. Sounds exciting, or disgusting, whichever ;)

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Well, psuedo exciting. It is interesting to watch.

[squonk79.livejournal.com]

Sooooooo gross and yet at the same time, so interesting!! It's bcome like a morbid fascination now, reading about bambi!!

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Yup!

[poetryfiend.livejournal.com]

Wow, nature really is the most amazing recycler!

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Yup, and what bones may be left... I'll recycle into the back yard, the WAY back overgrown area.

[poetryfiend.livejournal.com]

I think I prefer the green bins version we have though :) It doesn't smell so bad. Maybe you could set a version up for the vultures/coyotes etc? One bin for bones, one for flesh, one of the icky bits in between... :P

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Well, I visited the body today (hmm, this is like my own private body farm, come to think of it) and there was very little smell. I figure I'll give it a few days, and if certain pieces just don't move, I'll go around with gloves and a bag and pick 'em up and put them in the 'grave' area out back...

Ha! REcycling bins for coyotes, vultures and 'other' ;)

[poetryfiend.livejournal.com]

Hey! The rest of us are supposed to be recycling & looking after the planet. No excuse for other lifeforms just because they don't have opposable thumbs!

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Heck, animals do a lot better job recycling than humans, that's for sure!

[poetryfiend.livejournal.com]

But they lack coloured bins! They aren't *tidy*!

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

And they drag their food all over the lawn. In fact, the whole front lawn or at least 2/3 is now 'contaminated' with zombie bambi scent...

[poetryfiend.livejournal.com]

Exactly. Animals are untidy creatures and would benefit from a coloured bin system. Of course given that most animals do not see colour, we would perhaps have to admit this to 'smell' bins or different textures.

[wraithfodder.livejournal.com]

Hmm, scratch 'n' sniff? ;)