In many areas the ground and water in the CA foothills
is already contaminated with high levels of “I don[‘t know exactly
what, maybe nitrates?” from the settlers/miners having been buried on the
properties.Last time I checked,
the remdering co was charging somewhere around $300
for picking up a carcass. I personally could not deal with seeing my beloved
animal (she wasn’t mine but was in my care for quite some time) hauled
away in a stinking truck, so I did the natural thing, hid my special little
pony behind some big rocks and waited. Unfortunately, the coyotes & turkey
vultures didn’t like the location, so it took longer than expected, usually they work so quickly there is no smell. We
did have a little odor, for a week or so, only detected when I went to the
middle of the pasture, which was a vacant pasture also. No bears to worry about
here. I looked up decomposing on the internet the week we had odor and what I
should’ve done initially was cover with shavings, hay, manure, etc. I
never had to do it though as the smell was gone sooner than I could get decomp materials added. I’m happy with my choice.
Kathy
Ed wrote:
In some areas, if there is enough room so the
neighbors won't complain of the smell, it is ecologically fine to allow the
body to decompose on the surface. This feeds local scavengers like hawks,
eagles, buzzards and coyotes. Unfortunately, this is most likely a bad
idea here because two species of bear are part of the cleanup crew.
