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Index of Subjects ------=_Part_21133_29150252.1215519553508 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline Dave's comments are essentially correct. Whenever I deal with a carcass of anything larger than a chipmunk or weasel, I gut it and skin it, then let my beetle colony deal with it. I think burying it has absolutely nothing to do with efficient skeletonization, rather it has to do with public annoyance. For large animals, the flesh may dry as Laurie mentioned, but it's still organic, and it will be eaten...it just takes a few years if no one hydrates it. I had a Minke Whale skull on my land that took three years before it was done. It's now in a teaching lab at StFX. Dave also mentions, like many, many other people...ants. This may work in the tropics, but ants are virtually non-existent on the many carcasses in the field that I've dealt with...some which I've put there, some which I've encountered. By far and away, flies (in their maggot form) are the dominant scavengers, and are the first to arrive at the scene (often within seconds...which is why they make a powerful tool in forensics). Beetles and wasps are there as well. This afternoon, I'm taking out a group of high school students in StFX's Summer Academy program...I've got a road-killed deer and nuisance beaver planted for them to look at - the gross factor should be really cool - especially in this heat! Randy 2008/7/7 David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>: > Hi All, July 7, 2008 > Having no experience in these matters I can only imagine events from > first principles but I would expect most of a whale to rapidly become anoxic > and this would lead to very slow decay rates that approached zero. The > rationale being, that the skin and blubber layer would act as an O2 barrier > and initial decay, within this barrier, would rapidly decrease O2 to near > zero. > > Consequently I think decay rates would be greatly enhanced if skin and > blubber were removed from at least half (whatever ends up facing upward) of > the surface. Also it should be covered with topsoil or at least compost with > some mineral component and given a good seeding of ants and flesh/hide > eating insects. > Yt, Dave Webster > > Randy _________________________________ RF Lauff Way in the boonies of Antigonish County, NS. ------=_Part_21133_29150252.1215519553508 Content-Type: text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Disposition: inline <div>Dave's comments are essentially correct. Whenever I deal with a carcass of anything larger than a chipmunk or weasel, I gut it and skin it, then let my beetle colony deal with it. I think burying it has absolutely nothing to do with efficient skeletonization, rather it has to do with public annoyance.</div> <div> </div> <div>For large animals, the flesh may dry as Laurie mentioned, but it's still organic, and it will be eaten...it just takes a few years if no one hydrates it. I had a Minke Whale skull on my land that took three years before it was done. It's now in a teaching lab at StFX.</div> <div> </div> <div>Dave also mentions, like many, many other people...ants. This may work in the tropics, but ants are virtually non-existent on the many carcasses in the field that I've dealt with...some which I've put there, some which I've encountered. By far and away, flies (in their maggot form) are the dominant scavengers, and are the first to arrive at the scene (often within seconds...which is why they make a powerful tool in forensics). Beetles and wasps are there as well.</div> <div> </div> <div>This afternoon, I'm taking out a group of high school students in StFX's Summer Academy program...I've got a road-killed deer and nuisance beaver planted for them to look at - the gross factor should be really cool - especially in this heat!<br> </div> <div>Randy<br></div> <div class="gmail_quote">2008/7/7 David & Alison Webster <dwebster@glinx.com>:<br> <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="PADDING-LEFT: 1ex; MARGIN: 0px 0px 0px 0.8ex; BORDER-LEFT: #ccc 1px solid">Hi All, July 7, 2008<br> Having no experience in these matters I can only imagine events from first principles but I would expect most of a whale to rapidly become anoxic and this would lead to very slow decay rates that approached zero. The rationale being, that the skin and blubber layer would act as an O2 barrier and initial decay, within this barrier, would rapidly decrease O2 to near zero.<br> <br> Consequently I think decay rates would be greatly enhanced if skin and blubber were removed from at least half (whatever ends up facing upward) of the surface. Also it should be covered with topsoil or at least compost with some mineral component and given a good seeding of ants and flesh/hide eating insects.<br> Yt, Dave Webster<br><br></blockquote> <div><br>Randy<br>_________________________________<br>RF Lauff<br>Way in the boonies of<br>Antigonish County, NS. </div></div> ------=_Part_21133_29150252.1215519553508--
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