How Long For Buzzards to Eat A Horse?

[k0ua]

Was tractoring the road today and a neighbor stopped and said his wife saw a big pickup truck head up my road that day. The same truck had been seen driving on some of the adjoining roads looking somewhat suspicious, no doubt looking for a less-traveled, out-of-sight place to drop the thing. Guess he found it. So far the wind has been blowing towards the neighbors, not me.

How does the carcass look? Are the predators and "air force" doing their job?

 

[daveshoot]

Is there a poll for "best thread titles", because I would like to nominate this one?

 

[TomSeller]

I'm thinking I might scoop some dirt from the bank on the opposite side of the road.....
I'll sleep on it tonight.
.

Yuck, make sure you put lots of dirt on it.

 

[Larro Darro]

Is there a poll for "best thread titles", because I would like to nominate this one?

In one of my stories there are horses being shipped in a Barquentine. Three fifteen year old boys are sailing along with them from Iceland around the tip of Greenland to Newfoundland through a huge storm. It was the custom in sailing vessels of the time {1718} to eat a horse if it broke a leg during the passage. {a change from salt-meat} One of the boys ask the other, "could you eat a horse?" Meaning could he eat what he had been using to plow just a few weeks earlier. The other boy replies, "not in one setting."

I wrote that years ago, but I still love that line.

 

[Sysop]

Was tractoring the road today and a neighbor stopped and said his wife saw a big pickup truck head up my road that day.
...
So far the wind has been blowing towards the neighbors, not me.

Same neighbor? If so you might want to consider asking them if it is too bothersome to them for you to leave to nature. They might keep a closer eye out for you in the future if your level of neighborliness is such that you would do something to remedy a situation that doesn't bother you based on which way the wind blows. I advise a heavy dose of lime to kill the smell and accelerate the decomp.

If there is a police report filed over the illegal dumping, I'd have the neighbor provide a description of the truck to the police. If this is a case of a neglected horse that died, the owner may not have wanted the carcass attracting any attention to his property due to having other neglected animals, in which case such an investigation could be larger than just the one dumped by your road. Any details that could tie this occurrence to others might help nail whoever it was that wasn't responsible enough to tend to their own problems...

 

[troutsqueezer]

How does the carcass look? Are the predators and "air force" doing their job?

It's still mostly there with a few ribs showing now and the belly ripped, of course. I see the buzzards don't seem to come around much before lunch time when the weather is cooler. Maybe the smell doesn't waft high into the sky till it warms up a bit.

 

[troutsqueezer]

Is there a poll for "best thread titles", because I would like to nominate this one?

I had to think on it for awhile as to what the title might be for something like this. :confused3:

 

[troutsqueezer]

Yuck, make sure you put lots of dirt on it.

Now that's funny! :laughing:

 

[troutsqueezer]

Same neighbor? If so you might want to consider asking them if it is too bothersome to them for you to leave to nature. They might keep a closer eye out for you in the future if your level of neighborliness is such that you would do something to remedy a situation that doesn't bother you based on which way the wind blows. I advise a heavy dose of lime to kill the smell and accelerate the decomp.

If there is a police report filed over the illegal dumping, I'd have the neighbor provide a description of the truck to the police. If this is a case of a neglected horse that died, the owner may not have wanted the carcass attracting any attention to his property due to having other neglected animals, in which case such an investigation could be larger than just the one dumped by your road. Any details that could tie this occurrence to others might help nail whoever it was that wasn't responsible enough to tend to their own problems...

Different neighbor. We're on good terms and have had much discussion about it.

The horse does not look starved. Rather chubby actually, rigor mortis notwithstanding. Honestly, I don't need the aggravation an investigation might bring. It's all about keeping my life simple since I retired last year.

 

[Sysop]

Different neighbor. We're on good terms and have had much discussion about it.

The horse does not look starved. Rather chubby actually, rigor mortis notwithstanding. Honestly, I don't need the aggravation an investigation might bring. It's all about keeping my life simple since I retired last year.

It's good you and your neighbors talk, it was nice they pulled you aside to alert you to what was seen. Too many neighbors aren't on good terms these days. I'm happy to live someplace where folk drop by to see if they can do anything to help with whatever you're doing and neighbors "team up" to handle everyone's larger tasks. I find it shocking someone would dump their horse on someone else's land without some other motivation behind it besides "I don't want to smell it", in my mind there are easier and less risky alternatives (many discussed throughout this thread). I can understand wanting to keep things simple, but I also like seeing folk held to their responsibilities (or held accountable for their lack of responsibility) a whole lot more. I think I likely feel that way due to having been guilty of my own fair share of "youthful irresponsibilities" and in hindsight wish I would have had "a few harder kicks to the rear end" so I might have learned my lessons sooner.

The smell may be mostly over by your description above, depending on the order things have been eaten and by what. The hide may continue to cover the bones well into winter and maybe beyond. The smell mainly depends on what all has been working on the inside and how much of that is gone. Moisture content plays a huge roll too. Sometimes parts can dry out before rotting without causing a stink...

I've been following the thread and found it interesting. Dead animals are something all land owners have dealt with in one fashion or another throughout history but is seldom discussed. Thanks for starting the thread! :thumbsup: