The following method which I use may be of interest.
I have used the method for a couple of years now and, particularly during the
warmer months, carcasses can decompose very quickly. There is absolutely no
smell which can draw attention to your activities but, if the box is stood on a
hard surface, the maggots have been a problem when they migrate down from the
carcass to pupate. Placing the box over soil easily eliminates this problem.
Equipment and Materials.
I use a plastic box with a lid. The size of box is relative to the carcass
roughly two to three times the volume of the animal you are composting. 10 mm
diameter holes are made in all the surfaces spaced about 50 mm apart.
As an example of box size for a 2.7 kg brown hare a box 40 cm wide x 15 cm deep
x 55 cm long was used.
Composting Material.
This is Beech (Fagus sylvatica) leaf litter; collected from beech woodland the
partially decomposed leaves and twigs below the surface of leaves is selected.
Carcass preparation.
If possible I eviscerate the animal and fill the body cavity with compost and
place and arrange the animal on a layer of compost in the box. Arrangement
should consider recovery and with that in mind I photograph the animal’s
position in the box before covering.
For birds I trim back the feathers with a pair of scissors.
Finally cover the animal and fill the box with compost, water before fitting lid
and then place in a sheltered, covered and shady position. It is important that
it is sheltered from the rain because decomposition can be affected if the
compost becomes to wet.
Progress is easily checked with a small trowel or probe and when ready to
recover the box can be moved to a working surface with good light for total
recovery of all skeletal elements.
The compost can then be disposed of in the garden.
A couple of photographs have been place on bonescommon for those who are
interested.
------------------------------------------------------------
This mail sent through IMP: http://webmail.brad.ac.uk
To report misuse from this email address forward the message
and full headers to [log in to unmask]
------------------------------------------------------------
|