....but Francois, I would also add, if you bury small animals (or even
large animals) in dirt, you will be very fortunate to recover all of the
bones. Apart from the excellent chance that dogs or coyotes may have
gotten to it, in my experience it is very difficult to find all of the
smaller skeletal elements, i.e. carpals, tarsals, tail bones, and so
forth.
Therefore, when you go to dig it up, you'll be wise to have a kitchen
sieve on hand, or else a piece of window screen that's at least a foot
square. Dig with a garden trowel or even a tablespoon, and put every bit
of dirt through the screen. Have a hose nearby running at low volume. Put
the dirt in the screen, and put that over a bucket. Run the water over the
dirt in the screen, gently pressing with your fingers, until all the dirt
has passed through the screen, hopefully leaving bones behind.
Do not get discouraged if this takes quite a while, many little loads of
dirt. Cheers -- Dr. Deb
> Hello all,
>
> I burried a decaying otter (Lontra canadensis) in order to get the bones
> without having to deal with the nauseous smell.
>
> Does anyone know how much time you would typically wait before organic
> soft tissues disappear ? One year, 2 years, ... ten years ?
>
> context: temperate environment (Iowa), clay to clayey sand, humid (flood
> plain, ponds closeby), abundant vegetation (birches roots, tall grasses).
>
> Thanks for your help,
>
> François
>
> François Lanoë
> Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle
> [log in to unmask]
>
>
>
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