Where else could I post such a question??
Short version - how do you deflesh a freshly dead groundhog (think big,
fat cat) in a city apartment?
Writer's version:
Friend and I saw the hit-and-run of a groundhog on our way to a writing
workshop. Initial reaction was, call the city emergency, get someone to
save it (my friend thinks there's a unit for retrieving injured wild
animals). We managed to get back to it - it was quite dead, but no
visible sign of injury. And of course I went straight from 'poor, cute,
cuddly, furry animal' to 'I need that for my reference collection'.
So I hauled it back to my friend's car, the butt end draped over the top
of my shopping bag. She put her foot down on my leaving it in the car
in the heat for several hours, so I tucked it under a bush. This,
appropriately, in a cemetery - silly dimwit (the groundhog, not my
friend) had made a mad dash from one side of the cemetery to the other
across a really busy street of fast- moving traffic instead of going via
the underpass. I can only imagine that it was a teenage male.
So, we stopped on the way home, but my friend got all rational on me and
said, what was I going to do with it when I got home? Cuz I live in an
apartment, have no spade and am not even sure how deep I could dig in
the part of the property that isn't garden.
So the corpse is still in the cemetery, but likely won't stay there long
because there are coyotes, fox, raccoons etc.
So yes, people here have explained to me how to deal with a largely
decomposed squirrel. (Still haven't had the courage to examine the
bucket contents closely.) But a whole, fresh groundhog?? I have
absolutely no idea what to do with it. (Note: I am not into butchering.)
I might - just might - be able to pack it into a bucket that has a lid,
but it would be a tight squeeze.
Just boil it? Even if I have a big enough pot, won't that stink? What
about the guts and everything?
Can I do this? I hate to waste a good kill. I could take it into another
cemetery closer to me where there are places to hide it, but again, even
if coyotes don't get in there, raccoons and foxes would.
BTW, where do all the dead animals go? I mean, there is all this
wildlife in the city - particularly raccoons, who live in and around
houses and garages - but unless it's roadkill, I never find any remains.
ONE raccoon skull is all I've ever found. Where are all the other bones???
Eve (very thankful that there people out there who will understand my
problem and not think I belong in a loonie bin.)
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