# Help dealing with decomposition **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2021, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924 "2021-05-26T01:06:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/21 "2021-05-26T16:56:11Z")
[quote=“crowmanyclouds, post:18, topic:942924”] this, Are you quite sure about that? Quicklime (Calcium Oxide), rather than slaked line (calcium hydroxide) is the stuff of legend, used to minimize putrefaction (but NOT to “burn bodies” or hasten degradation) [https://spartanideas.msu.edu/2013/08/08/new-morbid-terminology-quicklime/](https://spartanideas.msu.edu/2013/08/08/new-morbid-terminology-quicklime/) > **[What happens when you pour quicklime over a dead body?](https://www.quora.com/What-happens-when-you-pour-quicklime-over-a-dead-body)** > > Answer (1 of 4): Do you need this information quickly? 🤔 😳 > > Q. What happens when you pour quicklime over a dead body? > > Quicklime is a chemical compound known as calcium oxide (CaO), and is made through the thermal decomposition of limestone or other... Apparently you can also use the hydroxide to retard putrefaction, too, but you get the added bonus of heat from the reaction of Quicklime with water ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/22 "2021-05-26T17:01:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Philthadelphia Heh, you _are_ drinking, aren’t you? 😀 ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/23 "2021-05-26T17:01:44Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Yeah, took a bale of hay over, will cover that with manure tomorrow. Composting seems the way to go. My gf texted me with a decomp update (how romantic). The hay I tossed over the deer has been cleared away by a group of turkey vultures who are “feasting”. I’m having cheese and roast beef sandwich for lunch. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/24 "2021-05-26T17:02:23Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > Heh, you _are_ drinking, aren’t you I was pleasantly toasted last night, yet no hangover today!! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/25 "2021-05-26T17:43:43Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > > [@kayaker](#): > > > > Philthadelphia > > Heh, you _are_ drinking, aren’t you? 😀 What?! That’s how nearly anyone not born there who’s spent any time there refers to it. It’s _the_ perfectly cromulent nickname; one of the very best of all US major cities. @kayaker even spelled it the professional correct way. Amateurs sometimes start it with an “F” and that’s Just Not Right. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/26 "2021-05-26T18:57:55Z")
I spent four years in Philly. Other than the cheesesteaks I didn’t really care for the place. The surekill expressway was awful and I never did find the Liberty Bell, giving up after negotiating with all the one-way streets. They were light years ahead wrt food trucks, though. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/27 "2021-05-26T19:07:39Z")
Downtown has had a pretty good resurgence the last few years and can be a lot of fun in the warmer weather without COVID. But in general I agree Philly has little to recommend it. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/28 "2021-05-26T19:15:55Z")
If not menthol, I’m sure they have Vicks Vapo Rub, which would probably do just as well. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/29 "2021-05-26T19:16:37Z")
I’ve been using the same method for years. I just make sure I’m still alive when I wake up in the morning and it won’t be a problem today. Even if I wake up dead tomorrow I’m hoping the preservatives in all the bacon I eat will slow the process down. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/30 "2021-05-26T19:18:30Z")
> [@bump](#): > > If not menthol, I’m sure they have Vicks Vapo Rub, which would probably do just as well. Well, discussion of Vapo Rub brings us closer to what I though this thread was going to be about - dealing with our _own_ bodies falling apart. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/31 "2021-05-26T20:03:35Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > That’s how nearly anyone not born there who’s spent any time there refers to it. It’s _the_ perfectly cromulent nickname; one of the very best of all US major cities. Dang. I didn’t try to sound it out. Yes, that seems a great alternate spelling! ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/32 "2021-05-26T21:47:30Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > Well, discussion of Vapo Rub brings us closer to what I though this thread was going to be about - dealing with our _own_ bodies falling apart. I was looking for Beethoven. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/33 "2021-05-26T22:15:50Z")
> [@Melbourne](#): > > I was looking for Beethoven He really didn’t want to be remembered for those symphonies. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/34 "2021-05-26T22:20:00Z")
Vicks Vapo-Rub is what paramedics, etc. use. Peppermint oil also works, to a point. ---
**Author:** ![Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mundane_super_hero/32/6304_2.png) [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mundane_Super_Hero)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/35 "2021-05-26T22:25:54Z")
Something else to keep in the glove-box. Thanks! ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/36 "2021-05-26T22:31:43Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The hay I tossed over the deer has been cleared away by a group of turkey vultures who are “feasting”. Turkey vultures seem like a win, though. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2021, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/37 "2021-05-26T22:54:45Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The hay I tossed over the deer has been cleared away by a group of turkey vultures who are “feasting”. I’d be interested in hearing if the vultures completely cleaned the carcass, and, if so, how long it took. And I just ran across this interesting [factoid](https://www.quora.com/What-do-you-call-a-group-of-vultures): A group of vultures is called either kettle, committee or wake depending upon what they are doing. The vultures in flight is called kettle. The vultures resting on the ground or in trees is called committee. And a group of vultures that are feeding is called a wake. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/38 "2021-05-27T01:01:32Z")
The best part about vultures clearing the carcass is that while they’re fully involved in eating they’re not real wary. So you can readily walk into range, blast them with a shotgun while they’re occupied, and have the fixin’s for a nice fresh flavorful vulture pot pie. 😉 And if they haven’t quite finished the deer when you blast 'em, that’s no problem. There will be more vultures there tomorrow so you can make another pie. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 9:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/39 "2021-05-27T09:55:02Z")
My gf is just back from checking on things. She thinks maybe coyotes (or the bear) did some tearing up along with the vultures. That and rain overnight has helped immensely with odor! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2021, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924/40 "2021-05-27T14:34:04Z")
Very clever of you to keep sending her out to check on it rather than doing so yourself. I admire that in a man! 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-dealing-with-decomposition/942924.md?page=3)