# Where's all the dead wildlife? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 29, 2009, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594 "2009-01-29T19:12:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/21 "2009-01-29T21:58:40Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > I see dead deer and other animals by the side of the road that can be camped out there for several days with no bites taken out of them or significant decomposition. How could an entire deer disappear in a day? Granted, I live in a close-in suburban area, and maybe a pack of coyotes could take care of a deer in a day, but is that what really happened? Yup, that’s what happened. But you bring up a good point. I’ve seen roadkill on the road not a quarter mile from where I found this deer, and it stays there for what seems like weeks. Maybe the big predators won’t go near the road? ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/22 "2009-01-29T22:36:03Z")
Nature provides mobs of creatures to consume dead critters, and they all do their share. There are fungi and bacteria everywhere, even inside the about-to-be dead critter. The old saying about corruption says, “A fish rots from the head down,” but I guarantee it rots from the gut out. That’s where the live bacteria are before death. ---
**Author:** ![GusNSpot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gusnspot/32/436_2.png) [@GusNSpot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GusNSpot)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/23 "2009-01-30T01:48:49Z")
A road with moderate traffic will keep most all scavengers away unless the crows are really hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/24 "2009-01-30T02:13:34Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I can understand the meaty parts, but I can toss a chicken bone in the backyard and find it a year later. Why isn’t nature filled with bones? You must have an unusually critter-free backyard. Of course dogs and other carnivores will eat bones if they find them; there’s a fair bit of organic tissue inside them even when the flesh is gone. But rodents will gnaw on bones and whittle them away in order to get at the calcium. Vegetable matter is relatively deficient in calcium and sodium, so herbivorous and granivorous rodents seek out bones to get these nutrients. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/25 "2009-01-30T02:59:41Z")
It’s odd I never see dead pigeons anywhere except in December and January, then I see a lot of the. I reckon whatever eats the dead pigeons isn’t out during the cold Chicago winters ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/26 "2009-01-30T03:05:20Z")
I live in Toronto, Canada, it’s a big urban center (over 2.5 million) and yet it still has a hefty population of coyotes that use the ravines and park networks. Back around 1999, there were even issues with cats going missing that were attributed to coyotes and a few attacks on small dogs. Hoever, it’s very rare to actually catch a glimpse of one. Likewise, on two occasions, I’ve seen hawks, right downtown in the financial district, munching away on pigeons they’ve caught. One one spectacular occasion I got to see a hawk swoop down grab a pigeon and lose it because the pigeon fought back. Basically, I’m saying there’s more wildlife around you than you may realize, and all sorts of critter will make quick work of fresh carrion. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/27 "2009-01-30T14:48:05Z")
And for urban residents, don’t forget the rats! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/28 "2009-01-30T15:36:26Z")
If a dead animal is on a road it’s pretty recognizable. However, dead animals in tree lines, fields, under bushes, etc. are hard to spot and become unrecognizable fairly quickly. Our dogs will sometimes find a dead bird/squirrel/rabbit and mess with it. You have to get pretty damn close to the thing to realize it was once an animal. Most look like a clump of twigs/grass/leaves and you’d never guess what it was. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/29 "2009-01-30T16:01:35Z")
> [@Eats\_Crayons](#): > > I live in Toronto, Canada, it’s a big urban center (over 2.5 million) and yet it still has a hefty population of coyotes that use the ravines and park networks. Back around 1999, there were even issues with cats going missing that were attributed to coyotes and a few attacks on small dogs. Hoever, it’s very rare to actually catch a glimpse of one. > > Likewise, on two occasions, I’ve seen hawks, right downtown in the financial district, munching away on pigeons they’ve caught. One one spectacular occasion I got to see a hawk swoop down grab a pigeon and lose it because the pigeon fought back. Basically, I’m saying there’s more wildlife around you than you may realize, and all sorts of critter will make quick work of fresh carrion. Certain animals flourish in city environments - obviously pigeons and cockroaches, but also certain predators like hawks. Plenty of safe nesting for them and plenty of things to eat. A hawk will carry a meal up to a nice safe perch, too, so you’re not going to see that one again. ---
**Author:** ![mmmiiikkkeee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/edb3f5/32.png) [@mmmiiikkkeee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mmmiiikkkeee)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/30 "2009-01-30T20:36:40Z")
> [@levdrakon](#): > > I can understand the meaty parts, but I can toss a chicken bone in the backyard and find it a year later. Why isn’t nature filled with bones? It also depends how much food is in the area and how numerous and hungry the scavengers there are. Earlier this week I skinned a beaver and left the skinless body in a garbage bag in my back yard to freeze (and be disposed of later). The next day I caught a neiborhood dog chowing down on the fresh frozen meat; he’d eaten about a quarter of it when I scared him off. I threw the rest in the large dumpster behind a restuarant across the alley from me. The dogs couldn’t reach it but the stray cats had a nice feast. And yes there is a stray beaver bone still laying in my back yard right now that no one has come back for. If there weren’t a giant restuarant dumpster 50 feet away then I’m confident every scrap of bone and blood would be gone by now. But the vermin around here aren’t that desperate. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [January 30, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/31 "2009-01-30T21:24:48Z")
Not to mention that bone remains won’t look like bleached white bare bones ala a halloween skeleton. They’re probably darker, still have remains stuck to them, and are likely to be mistaken for some sticks. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/32 "2009-01-31T00:11:15Z")
Field mice, voles, chipmunks and other small rodents do a pretty quick job on bones and antlers. They are hungry for the calcium. Remember, other than the skull and pelvis the bones of an animal as large as a white tail deer are not very robust. The bones of little critters like racoons, possums, birds, mice are pretty slender and delicate. Nature recycles its dead in short order, especially if where the larger scavengers can get to it. Also, since rendering works started charging to pick up livestock some farmers compost dead cattle and pigs. Except for the skull and big leg bones and pelvis a 1000 pound plus Holstein cow will disappear in 30 to 60 days with a minimum of odor and a minimum of help from the coyotes (the top of the heap scavenger around here). ---
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/33 "2009-01-31T00:42:38Z")
More than once a deer has been hit by a car on the road I live on, and the body will be flung onto the shoulder. The local turkey vultures seem to take care of any carcass in about one day, usually less. All that’s left are skull, hooves, and hair. ---
**Author:** ![Tully\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7ab992/32.png) [@Tully\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tully_Mars)\ **Post date:** [January 31, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594/34 "2009-01-31T03:16:20Z")
Once upon a time - A friend of mine belonged to a hunting club that had one entrance and they kept someone on duty to monitor how many deer were killed by the members. Well, one morning, he shot two spike buck that he thought were does. He had permits for the does. Since the spikes were against club rules and illegal, he couldn’t take them out the gate. So, he quarted them up, cut out the backstraps, and covered up the quarters with dried leaves. I stopped by his house about the time he got home that morning. We were bemoaning the loss of all that good meat. I told him I knew a back way into the place, but we would have to walk over a mile. We talked another aquaintance into dropping us off down the road and we trotted through the woods. We were still teenagers then, and running throught the woods for a mile was no big deal. Ah, those were the days. When we got to the spot, we found some bones and one lone buzzard feather. It was about three hours from the time he shot them until we got back to them. The turkey vultures cleaned them up. We made the trip back to the road empty-handed. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wheres-all-the-dead-wildlife/483594.md?page=1)