How fast will a cow decompose?

[Tripod]

Flies are very choosy as to what they will lay their eggs on, with some species preferring fresh meat and others that which has been left for a while. Temperature will influence incubation and maggot development. Maggots bought from fishing tackle shops will have reached the end of that stage of development, stopped feeding and have left their food source. If they are not at that stage they will be very near it. Further development - into pupa - is delayed by refrigeration. Maggot bombing might work - and please tell me if it does - but the result might be just a lot of sleepy maggots doing nothing on the site. If the carcass is near enough the surface and the temperature is right the flies will find it.
I have written this as a fisherman with some experience of maggots and of breeding them in small quantities in search of gaining an "edge" in competitions. 

 

[kay]

Probably impractical, but what about catching some blowflies and dropping them in a net bag, so they could lay eggs but not simply head back to the surface?

This article is Texas but has useful comments on effect of water
https://weather.com/science/news/flesh-bone-what-role-weather-plays-body-decomposition-20131031

I did wonder about the conservation implications of introducing anything into the cave environment, but I guess once the cow is there, anything else seems a minor problem.

 

[andrewmcleod]

Get a bucket full of cow, bring it to the surface, leave it there for a few days, throw the bucket of cow back on the rest of the cow. Maggots introduced

 

[tony from suffolk]

If the carcass has been down there for a month or less, consider cutting it up for some prime cuts of dry-aged meat, which can be sold in plastic trays wrapped in clingfilm. A useful source of funding for your caving club!

I confess this might not be entirely risk-free, and you'd need to find a good butcher prepared to experience the wonders of the underground world.

 

[Alex]

We have the same issue with big bloated sheep blocking the way on. We just decided we would come back in 6 months and see how it fairs. Now whether that will give you an idea on the cow time I don't know. I suggest a bath, acid and a hack saw

 

[droid]

Acid is good for bones, but for flesh you need a strong alkali.  8)

 

[thomasr]

Quick lime is extremely hazardous to use. It will preserve rather than decompose drying out a carcass until the lime is neutralised then leaving an unsitely mess Used I guess in war /disaster zones where a quick solution is needed to combat the spread epidemics

 

[kay]

Get a bucket full of cow, bring it to the surface, leave it there for a few days, throw the bucket of cow back on the rest of the cow. Maggots introduced

Alternatively, any old meat, wait till it's "fly blown" ie with eggs - saves a visit to the cow.

Decomposition will also be being implemented by bugs already in the stomach.

We have the same issue with big bloated sheep blocking the way on. We just decided we would come back in 6 months and see how it fairs. Now whether that will give you an idea on the cow time I don't know.

according to a zoologist of my acquaintance you can't assume that decomposition time will be proportional to body mass because of the aforementioned gut flora - the cow will have more of them, and the carcass is likely to get to a higher temperature. With that in mind, I googled on how long does it take to take a human body to decompose and reached "Typically placed 6ft down, without a coffin, in ordinary soil, eight to twelve years to completely decompose into a skeleton." On the other hand "Maggots can consume up to 60 percent of a human body meat(skin) in under seven days"

but for flesh you need a strong alkali

- which contributes to why bodies are preserved in peat bogs - the acidity of the peat inhibits the action of the organisms which would otherwise cause the body to decay.

 

[scurve]

I suggest a bath, acid and a hack saw

That's your answer to everything, Alex.

 

[Robert Scott]

Hello John
Could composting be a solution?
https://tammi.tamu.edu/2017/07/20/composting-large-animal-carcasses/

and to keep Alex Ritchie happy it involves a hacksaw too!

 

[paul]

Lime is something else I've heard of being used - but I'd have thought the resulting high pH would have discouraged the very microbes and insects that are wanted to get rid of the thing, thus prolonging the problem. (This makes me wonder if lime merely reduces the stink rather than dealing with the problem directly.)

From Wikipedia article on Quick Lime / Calcium Oxide:

Disposal of Corpses: historically, it was believed that quicklime was efficacious in accelerating the decomposition of corpses. This was quite mistaken, and the application of quicklime can even promote preservation; although it can help eradicate the stench of decomposition, which may have led people to suppose it was the actual flesh which had been consumed

 

[Cave_Troll]

but for flesh you need a strong alkali

- which contributes to why bodies are preserved in peat bogs - the acidity of the peat inhibits the action of the organisms which would otherwise cause the body to decay.
[/quote]
also lack of Oxygen and lack of free access to external munching animals and insects

 

[2xw]

I'd probably like to consider the safety and conservation aspects of chucking a cow corpse quantity of quicklime down....

 

[Andyj23UK]

haul it out ??

 

[thomasr]

Surely we must ask for the  opinion of CNCC, natural England ect. especially bearing in mind  the  recent controversy over tampering in caves

 

[Pitlamp]

Surely we must ask for the  opinion of CNCC, natural England ect. especially bearing in mind  the  recent controversy over tampering in caves

Thanks but worry not; those involved are switched on enough to make sure any intervention is done properly, if at all.

 

[thomasr]

Then I presume you have  the permission of the cows owner to deal with it as you are dealing with someone elses property on their land

 

[blackshiver]

Never mind that, get some pigs down there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CyEBXTL1Y3U

 

[Pitlamp]

Then I presume you have  the permission of the cows owner to deal with it as you are dealing with someone elses property on their land

As I tried to articulate above, if anything is done, it'll be done properly.

Really this topic was just started as a way of gathering a bit of information.

 

[Cave_Troll]

"you see your honour, as i explained to the detective, i was just wondering how you'd dispose of a body"