Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I just moved into a house with a large parcel of woods and small farm. We have lots of critters, mostly alive, but occasionally I find a random dead critter close to the house and I know as time goes on I will find a lot more. I also find dead frogs around the outside of the house almost daily. I've been throwing them over the fence into the heavily wooded area for now, but am curious as to what others do? Growing up I lived in a similar landscape, and I remember my mom would just throw the random dead bird/squirrel/etc into the patch of woods next to our house. What about something bigger, such as a cat/turkey/etc. I have no neighbors on either side, so that's not an issue.
Good timing for this question. In the past week I have been trying to eradicate the raccoon problem I have that like to climb all over my log home at night, make themselves at home on my deck furniture and anything else they please.
After I trap them and give them a quick swimming lesson, I toss them in my wheelbarrow and dump in the ditch across the street since there are no other houses around.
I would be concerned as to what is killing all those frogs.
We feed our raccoons. They don't hurt anything.
We bury our dead here. Dead animals attract other predators.
The short answer is - the frogs are attracted to an inground pool that was opened against my better judgement, and I guess they get caught in the skimmer overnight. I'm working on a solution for that now.
I feel like if the animal is chipmunk size or bigger I would probably bury it, but the frogs seem to decompose rather quickly so I've been throwing them in the woods.
I'm just trying to do the best thing for the property/ecosystem, etc.
So far I've had to get rid of a lot of dead frogs, some dead kittens from a stray cat that has since disappeared, and a few moles. Interestingly, I feel a bit of sadness come over me when I find anything dead, most notably the kittens, which I actually had to grieve for even though I hadn't even moved in yet.
Just curious, if you bury everything, do you use the same general area or do you spread them around the yard? Would it make sense to bury them in an existing compost/debris heap?
Dig a hole, toss in dead animal. Add in enough horticultural lime to cover the body (4 - 5 cups for a wood chuck, for example). Bury the critter. The lime will allow the skin to rot quickly and keep feral dogs from digging up the animals. Lime is available at nursery or farm stores.
Dig a hole, toss in dead animal. Add in enough horticultural lime to cover the body (4 - 5 cups for a wood chuck, for example). Bury the critter. The lime will allow the skin to rot quickly and keep feral dogs from digging up the animals. Lime is available at nursery or farm stores.
Large animals are tough, like horses or cows. Most of the ranches in my area have a "boneyard" way out in the back of the place where they drag the carcasses and some will through on brushwood and burn.
Because of the size it is difficult to bury them, especially in rocky soil, and we have a lot of wildlife scavangers that will quickly take care of a carcass anyway.
One benefit is that the predatory animals will remember where the boneyard is, and check it regularly, which works really well in winter for trapping furs and getting some benefit out of the loss of your livestock.
We'd bring them carcasses cross the way, up yonder and over the hill to the old Indian burial ground. Until the ground went sour.
To avoid frog and squirrel zombies we just toss them out in the woods and they are taken by scavengers by the morning. We had a dead deer not far from the house, it seems because we found the skeleton, never knew it was there until we took a walk through the brush.
I would throw them in the garbage... You have garbage service? Seems easier than digging a hole that my dog will just dig up
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
