#(carcasses)

[strangebiology]

Some pics from a recent bone hunt with @weaselle! Hopefully not too gross?

[indizombie]

In India, the feral dogs can't match the efficiency and speed of vultures when it comes to disposing of carcasses, says Bowden. This means that many carcasses are left to decompose naturally or, in some cases, are incinerated. Carcasses release greenhouse gasses when they decompose, including CO2 and methane. But most of these emissions are prevented if the vultures dispose of them, according to a study released earlier this year by scientists at the National University of Comahue in Argentina. The study estimated that a single vulture consumes between 0.2 and 1kg (7 and 35oz) of decaying carcass meat per day, depending on the species. When it's left to decompose naturally, each kilogram of carcass meat emits about 0.86kg of CO2 equivalent, or CO2e. Using these estimates, the scientists calculated that the 134-140 million vultures worldwide could be preventing tens of millions of tonnes of emissions per year, an amount comparable to the emissions of some countries. "This ecosystem service contributed by vultures to humans and nature cannot easily be replaced by other species, including humans," the study notes. However, due to the absence of vultures, rotting carcasses in India are now often buried, dumped at landfill sites, or thrown in the river, where they risk contaminating the water and result in odour pollution around cities, says Prakash.

Isabelle Gerretsen, ‘Why we should value scavengers’, BBC

[allamericanliminalroadtrip]

My sis: *comes home with bag-laiden arms

My mom: Aww look at my little baker!

Me: *comes home with bag laiden arms*

My mom: DEAR GOD, WE HAVE ENOUGH BONES

[ask-jumblr]

Wondering whether conservative and orthodox have modern rules re tumah and handling dead animals. (Had a euthanasia training lab this morning, involving cadavers.) Does it count as contact with a carcass if you're using modern PPE?

FOR: Conservative, Orthodox

[whimsymoods]

Baby Sandoval OC Moodboard

Requested By: @itsnothingwithoutchaos

[geisternatur]

‘again’ by zsuzsa darab.

[jasenlex]

ISOLATED COMIC BOOK PANEL #1797 title: SPACE ADVENTURES #12 - P16:3 artist: SEYMOUR MOSKOWITZ year: 1954

[julesgems]

desperation

Trying to make out That I’m doing something important Filling my days with the inane When all the time I am daunted

By the road disappearing Ahead and into the distance I’m overcome I feel the constant insistence

Of ‘What are you doing Is there anything of value in it? Your life spanning out before you You’re not making anything of it’

'Your life;’ almost jeering 'It’s amounting to what? I told you at the beginning You have nothing; you’re not

Really going to make it Like everyone else Don’t expect anyone to be there for you You know the hand you were dealt’

'Your family, long ago Spun out into the wilderness Where the predators gather Alongside the orphans and the fatherless’

'You’ve never been protected Abandoned again and again And your resources are so pitifully meagre There’s no way you can fight or defend’

As I scan ahead to the horizon And the carcass dotted landscape of those who’ve lost the fight I don’t see any solace in the wilderness Seems the doomsayers were right

So that’s why I constantly try to make out That I’m doing something of major importance Takes my mind off my desperation And the predators circling in the distance

657pm Saturday Feb 4, 2017 221pm Tuesday Feb 7, 2017