Posted on 05/09/2017 2:34:42 PM PDT by Red Badger
Forensic scientists studying human decomposition spotted an unexpected animal chewing on the remains.
Its attention caught, a deer found eating a human corpse looks up, a rib dangling from its mouth. Photograph courtesy Lauren A. Meckel/Academia ================================================================================================================================
In an unprecedented finding, researchers spotted a deer chewing on a human rib during a study aimed at examining how human remains decompose in the wild.
Scavengers take advantage of opportunities to eat, and carcasses left in the wild often decay quickly because animals can make quick work of the remains–even human remains.
Known as “body farms,” some research facilities study how human remains decompose in the open air, including which animals interact with the corpse.
Left: In the first recorded incident of its kind, a white-tailed deer is seen gnawing on a human rib.Right: A human rib is seen with a forked split, showing where a white-tailed deer chewed on the bone. Photograph courtesy Lauren A. Meckel/Academia
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Foxes, turkey vultures, raccoons, and other scavengers are commonly seen helping themselves to decomposing bodies. Researchers at the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility in San Marcos, Texas, set up a camera to see whether any other scavengers would stop by–and they were not disappointed.
In a study published this week in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, researchers highlighted their finding: Ungulates, too, will partake in human flesh, if it’s available.
White-tailed deer are considered herbivores and subsist on a diet of readily available plants, including twigs, fruits, nuts, alfalfa, and the occasional fungi. (Read more about the white-tailed deer.)
This is the first time scientists have observed deer eating human flesh, though they have been known to turn carnivorous in the past, eating fish, dead rabbits, and even live birds.
In a second incident, a deer (perhaps the same animal, but likely a different one) visits the carcass to chew on a bone. Photograph courtesy Lauren A. Meckel/Academia ===========================================================================================================================
Deer may pursue flesh because they lack minerals like phosphorous, salt, and calcium, especially in the winter months when plant life is scarce.
While this finding sheds light on deer behavior, forensic scientists are also heralding the study as useful for cases in which a body has long been decomposing. If scientists can identify the teeth marks of deer and other ungulates on human bones, it will help in new cases and could clear up confusion in older crime scenes, where only carnivorous scavengers were thought to chew on human bones.
Herbivores, my a__!
Man, are they stupid!
Body farms. Aha! I see another use for democrats.
Oh, deer.
Uh, deer and any other animal will gnaw on a bone it finds to get calcium.
What time of year was this? Very common towards winter.
Just read today they are building one up at Northern Michigan University for research.
If you’re going to feed ravenous deer, be sure you don’t run out of food.
Well, with nearby Chicago, they should have a good supply..................
Educated way beyond their intelligence?................
They’re old school................
Looks like late fall...................
Probably a good idea to experiment in different climates. UTenn’s famed one can’t do it all.
She was at some after hours meeting when a racket started coming out of the principal's office. The janitor opened the door to find a panicking deer that had crashed in through the window.
Don't remember the details. Might have been at the time of the youngest sibling, and I was out of college.
There’s only one as far as I know.................In Tennessee I think..............
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The six research facilities in the United States can be found at the University of Tennessee
in Knoxville, Western Carolina University, Texas State University, Sam Houston State University,
Southern Illinois University and Colorado Mesa University. Another one in Pasco County Fl should be
operational this year.
None representing any desert climes? Wow.
Deer do eat meat, not sure why they'd avoid a human carcass.
Related threads
Field Cameras Catch Deer Eating Birds—Wait, Why Do Deer Eat Birds?
A Deer Was Caught Gnawing on Human Remains and the End Is Nigh
So where are they getting these corpses? Are families sure their loved ones were actually buried?
Imported from Mexico?.....................
Da deers know what they need. Calcium and minerals, most likely!
In Nature, nothing ever goes to waste..............
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