Your point is taken, but probably not that. There in the mountains behind Santa Cruz on the coast, temperatures are mild year round and the forecast high for tomorrow is 73 with lows in the 40s. More likely, bear in mind that is hard core real heavy redwood forest with all of our little woodland friends present. More likely the fauna snacked on them, than decomposition
You are probably closer to the real issues.
But when I wrote cool off, I was thinking lower the temp to stop additional deterioration and cut back on the natural scent of the decomposition.
Not that they were especially warm due to California’s lovely weather.