I wasn’t sure what to do with the raccoon carcass.  My first thought was to leave it hanging in the coop.  It would attract flies and the maggots would drop from the carcass, providing protein for the chickens.  But then I worried about raccoon roundworms infecting the chickens, which might infect the eggs.

My second thought was to hang it outside the coop.  But then I worried about raccoon roundworms infecting the cattle or my dogs.

It may have been the smartest idea, but I didn’t want to bag it and throw it out.  It just felt like that was a huge disrespect for the circle of creation.  From life comes death, and from death comes life.  So instead, I put it on top of the wood pile out back. Whatever drops from the carcass will fall into the tangle of sticks and tree limbs so will be quarantined. It won’t be that easy for the dogs to get but the vultures can still get to it.

It’s times like these I feel like I’m a (distant?) relative of the Adams Family.  I put out food for the birds like any decent person.  Only instead of birdseed to feed the song birds, it’s a carcass to feed the vultures.