Discovered:Unknown
Method: Mixed
Recovered: 28/03/18


This was a piece of roadkill found by my mother and frozen until she could pass it to me. I removed the tail and feet for mummification, and put the head in a tupperware tub at the end of the garden. 

The mummification process involves putting the parts in cornmeal (different from cornflour in the UK), in a cardboard box and leaving them somewhere cool and dry for a few months.

I recovered the head first, and found that as I has suspected, the skull had been damaged. Nevertheless I collected some of the larger pieces to display.

Not long after, I recovered the mummified limbs.

Discovered: Unknown, frozen until 03/08/2016
Method: Burial in plant pot
Recovered: 01/04/2017

The first squirrel was an exciting birthday present from my parents cats, but unfortunately was not successfully recovered. But it seems that the cats have remembered me, as a whole year later I recieved a second squirrel for my birthday. This squirrel was bigger and in much better condition than the last, was not visibly injured, and felt very soft and fluffy.
​I initially tried to bury it in the plant pot that I had just recovered a rat from, but the squirrel was too large and so I moved it to a larger pot. 

Discovered: Unknown
Method: Tupperware box in garden
Recovered: 14/09/2016

This hamster was once the family pet of a friend, given to me once deceased. The hamster had been dead for some time by the time I received it, hence no 'before' shots. 
​I left it in a tupperware tub at the end of the garden.
Here's what I recovered:

Discovered: Unknown
Method: Burial
Recovered: 03/08/2016 and 21/03/2017

One rat was captured by my parents' cat, and frozen until it could be passed to me.
The first rat was left in a Tupperware tub in the garden, so I decided instead to bury this one in a plant pot, and see how different the results would be. ​I tried to dig up the remains in July, but noted that some of them still had organic matter attached, so re-buried the remains until 3rd of August. 

The second rat was recovered on the in March 2017, although I have no record or even memory of burying it. So I can't tell you the background of this rat as I don't know where it came from. 

If you want to see rat bones you can look at the post from my first rat. But I will show you a picture of the three skulls I now have.

Caught by my friend's cat in March and frozen until 27/09/2016
Method: Mixed
​Recovered: 21/03/2017

I decided that, as I have three, I should use different methods of preparation to process each mouse and then compare the results. 

The first mouse was put into a tupperware tub with holes poked into it, and left at the end of the garden.

The second mouse was put into a tupperware tub, which was then filled with fresh soil and left open in the garden.

The third mouse was covered in maize-meal in a cardboard box and left in the attic.

Recovering the bones from the tub without soil in it was quite difficult. Mouse fur does not eat eaten by the insects that eat the flesh, as I was left with all the hair in a big sticky sludge. All I was able to retrieve from the sludge was the jaw bone.
 
Recovering the bones from the tub with the soil in was much more successful. Although I was unable to retrieve the back of the skull, which means that this new skull matches the skull from my first mouse where the skull broke during cleaning. 

Recovering the mummified mouse was easy, it just required dusting off the corn flour. 

Date found: Unknown (frozen until 07/08/2015)
Method: Burial in garden
Date recovered: NONE

This was a birthday present from my parents' cats. It had a fairly obvious neck wound (which I've chosen not to show). 

I attempted to recover the squirrel on 22/03/16. I had left the plastic bag under the body so that I knew how far to dig when recovering the bones. Unfortunately this turned out to be a bad decision. The presence of the bag changed the conditions of the decomposition, to the extent that the bones were no longer recoverable. This is clearly something I need to not do again.

Found: 07/12/2015
Method: Tupperware box in garden
Recovered: 18/03/2016

Found by the side of the road, then kept in the fridge overnight and put out in the garden the next morning.
I went back to check it several times in January, but due to the cold weather it still needed more time.

I recovered the bones in March. All of the fur was still present, creating quite a mess. Some of the skin was still present, but I managed to get rid of that when washing.

Found: Unknown (frozen until 07/08/2015)
Method: Tupperware box
Recovered: 17/09/2015

The mouse was given to me by my parent's (or maybe I should say, by my parents' cats). It was left in a Tupperware box in the garden until all flesh was gone. What was left was mainly a mess of fur, and I assume a skeleton under it somewhere. I only rescued the skull.

The back half of the skull broke during cleaning. But, interestingly, the jawbone is in one piece, which is unusual.

Discovered: Unknown (frozen until 07/06/2015)
Method: Tupperware box
Recovered: 01/09/15
Displayed from: 07/09/15

I put the shrew in the same box as the sparrow, which I perhaps will not do again. The only bones recovered that I am sure came from the shrew are the skull. I have recovered the top of the skull and two halves of the jawbone. After recovery the bones were left to soak in soapy water for a few days.

Discovered: 13/06/2015
Method of Preparation: Tupperware box in garden
Recovered: NONE

I wasn't sure whether I wanted to post the unsuccessful attempts or not. But I have decided that, as I am documenting my journey and discoveries, unsuccessful attempts count as part of my journey. And they are useful to show mistakes that I make and can learn from. 

Not exactly roadkill, but I'll happily take it. This mouse appears to have been killed by one of my friend's cats, which cat they do not know. Thankfully the skull is intact, which is not often true of cat-kills as the brain is the most nutritious part and usually gets eaten first.

After collection from my friend, I placed the mouse into a Tupperware container with holes in the side, so that insects can come in and remove all the flesh and organs, leaving behind a nice clean skeleton. The holes have to be big enough for insects to enter, but small enough that the bones can not be carried out. I choose to use clear Tupperware containers, so that I can easily check on progress.


05/07/15 Mouse has been flattened. When placing tupperware tubs in the garden it is good to keep them hidden so that they aren't visible to cats, and to guests as it's nice not to see/smell dead bodies when you have a garden party. But you also need to make sure that everyone who regularly uses the garden knows where they are. Otherwise someone will stand on one. Oops.