Commuting - a first: dead beaver

We usually see deer in the park at dusk, rabbits in the morning. We were aware of beavers in the park based on roadside views of gnawed trees.

This morning during my commute I saw a shape on the side of the road I'd never seen before. Dark brown fur, large creature. Almost looked like a bear cub. As I rode by I saw the webbed feet. A dead beaver. I was shocked by the size of this animal.

I saw a dead deer on the road today, i always hoped to see a deer on my ride home but i had wanted to see a live one.
Andre

WHO WAS RESONSIBLE? I want to know. (I hope the reason for my interest is self-explanatory. ;) )

Originally posted by Loaded_Volpe
A dead beaver. I was shocked by the size of this animal.

While beavers may be larger than you had thought, I wonder it this particular example hadn't simply begun to swell with heat and decay. I recently saw a dead raccoon that had swollen to nearly 3 times it's natural size. I had a mental image of a carrion bird taking the first peck and the raccoon balloon bursting. ICK!

RegularGuy may be on to something.

When something is dead and left to decay, they will usually swell to an abnormal size. The yucky consequence is that if the dead body is moved and something happens, like someone drops it, it will explode. Gross, but true. So next time you see a dead beaver on the side of a road and it's larger than normal, try not to hit it... you could end up with beaver matter all over yourself!

On a slightly different note, I read a story in the Chicago Reader about a company that cleaned up homicides and suicides. They detailed a gross situation where a fat man died, and he had rotted in his apartment for several days before being found. His body had swelled, and it was also hot because it was summer. He was so fat that the paramedics dropped him, and his body remains exploded all the way down the hallway of the apartment complex, and they said it took them a long time to clean that mess up.

Yuck.



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