.26-01
2026
Have you ever smelled a dead body?
That's kind of a grotesque question, especially for a title.
Until recently, I've never gotten close to decomposing animals before. It's not that surprising, considering I AM a city slicker, as few might say, since I live in an apartment in a fairly urban area. Dead animals are not common here, except for the occasional roadkill, but that often gets cleaned up before it starts to smell.
My first exposure to this special kind of odor was when I was at my father's place.
My father has four dogs, and living in a rural (more or less) area, that means they serve as 'guard dogs', be it for potential robbers, or for the poor opossums that reside near our home.
Ocasionally, our bigger dog, Pretinha, tends to snatch one of these plump, succulent opossums, just for the fun in it, then leaves it out in the sun to rot.
Usually, when this happens, we are quick to bury it somewhere so it won't leave a smell and doesn't allow the other dogs to roll all over it and dirty themselves. My dad is always the one to bury it, since he's the most desensitized to the mess. However, one time, when my father wasn't home, it was my turn.
Now, I don't know how long that thing had been there, decomposing in the sun. Minimum of three or four days, I'd say.
Usually it wouldn't stink that much, but that carcass could be smelled from across the block! And of course, I was encharged with digging the hole and burying it.
I didn't really know what to expect. I thought it would be kind of the smell of bad food, the kind of which you smell inside a trash can. People usually say it's "vomit inducing" and maked you gag instantly, so I prepared myself for the worst. Even my stepmother didn't want to step near it.
Though, when it was time for me to approach it, I smelled an unmistakeable stench of meat. I was taken aback by how strangely food-like it smelled. I knew that what I was seeing - the mangled, maggot-filled, ripped up carcass of the opossum - was definitely not supposed to smell like food. It intrigued me.
Another thing I noticed was the strange heat emanating off of it. It was like sticking my head in front of a burning grill and feeling the heat slowly become unbearable. It was really, really weird, but again, it intrigued me even more.
I knew I had always liked "dead" things. It started when I was younger, with me looking up videos of taxidermy on youtube, and admiring the various methods and animals. I always liked to nag people by correcting them on the difference of "stuffing" and taxidermy.
I also liked to collect bones. I'm not sure how THAT came to be, but I know my dad contributed to it in some way, showing me places where dogs were buried, and taking home different animal skulls he found on trips. He might be getting more enthusiactic than me, taking home an entire fucking penguin he found on the beach. I actually don't know what he planned to do with that.
I also have two cattle craniums in a little hut I have behind my grandmother's house.
Where was I? Oh, yes, my grandmother's house. There happens to be a lot of cattle in the hills sorrounding it, so I like to poke my head around looking for any types of remains. So far, I've only found one whole cranium (pictured above) and another fucked up one, both salvaged from campfires made to burn bones. Also, some other bones, I think a knee? It is definitely a.. joint of some kind. It's kind of cool. I'm not an expert, though.
Besides those little bits of remains, I haven't found anything to brag about. One of my biggest (if not most embarassing dreams) is to find a whole skeleton. Maybe not even to bring it with me, just to look at it.
That's why, when I discovered that a bull had died somewhere far down the hills behind my grandma's house, I was a bit pissed that they didn't tell me earlier. Not only that, but they gave me the wrong directions, making me go to a whole other terrain beside it. At least I got a good adventure, I guess?
Though, I was close. When I reached the top of the (admittedly steep) hill, I was met with a creek. I remembered reading somewhere that animals love to die near water (their words, not mine), so I kept looking (very nervously, since I am deathly afraid or cattle (live ones) chasing me down (they're deadly!!)) around, until I stopped and felt a very familiar smell. Sweet!
I didn't want to describe the smell again, but it was so different. Well, not much different than the other dead animal, but in general. It smelled so bad it started smelling alright. Disgustingly sweet, this time.
Sadly, I didn't find the carcass. By the smell, it was still pretty meaty, so maybe it was for the best. I'm a bit more interested in the skeleton, even if the rotten meat is still interesting to me.
Maybe next time I go there, I'll hunt it down and take lots of pictures for my blog. I'll be sure to take pictures of my other bones, too.
I'm oddly excited to find out if the carcass is going to have some flesh on it or not. I mean, probably some leather too, right? I wonder if it'll have maggots. Will I have to shoo some vultures away? Um, that's probably dangerous, now that I think about it. They're huge...
I've also been thinking if I like the smell of rotten carcasses, or if I'm just crazy for even considering that. I can't deny that I like the idea of hunting something down by the smell, like a police dog, or something. Maybe I just like smelling things... but that doesn't explain why I feel different when I smell rotten things. Not bad or nauseous, just different. By the way, I'm DEFINITELY not into it, like the infamous blowfly girl... *shudders* but, to be honest, that story wasn't even that bad in terms of "grossness". Maybe I should read some more!
Well, that's what I had to say. I hope you don't feel grossed out by this. Or, actually, I hope you DO. I hope you see me as a filthy, putrid hound. That'd be cool.
Also, yes. This is extremely edgy, I know. Let me be at least a little edgy every now and then...