Susan Abel Sullivan, author
  • Home
  • About Me
  • Novel: WEREDOG WHISPERER
  • Novel: HAUNTED HOUSEWIVES
  • Collection: CURSED
  • eBook: FRIED ZOMBIE DEE-LIGHT!
  • Blog
  • Events and Appearances
  • Short Stories/poems
  • Follow Me
  • Mystery dog?
  • Odyssey Writing Workshops
  • Contact

Weird Science #1

11/8/2013

0 Comments

 
NOTE: If you're squeamish, find rotting, maggoty body parts gross or distasteful, or lack a sense of scientific curiosity, then I recommend you skip today's post and go read Hello Kitty or something.

Bo found a rotting cat's foot out in our jungle of a yard and brought it up to the back deck to gnaw on.  I walked right past it several days in a row, but upon closer inspection, I thought it was part of a dead bird.  Then I looked even closer and discovered that it was a cat's hind foot and lower leg.

And it was riddled with maggots.

Gross, huh?

Instead of throwing it in the trash dumpster like a normal person, the part of me that's kin to Victor Frankenstein wanted to examine the cat foot in closer detail.  I noticed that part of the tibia was missing, but the fibula was still intact.  I hadn't realized how thin a cat's fibula is.  Makes me appreciate my veterinarian's surgical skill.

Oh, I should tell you that I was a pre-veterinarian science major for two semesters in college.  It wasn't squeamishness that drove me to change my major, but Organic Chemistry.   And when I finally settled on Exercise Science, I had anatomy and physiology labs involving animal dissection and vivisection.  The first was fascinating, but the latter rather distressing since the animals vivisected were still ALIVE! I took an "F" on those particular labs.

PictureLook what the dog dredged up...rotting cat's foot with maggots--yummy!












So back to the Weird Science part of this post. 

I bagged up the foot, maggots and all, and put it in the fridge for several days until I could get around to this post.  I figured the cold air or plastic bag enclosure would kill the maggots, but when I pulled it out this afternoon, the maggots were alive and well and wiggling at the bottom of the bag.  So cold temperatures don't kill maggots, but it does seem to put them off their feed since they left the corpse to congregate together.  I suppose maggots don't use up much oxygen so the air pocket in the bag hasn't dissipated yet. 

I do have to wonder what happened to the rest of the cat?
Maybe possums ate it.  Opossums do eat carrion and our neighborhood is home to many possums.  Or maybe our dog, Bo, ate it.  He is a goat in dog's clothing, although I don't know if goats eat rotting meat. It's a mystery any way you slice it.

But the fun part about all of this is what my husband is going to say when he gets home from his business trip tonight and opens the fridge to find the cat's foot.  I can guarantee you it won't be yummy.

Stay tuned for more Weird Science at Casa Sullivan . . .

Picture
Maggot Convention at the Rotting Corpse Hotel
0 Comments

    Archives

    March 2019
    March 2018
    February 2018
    June 2016
    April 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    September 2012
    August 2012
    July 2012
    June 2012
    May 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012

    Author

    Speculative Fiction writer

    Categories

    All
    Airline Travel
    Alternate Universes
    Andrea Janes Interview
    Annnalee
    Bathroom Humor
    Blogging Vs Writing
    Brown Nosing
    Buy Books For Bo
    Casting Your Characters
    Cats
    Christmas
    Coffin Hop
    Crazy At Casa Sullivan
    Dark Shadows
    Dearth Of Older Characters
    Dinosaurs And Ships
    Doggy Style
    Dogs
    Dreams
    East Alabama Today Interview
    Fainting
    Family
    Favorite Books
    Favorite Movies
    Ferrets
    Fire Batons
    Freak Snow Storm
    Free Books
    Fruitcake Sanctuary
    Fun Wine
    Glamour By Andrea Janes
    Halloween
    Hawaii
    Hobbies
    Hula Hooping
    Interests
    Jonathon Frid; Dark Shadows; Barnabas Collins
    Lions
    Love At Second Sight
    Made-up Words
    Misadventures
    Monkeys
    Moxie
    New Year's Eve
    Off Color Topics
    Pet Skunks
    Procrastination
    Publication News
    Rats
    Rotting Corpses
    Secret Chickens
    Sick And Puny
    Snakes
    Stability Ball Chair
    Stalking Celebrities
    Steiff
    Stephen King
    Story Ideas
    Storytelling Through The Arts
    Super Heroes
    Thanksgiving
    The Best Dracula Movies
    The Business Of Writing
    The Hubs
    The Weredog Whisperer
    The Weredog Whisperer: Luna
    Thrift Store
    Turkey Hats
    TV Guest Appearance
    Vietnamese Pot-bellied Pig
    Were-sharks
    Writer Interviews
    Zombies

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.