Dead Cow Cam action.

Coyotes running in, Black Vultures getting ready to launch.

These guys weren't here 10 seconds later when the flash went off again. They must owe a photographer money or something.

I have a black target paster over the ready light, so in the daytime they don't see the cam at all. Pretty wolfy looking coyote. They usually just flash past the deercam and I get the butt of the last one. This is more coyote data than I have ever seen on my cams.

King of the world!

Everyone got the differences between Turkey Vultures and Black Vultures down? You're welcome.

Really working the (aged) beef loin on the back side.

After these shots I moved the cam again. They ate a whole beef loin all the way down the backbone today along where I had sliced the hide open. Other side still there. I figured it was the coyotes pigging...or dogging out, but looking at the files off the cam I think it was mostly the birds.

No hawk today at all. Go figure. Maybe he has fish on Fridays. No possum at night. Coyotes came in but left at the first cam flash.

Welcome to folks linked over from View From the Porch. You can't get good Dead Cow Cam action anywhere but here!

Exciting NEW Angle! Thursday.

Early image. All Black Vultures. Why would a bird be so far out in the brush? Sulking? Shy? Bad breath? Had to walk out there. Seems risky.

Little Coyote showed up for one flash, then left. She did this twice, 12:27 and 4:16. Not getting much to eat.

Black Vultures, the early birds, walking in.

Turkey Vultures show up a little before nine.

It's a quorum! We can vote on the Healthcare bill!

Lotta flapping. I think some of this is contentious.

Vulture jam.

Begging behavior down front?

13-14 birds, maxed out.

Moved the cam to the South end of the cow, looking North. Better for light. Raised it to about five feet. I'm surprised to see just the one little skittish coyote female. They are pack animals. More around close I would think. Not a single raccoon, possum, hawk, rat. Birds eating a large bovine. They are getting into it: opening up all the places I cut the hide back. Most of the guts still inside. Must be getting pretty ripe. Still no big stench and not a lot of flies. 45 degrees tonight.

Dead Cow in the Rain.

Steady rain this evening and tonight. Carcass is running at bacterial temp but not pushed much by exterior heat yet. Yet. Tomorrow probably the last non-stinking day. Water is probably washing out some of the gut contents where I opened stomach number two or three. Tomorrow will be partly cloudy to 74 degrees. Going to run the rest of the cams after lunch. Last chance to peel back a little hide from the neck and quarters so scavengers can access it better. Whole animals typically are too tough for little predators to open. They decompose and swell and finally explode. Pretty awful process. All in all, scavengers would rather have fresh meat, they just can't get to it. This one is partially open and has to be lining up on the food chain of most of the locals. Fox, possum, coyote, bobcat, Black and Turkey Vultures, raccoons, hawks, et. Rain is delaying the process naturally.

DEAD COW CAM!!!!!!

800 pounds of bait. Moutrie game cam. Let's ROCK!

Out to the lake just in time to see the neighboring rancher dragging one of his Brahmas off to the back pasture. 10 minutes later I was moving my deercam, mounted on a plastic chair to cover the carcass. The DEAD COW CAM is up and running. Tried to open the carcass a little but my shears weren't sharp enough. We are going to see every vulture, raccoon, coyote, possum and rat in the watershed, plus Bigfoot.

Been wanting to do this for years, just couldn't force it.

Update: Had a go at opening the carcass with a pair of shears and really couldn't even get started. I'd cleaned my hunting stuff out of the 4-runner and didn't have a single blade. Lakehouse locked. I can't imagine tackling a buffalo with a flint knife. What a good friend a sharp knife is!

Tomorrow I'm going to cut a hole so the scavengers will have access. That will vastly speed the process and cut short the stinking part. Might need a little more distance on the cam and some height.

Last century I made war on the pigs in the bottom. Shot 37 and they moved. Never been back. Needless to say the bottom stank. A dead pig goes for more than a month. Awful stench. I started opening the freshly dead with a pocket knife. Three days later there would just be a big greasy trampled spot with a twist of hide and a shard of bone. No muss, no fuss.