Tales from Creekistan

Dead Deer Storage

"When you drove in here, did you notice a sign out in front that said, "Dead [deer] storage"?"
"Naw man, I didn't."
"You know why you didn't see that sign?"
"Why?"
"'Cause storin' dead [deer] ain't my [lovin'] business!"

Someone better tell that to my dog, because I'm not going to put up with it any longer. This morning, while trying to investigate an extremely foul smell wafting into our open windows, I found the mostly-decomposed head of a young male deer. And then I found our wonderful dog practically smiling at me while he chewed on a deer leg--complete with fur.

This isn't the first time it's happened. Last year at hunting season, he would bring home parts of deer that had been discarded by hunters after they field-dressed the deer. It wasn't unusual to see him chewing on a leg or a jaw bone. (The irony of seeing something chewing on a jaw was not lost on me.) In the Spring he found a fawn and quickly disposed of that (yuck!) And he's been known to kill and eat rabbits and moles. Small things are fine because they don't last very long. But a dead deer requires a few trips to bring out of the forest and eat. During hunting season, it's a lot colder and things don't rot as quickly. But it's still reaching 80 degrees and dead things don't keep very good at that temperature.

I lost the battle to my husband and it became my job to dispose of the "problem." So I donned rubber gloves, grabbed a trash bag, several small grocery bags, and Lysol, and, holding my breath, went outside. Luckily the offending item--the head--was still intact and wasn't difficult to get into the bag. And luckily the dog didn't try to take it away from me. So after a quick search of the driveway for other pieces, I was able to breathe again and throw the dead deer part away. I don't know if Lysol is meant to work outside, but I figured it couldn't hurt.

Any tips to help me train my dog that bringing dead things to the front porch is not permitted would be appreciated. Hunting season is coming up, and I don't want to get into the business of deed dear storage.