Preventing damage to wildlife

[death_by_life]

My plan is to CTB in the woods, probably sometime in the winter and overnight - there should be fewer people out and about and I'm less likely to be disturbed. I want to use N, which I realize is ever increasingly more difficult to do, but other methods are either unappealing or impractical for this location. It occurred to me though that if I'm not found within a short-ish period of time after I die, my body could be consumed by wildlife. I'm a vegetarian/vegan and work with animals, and though I don't practice religion, not harming or killing animals (especially as collateral damage because of my own death) is as close to a religious tenet as I get. When they euthanize large animals they have to do it either with a gun which just isn't going to work for me, or with N but has to be injected into the spine so it doesn't leech out into the soil, which is obviously going to be tricky at best. Any thoughts on how I can prevent harm to other beings and still go as peacefully as I can, while also not being a horrible sight when my body is found?

 

[Leiot]

If you're out in the woods its a guarantee your body will get consumed by something. Might be insects, might be wolves or some other mammal. Maybe a vet school might have some documentation on that.

 

[2messdup]

My plan is to CTB in the woods, probably sometime in the winter and overnight - there should be fewer people out and about and I'm less likely to be disturbed. I want to use N, which I realize is ever increasingly more difficult to do, but other methods are either unappealing or impractical for this location. It occurred to me though that if I'm not found within a short-ish period of time after I die, my body could be consumed by wildlife. I'm a vegetarian/vegan and work with animals, and though I don't practice religion, not harming or killing animals (especially as collateral damage because of my own death) is as close to a religious tenet as I get. When they euthanize large animals they have to do it either with a gun which just isn't going to work for me, or with N but has to be injected into the spine so it doesn't leech out into the soil, which is obviously going to be tricky at best. Any thoughts on how I can prevent harm to other beings and still go as peacefully as I can, while also not being a horrible sight when my body is found?

Sorry but the N will poison animals that eat you. I've seen it happen when someone fed a pigeon to ferrets, not realising the pigeon had been euthanased with N. At best they'll be sedated, which won't be safe for them in the wild, at worst they'll die. Can you hire a 4x4 and do it in there?

 

[death_by_life]

If you're out in the woods its a guarantee your body will get consumed by something. Might be insects, might be wolves or some other mammal. Maybe a vet school might have some documentation on that.

Hm, we don't have wolves in this area, and no bugs in the winter, so at least I'm good there. I do plan to leave a delayed note so not a whole lot of time will pass before my body is found, but of course that's tricky because there's no set time of death. I could talk to the local vet school, but I'm not sure they have info on ingesting N vs injecting it. But thanks foe the idea! There might be someone I can ask.

Sorry but the N will poison animals that eat you. I've seen it happen when someone fed a pigeon to ferrets, not realising the pigeon had been euthanased with N. At best they'll be sedated, which won't be safe for them in the wild, at worst they'll die. Can you hire a 4x4 and do it in there?

I did think about driving in, or just doing it in the parking lot. Even a 4x4 wouldn't get far, and it would probably be kind of obvious if I tried. I'd very much like to go in the place I always felt most alive and where I wanted to live, when I wanted to live. I'll have to think creatively about ways to get around my body being consumed. Something aversive on it, like lemon juice or something? I guess I have to do some research about local wildlife, what the chances are that they'd actually consume a human body, and what kinds of things they'd find aversive enough not to try. Thanks for helping with that thought process!

 

[2messdup]

Hm, we don't have wolves in this area, and no bugs in the winter, so at least I'm good there. I do plan to leave a delayed note so not a whole lot of time will pass before my body is found, but of course that's tricky because there's no set time of death. I could talk to the local vet school, but I'm not sure they have info on ingesting N vs injecting it. But thanks foe the idea! There might be someone I can ask.

I did think about driving in, or just doing it in the parking lot. Even a 4x4 wouldn't get far, and it would probably be kind of obvious if I tried. I'd very much like to go in the place I always felt most alive and where I wanted to live, when I wanted to live. I'll have to think creatively about ways to get around my body being consumed. Something aversive on it, like lemon juice or something? I guess I have to do some research about local wildlife, what the chances are that they'd actually consume a human body, and what kinds of things they'd find aversive enough not to try. Thanks for helping with that thought process!

It doesn't have to be a big animal. Rodents will certainly have a go. Birds. Foxes. Not to be too gross but anything that eats maggots. If you're out there any amount of time no amount of aversives will work. I'll keep thinking. It's some sort of physical barrier that's needed or make sure you're found sooner cos animals are less likely to be interested at first

 

[death_by_life]

It doesn't have to be a big animal. Rodents will certainly have a go. Birds. Foxes. Not to be too gross but anything that eats maggots. If you're out there any amount of time no amount of aversives will work. I'll keep thinking. It's some sort of physical barrier that's needed or make sure you're found sooner cos animals are less likely to be interested at first

Yeah, I was trying to think of something like a physical barrier, too. I can't think of anything practical.

 

[Wonhun]

Speaking of which, how do you dispose your SN? I heard people flush it into the toilet but it is a extremely bad practise. I wonder if heating it with a stove or put it in the oven would be better as I want to decomposite the nitrite to nitrogen oxides, but it might be a problematic to do so.

 

[OldManOfTheLake]

My plan is to CTB in the woods, probably sometime in the winter and overnight - there should be fewer people out and about and I'm less likely to be disturbed. I want to use N, which I realize is ever increasingly more difficult to do, but other methods are either unappealing or impractical for this location. It occurred to me though that if I'm not found within a short-ish period of time after I die, my body could be consumed by wildlife. I'm a vegetarian/vegan and work with animals, and though I don't practice religion, not harming or killing animals (especially as collateral damage because of my own death) is as close to a religious tenet as I get. When they euthanize large animals they have to do it either with a gun which just isn't going to work for me, or with N but has to be injected into the spine so it doesn't leech out into the soil, which is obviously going to be tricky at best. Any thoughts on how I can prevent harm to other beings and still go as peacefully as I can, while also not being a horrible sight when my body is found?

Depending on your location, large animals may not be an issue. If you do this in the US in the winter, bears will have hibernated (they are lazy hunters believe it or not). Mountain lions and wolves may be a problem, but mountain lions do not view humans as prey, and wolves are fairly rare to see to begin with out in the wild unless you are in Canada or maybe some parts of the Pacific Northwest.

If you are worried about drugging other animals, you could probably do this in a tent where no smaller animals can bug you. You can get a pretty good sturdy tent relatively cheap. It may have a window so you can see outside before you fully CTB.

 

[death_by_life]

Yeah, no large animals, really - we don't have any in this area. A tent is an interesting idea! I'll have to look for something really small and easily set up. Thanks for that idea!

 

[death_by_life]

By way of update, in case it changes anything for anyone else: I've decided to walk in the woods, but ctb in my car. I just don't want to take the chance of damaging wildlife, which feels ultimately selfish just so I can have a last few moments in the woods. Better to protect those around me than take the chance of collateral damage. I don't love the thought of dying in my car, and the difficulty that may come from selling it in the future (who wants to pay full price for a car someone died in?), but that PITA is better than taking innocent lives with me. With the difficulty of finding the most peaceful way to ctb, I haven't gotten everything ready, but I'll update if I figure something out.

 

[death_by_life]

Watching some of the SN threads makes me wonder if that would be okay, both as a method for me (which I have to decide for myself), and as an alternative so I can die where I want to. Does anyone know if there's any information about SN toxicity from consuming flesh that died from SN toxicity? I can also search, but personal experience is also helpful.

 

[maniac116]

Predatory animals have incredible sense of smell & won't consume you if they're able to smell N in your flesh but I'm not an animal expert at all

 

[death_by_life]

Well, hopefully that's true. We don't have large predators here, just small animals and birds. And I still have some time left in the season where I might freeze solid before my body is found, so maybe that helps?

 

[Shadows From Hell]

Deer won't eat human remains that I'm aware of, bears usually hibernate, so the possibilities could be raccoons , possum, wolves, or a fox, and maybe a skunk.

As for insects, they should be safe....

But mosquitos.... They can die and rot in the deepest part of mosquito hell!!

 

[ShatteredSerenity]

One thing to consider is that the N isn't going to stick around in your body unchanged, rather it will get metabolized to hydroxypentobarbital. I'm not sure what effect that chemical has on other animals but a quick search suggests "Hydroxypentobarbital, the major metabolite of pentobarbital, given to animals in high doses has no hypnotic properties. This fact could be explained by lack of entry into brain from blood or by true inactivity in spite of entry into brain."

 

[death_by_life]

Deer won't eat human remains that I'm aware of, bears usually hibernate, so the possibilities could be raccoons , possum, wolves, or a fox, and maybe a skunk.

As for insects, they should be safe....

But mosquitos.... They can die and rot in the deepest part of mosquito hell!!

One thing to consider is that the N isn't going to stick around in your body unchanged, rather it will get metabolized to hydroxypentobarbital. I'm not sure what effect that chemical has on other animals but a quick search suggests "Hydroxypentobarbital, the major metabolite of pentobarbital, given to animals in high doses has no hypnotic properties. This fact could be explained by lack of entry into brain from blood or by true inactivity in spite of entry into brain."

Yeah, we don't have bears, but the rest might be a risk. This is why I've started wondering about SN and what those effects might be. Livestock euthanized with sodium pentobarbital have to be injected directly into the spinal cord so they can be safely buried or rendered, and I'm pretty sure I'm not up for that.