Carrion

Carrion, also known as a carcass, is the decaying flesh of dead animals. It comes from both natural and human-related sources, such as wildlife, human remains, and livestock. Carrion can enter the food chain in many ways, like when animals die from disease or malnutrition, or when predators and hunters leave parts of their prey behind.

Carrion is a vital food source for many large carnivores and omnivores in ecosystems around the world. Animals like vultures, eagles, hyenas, Virginia opossum, Tasmanian devils, and coyotes rely on carrion for food. In addition, many invertebrates, such as carrion beetles, burying beetles, blow-fly maggots, and flesh-fly maggots, also eat carrion. Together with microbial decomposers, these animals help recycle important nutrients like nitrogen and carbon from animal remains.

The process of eating carrion is called necrophagy, and animals that do this are known as necrophages or carrion feeders. While the term scavenger is often used for these animals, it includes any creature that eats refuse or dead plant material as well. Carrion begins to decay immediately after an animal dies, attracting insects and bacteria. Soon after death, a strong foul smell develops due to bacteria and chemicals like cadaverine and putrescine.

Disease transmission

Carrion can carry many germs that make people and animals sick, including viruses like rabies virus and West Nile virus, and bacteria such as Bacillus anthracis, Clostridium botulinum, Francisella tularensis, Listeria monocytogenes, Pasteurella multocida, and Yersinia pestis. These germs can cause serious illnesses. There have been many cases where humans and animals got sick from touching or coming close to carrion.

Consumption as food

Further information: Necrophage § Invertebrates

Many small animals, like ants, bees, beetles, and flies, eat carrion. Some of these animals need carrion to survive or to help them reproduce. In water, animals like octopuses, hermit crabs, and starfish also eat carrion.

Further information: Necrophage § Vertebrates

Larger animals that eat carrion include birds like vultures and crows, fish like hagfish, mammals like hyenas, and reptiles like Komodo dragons. Most of these animals eat carrion when they can find it, but vultures are special because they depend on it for food.

Early humans are believed to have eaten carrion by scavenging the remains left by predators. Later, they began hunting more and eventually started herding animals.

Today, some people still eat carrion, such as the remains of animals left by predators or dead livestock. However, eating carrion can be dangerous because it may contain harmful bacteria that cause illness. People who eat carrion often try to cook or dry the meat to make it safer to eat.

In religious literature

In Noahide law

Main article: Noahide laws

In some religious laws, eating carrion — the meat of dead animals — is not allowed. These rules are part of special guidelines followed by some people.

In Islam

In Islam, certain types of dead animal meat, called carrion, are also forbidden. This includes meat from animals that died by strangling, a hard blow, falling from a height, being gored, or partially eaten by another animal.

In English literature

In stories and books, the word "carrion" is sometimes used to describe dead and rotting bodies that are dangerous or diseased. For example, in William Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar/Julius Caesar, a character talks about "carrion men" to describe dead bodies that will rot on the ground. Another example is in Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe, where the main character finds that a bird he killed had meat that was spoiled and not fit to eat.

Carrion flowers and stinkhorn mushrooms

Some plants and fungi have a special way of attracting insects. They smell like decomposing carrion, which helps them reproduce. Plants that do this are called carrion flowers. Stinkhorn mushrooms are a type of fungi that also use this smell to bring in helpful insects.

Other images

Here are some images showing different kinds of animal carrion from around the world:

• Rabbit carrion in Germany.
• Butterfly puddling on lizard carrion.
• Dead pig in the bloat stage of decomposition.
• Dog carrion in Mongolia.
• Flies settling on sheep carrion.
• Heavily colonized opossum carrion.