vizier wrote:
Maggots definitely need flies to lay them (eggs). Interesting point though, what would happen to a body in a sealed airtight room. Presumably it would decay but at a slower rate.
I once saw a pic of a grave dug up in London. Apparently, the occupant had been buried in the 1600s but was near perfectly preserved. She had skin and her clothing was still in pretty good shape. The ground she had been placed in was mostly clay, I think, which was the reason she was so well preserved.
Also, peat-bog burials can remain remarkably well preserved for thousands of years.
'Tollund Man' above.
It's an interesting thought, Dawnie, but I think it's fairly conclusive how and why the flies are attracted to that particular scent. Most things that are living inside us require us to be living for their own sake and will quickly expire once we do. That particular smell, as Oi pointed out, is like orgasm for a fly. It can probably detect it from very far away and will go to great lengths to get at the source.
Take a quick look around your home and I'll bet you'll find lots of little nooks and crannies whereby a fly could gain ingress to lay it's eggs on your rotting flesh. Another important aspect of the process of decomposition is that there is already bacteria all around you which starts everything off, which initiates the 'smell', which attracts all sorts of other wee, tim'rous beasties to the party.
Ah well...that's my sunshine spread for today. Now, fuck the lot of yous.
