There is one other place I know of you are likely to read about composting animals. The humanure handbook website forum. It wasn't till I started humanure composting that I learned how to get a really good hot compost pile that would easily handle rotting carcass and control smell and other animals digging it up. So what have we composted. I really can't even count the bones and scraps of animals we have eaten since we always compost all food scraps that don't go to the chickens or worm bins. It is a firm rule here to avoid putting anything stinky in the trash can. So, animal bodies in our compost bin lately. 3 sick chickens we didn't want to make the rest of the flock sick. Any dead squirrels we find around the house. 12 rats we caugh And all fish parts that the chickens don't get, I've found that burying fish parts causes critters to dig up the yard or whatever plant I put over it so composting seems to be the best way for use to take care of it. I agree that this is an advanced composting thread. No one who is not confident of their ability to manage a hot compost pile should be putting dead bodies in it.

Could be a Ground Hog (Woodchuck), Ground Squirrel, maybe a Chipmunk. Down by the pond most likely is Muskrats. You could live trap, but then what to do with the animal if you do because in Michigan you need to be licensed by the state to transport wildlife anywhere. Poisons are not recommended since they can do harm to non target thingys, such as children. Flooding of the tunnels will do little because these wee buggers would not have survived longer than us if they had not figured out long ago how to route rain water so that did not flood them. Gassing is also not recommended since hooking a hose to the exhaust to any gasoline engine and sticking the other end into the hole is simply a good way to make an engine mechanic rich. I found many years ago that smoke bombs did nothing except put some of my money in someone else's pocket. Since I've not seen them in a long time they may not be on sale anymore. If these buggers are real pests that need to be removed hiring a wildlife control specialist may be the best option.

You know what works for me and don't think I'm crazy but we also have loads of critters in our backyard and most I don't mind but we have a skunk living under the shed of my next door neighbour which is right next to my property line. So I pile dog poop around the perimeter of my property. It's in the woods so piles of dog poop aren't unsightly and they will dissolve into the ground with time but the dog poop seems to tell the critters that the dog lives here and you best not try to claim the dog's territory. We no longer have bunnies, coons or skunks (so far, knock on wood) and the only critters that still come are the squirrels but they are up in the trees so they are unconcerned by the poop. But maybe putting another animal's poop at the entrance of the hole might tell the animal not to use that exit any more and then you can close it off after a while. I also used this technique for mice that were living under my shed. The mice left but moles moved in instead and aren't bothered by the poop (go figure) lol! But the moles are cool...they eat grubs, slugs and other nasty ground dwelling bugs that most gardeners don't want around anyway and they aren't vegetation eaters, so double plus for me. Anyway, just a thought if you wanna take a "natural approach" to closing off your critter hole. Oh btw... we had groundhogs too (the babies were darling!) but we didn't want their burrow on our property and the dog poo worked there as well. You will know a groundhog hole as it has a musky odor and gnats will gravitate to the musk and fly around the hole at dawn and dusk. Let us know how it all turns out. Barb southern Ontario, CANADA

rick_mcdaniel~~~~~~~~--~~~~ I assume you are not taking this serious. But it is very serious. The wild hogs are so bad that some of your increase in dollars at the grocery stores are because of the wild hog damage. It takes a high power gun to kill them and we do not have one. We will allow a hunter as soon as the weather cools to hunt. In our organic garden we have lost all 4 kinds of cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe, only one bell pepper plant, (it had marigolds all around the hoop.) Do you think that the smell helped? They have not destroyed the Aussie Spinach. Most of the plants in hoops like tomatoes were dug up and the hoops were on there side. Several local big farmers have had acres of watermelon and sweet potatoes eaten. When the wild hogs dig they make big holes were a tractor can turn over. Danger!! Tax payers pay for some of the damage on most big farms via govt insurance. Hope this helps you to understand the need I have and others and tax payers. My amaryllis bulbs have over a 100 year history. They have been passed down from generation to generation. sylviatexas~~~~~~~~---~~~~~~~~ I did post on craigs list and it was flagged. The fellow in Canton who hunts hogs and has a good www did not return my email for help. Wild hogs are so dangerous we have a friend who had his peach orchard raided in June. The next night he and his gun went after the hogs. He almost lost his life. Two days later about 9 pm his 17 year old daughter went out to get something out of her car and one big fat wild hog was at her car. I love our wildlife but the hogs have to go for safety. We don't kill snakes that are natural to our little part of this big world. cwweathersby~~~~~~----~~~~~~ We are west of the Neches River. Edom has a person who sells wild hog meat I am told. But that person has so many big growers that it will be a while (1-2 ) Years before our name comes up. The meat is good and we did receive a roast about 2 years ago. Sorry to hear your problem is like ours OFF THE CHARTS!!!!! Happy trails to all, pinecone