Does anyone know what a dead body smells like after a few months?

Question

ive herd all different stories,just wanna kno!

Answer 1

Absolutely rancid,

I used to do some work in a big London hotel that had a residents wing (the only way they could keep their hotel usage from the council) Most of the people that lived in the residents wing had been their since WW2 and wer therefore very old.

Occasionally I would have to go into one of their rooms to check or work on some pipes. When we had tried several times to gain access we would have to get a key and go in. Some times you wish you had not. I have no idea how long the bodies had been their but the smell was disgusting.

Answer 2

It all depends on the decomposition rates. However, if the body is normally clothed and within a closed house, the smell is hundreds times worse than any bad smell you could probably imagine. The smell of a decomposing human body is also very distinctive, and much different than that of an animals body. Due to that, anyone that has smelt a decomposing human body, would never forget the smell.

As I mentioned, it all depends on the factors that affect decomposition. If the human body is naked, left on the surface of the ground in the middle of summer in California, the body would probably be fully skeletonised and hence have little or no smell.

Answer 3

i understand you stated that your landlord wont pay, yet they're obliged too. You pay them to stay in a house they very own, so if something is going incorrect they could get it taken care of. i think of this is the regulation. looking the rat is almost a needle in a haystack to be trouble-free, they cover everywhere, it could have nibbled right into a brick and died in there, and if it extremely is the case it may be rather complicated to locate it your self and whether you do locate it, it might probable be very decomposed and with you being so heavily pregnant you do no longer opt to seize something a rat's been wearing around. i assume you may placed some traps around, no longer that i encourage killing animals, you may basically placed some foodstuff on a plate close to the place the scent is coming from after which make a catch so a bowl falls on it or something, then you extremely've information on your land lord. that would help. sturdy success, and that i wish the delivery is going ok :-)

Answer 4

Really depends on the conditions it's been 'stored' in.

And it's actaully the first few weeks that are the worst....

If refrigerated then low smell of decomposition.
If in a dry, exterior location. Not too bad as most of the fluids will have gone and animal activity (yum) will have removed much of the soft materials....
If in a sealed container in a warm environment then putrification will have turned most of the fats & soft organs to slime. And I mean - this #@^&%*$^ing stinks!! It's vomit inducing - pretty much puke on the spot.

Do an experiment youself. Get a piece of bacon or beef & replicate the above scenarios. One in the (spare) fridge (open to air), one on the window sill (open to air), and the last one sealed in a plastic container in a nice warm environment. Remember to ensure a good bacterial coverage....

Answer 5

I presume you mean if the body has been left to decompose? The smell would be stale, like a damp house or clothes.

The smell of a corpse, or more accurately dead meat, after a few days is more striking- exactly like smoked bacon.

Answer 6

Rotting bodies smell very bad, and the extent depends on the size of the body. Dead horses smell really bad from a distance.

Answer 7

All the things you heard are probably true. If bad cheese smells like $hit, then I can't even imagine a dead person.

Go to a university, a medical lab, where they might keep dead people or animals, ask if you could observe. It might be worth asking.

Answer 8

Unfortunately i do. Ranging from the heat, day of the year (season) ,etc. Helping perform autopsies (i was studying to be a pathologist) i saw 5 cases of bodies .. here are the best of the cases i saw:

1. 45 year old male - deceased in home, mid june - found 4 weeks after death. Body smell - much like rotting meat, or hamburger that was left on the counter for two days on accident. Fly larva (maggots) were present in eye sockets and ears and mouth. Body was bloated and skin was greenish blue and a bit see-through. To the touch (with gloves) was leathery and taught, like a tight drum.

2. 22 year old male - august 24th - home pool found 1 week 2 days after death. Body was bloated, though the smell was not bad until we opened him. Smelled much like a deer when gutted (a freshly killed deer - rich blood smell) and feces. Blood was very coagulated and resembled grape jelly. Intestines ruptured.

3. 61 year old female.. bathtub fall - cod blunt force trauma to the back of the head and caused serious injury to frontal lobe. january 3rd / beginning part of jan. found approximately 4-5 weeks after death. non bloated, no sign of animal (larvae) life. smell was not so bad, but having been imersed in water, the bone was present (showing) on legs, feet and hands. When trying to lift the lady and move her on the table, her skin would just peel back and slip off muscle and bone. Smell was rich blood, though not metallic.

AS for the road kill comment - NO.. the human body doesn't not smell like a different animal. As a matter of fact, each animal has its own smell of decomp. Trust me , if you drive past a rotten deer, it smells different than a rotten rabbit, cat, dog, etc.. For some reason human decomp is very recognizable and very different from the smaller (and even larger animals). The decomp smell between the other animals is a bit similar (it is still dead and rotting), but still different in their own respects. Many people do not ta'ke the time to realize the differences, but when you are around it, studying it, you can tell.

Answer 9

I seen one one of these body farms on tv I believe it was operated by university of Tennesse,They showed these bodies they would just lay them on the ground clothed and to see how long the body would last.Some the decmp was horrible and I imagine very pungent.

Answer 10

lmao this is the kind of sick question i would normally ask, i was interested to find out what replys you would get as id like to know also what a dead body smells like. are you related to me lol