Liza's pig cam log
As our pig decays we are posting updates, pictures, and having experts tell us what we are seeing.
As our pig decays we will be posting close-up pictures here. If you have questions or comments, leave them. We're asking a few experts to check in periodically, and the Buzz staff will try to answer questions as well. You can read the discussion below.
Day-by-day close-ups
Warning: These images may be disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.
| Monday, 9-22-08 | Day 5 |
| Tuesday, 9-23-08 | Day 6 | Wednesday, 9-24-08 | Day 7 |
| Thursday, 9-25-08 | Day 8 |
| Friday, 9-26-08 | Day 9 |
| Saturday, 9-27-08 | Day 10 | Monday, 9-29-08 | Day 12 |
| Tuesday, 9-30-08 | Day 13 |
| Wednesday, 10-1-08 | Day 14 |
| Thursday, 10-2-08 | Day 15 |
| Monday, 10-6-08 | Day 19 |
| Thursday, 10-9-08 | Day 22 |
| Tuesday, 10-14-08 | Day 27 |
| Friday, 10-17-08 | Day 30 |
| Monday, 10-20-08 | Day 33 |
| Tuesday, 10-21-08 | Day 34 |
| Wednesday, 10-22-08 | Day 35 |
| Friday, 10-31-08 | Day 44 |
| Thursday, 11-06-08 | Day 40 |
We fat all creatures else to fat us, and we fat ourselves for maggots. Your fat king and your lean beggar is but variable service--two dishes, but to one table. That's the end.
(From Hamlet, Act 4, Scene 3)
back to the beginning
Day One
The pig, straight out of the freezer. It seemed to thaw pretty quickly, but you can still see the marks from the freezer shelf on the pig's belly and neck. Look closely at the pig's ear: that's the first fly, making itself busy.
Pig, @2pm, 9-18-08: It was 74 degrees at the time. No precipitation, and the humidity was 49%. By 4pm, the temperature had peaked at 77 degrees.
Courtesy Liza Pryor
Day Two, Image 1
Pig is discolored, and the face is swollen. Not super smelly yet -- mostly just smells like pig. Flies buzzing around, but not swarming. The life cycle of fly to maggot to fly takes 2-3 weeks, and longer at cooler temperatures.
In summer, a human body in an exposed location can be reduced to just bones in only nine days. Our pig, even though it's much smaller, will take longer since it's not completely exposed to the elements and autumn temperatures in Minnesota limit the amount of insect activity.
Pig, @11am, 9-19-08: Photo taken at 11am. Overnight temperature bottomed out at 63 degrees. No precipitation, but the humidity rose: 60-70% overnight.
Courtesy SMM
Day Two, Image 2
Flies are particularly attracted to the pig's mouth and eyes. That's because most tiny, first-instar larvae eat liquid protein before their mouthparts get big enough to actually eat meat. So blow flies lay their eggs in open wounds (none on our pig) and the moist areas of the nose, mouth, eyes, and anal and genital areas.
Pig, 1:15pm, 9-19-08: It's 76 degrees. There's no wind, there's no precipitation, and the humidity is 48%. Today's high is predicted to be 83 degrees, and it's supposed to be warm and sunny all weekend...
Courtesy SMM
Day Two, Image 3
The three big "body clocks" are rigor mortis (the muscle stiffening that happens in the hours after death and then disappears), algor mortis (the cooling of a corpse as it equalizes with its surroundings), and livor mortis (the gradual settling and pooling of blood the begins as soon as the heart stops beating). But these can only widely approximate the time of death, since age, body size, health, manner of death, ambient air temperature, air movement, etc, can all skew the expected changes. 24-28 hours after death, lividity peaks, the body reaches ambient temperature, and rigor disappears. After that, insects are the key. Of course, our piggy was in a freezer for some time, and I'm not sure what to anticipate and when because of that.
After looking at these photos in succession, quickly, I think I'd say that our pig is starting to bloat.
Why? Well, the intestines are packed with bacteria that didn't die with the pig. When alive, the pig's body kept the bacteria in check, but now they're running rampant and breaking down tissue. Also, the pig's own digestive juices and other enzymes are breaking down its body. The decomposing tissues release gasses that distend the abdomen. Eventually, the pressure will also make the tongue stick out and push fluids from the lungs out of the mouth and nose.
But things are just getting going. I don't expect that kind of activity to peak until day 4-6. At least.
Pig, @4pm, 9-19-08: It's calm, 80 degrees, and sunny, with 39% humidity. Not much is going on out there.
Courtesy SMM
Day Two, Image 4
I didn't realize the light stayed on. Cool.
@8pm, Friday, 9-19-08: It rained pretty good for a brief period this afternoon (around 6?), but it's dry now. And the pig is under an overhang. It's 74 degrees and calm, with humidity at 51%.
Courtesy SMM
Why would you do that to a pig you sick nasty person
yeah, get real, seriously? you WANT to do that? there's things called mental societies for you.
Day Two, Image 5
Everything you never wanted to know about maggots...
@11:30pm, Friday, 9-19-08: It's 68 degrees, calm and clear, with humidity at 61%.
Courtesy SMM
We think of maggots as foul, disgusting little vermin, but they actually have some interesting medical uses, along with their value to the law enforcement community. Maggots produce antibacterial compounds that may someday help doctors fight superbugs and can be used to clean and treat problematic wounds.
I like the technical term for that type of problematic wound cleaning: Maggot Debridement Therapy (MDT). Google it!
Day Three, Image 1
Oh, my. Things are happening out there just a little more quickly than I thought!
@9am, Saturday, 9-20-08: It's hazy and 62 degrees, with light, variable winds, and 84% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Three, Image 2
All that fluid is attractive to flies, and good for little maggots. There's a lot more fly activity than there was earlier.
@12pm, Saturday, 9-20-08: It's 69 degrees, calm, clear, and sunny, with 71% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Three, Image 3
A pig in clothes (yes, forensic entomologists have studied this) will decompose faster than a naked pig because the clothing traps all the moisture against the skin, making it softer and easier for insects to deal with.
@2:30pm, Saturday, 9-20-08: It's 75 degrees, calm, clear, and sunny, with humidity at 61%.
Courtesy SMM
Day Three, Image 4
@6pm, Saturday, 9-20-08: Ack! I carefully recorded all the weather data, and then I looked at the sticky note, thought it was left over from my previous post, and threw it away. It was an electronic sticky, and it's gone for good. I can approximate, maybe...
Courtesy SMM
Weather Underground says that at 7pm it was 72 degrees and clear, with light winds and 52% humidity.
Day Three, Image 5
I was just looking at deathonline.net/decomposition, trying to estimate what we might expect to see tomorrow. I didn't really come up with a timeline (I need to do some Celcius/Fahrenheit conversions, among other things), but I did come across the following description of what's coming:
@8:40pm, Saturday, 9-20-08: It's 70 degrees and clear, with light winds and 67% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
i'm curious why the fluid under the pig's lower half is so much darker than that under it's torso...
I am betting that's because the fluids under that half of the pig are from its digestive system (intestines), hence the darker color, while the other fluid is probably blood.
Day Four, Image 1
@9:30am, Sunday, 9-21-08: It's about 62 degrees, clear, sunny, and calm, with 91% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Four, Image 2
There are a LOT more flies out there than on any other day so far, and the pig is definitely bloating.
@2:15, Sunday, 9-21-08: It's 78 degrees, partly cloudy, and calm, with 49% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Four, Image 3
@9:45pm, Sunday, 9-21-08: It's 69 degrees, clear and calm, with 57% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
why did the pigs fluids after 3 or4 days finaly come out?
i know this is a set up gig, but normally a dead animal (or human) would be found laying in the earth (or at least that's what i imagine in my mind...). so, i'm curious if there are insects from the earth to help with the decomposition process --- that aren't present in this situation - i see that the pig is on a steel plate. or is it all ab out the flies and maggots?
Excellent point. Good question. I am guessing the dermestid beatles that usually show up to eat the flesh will not enter into this scene.
Generally, dermestid beetles don't show up until something's been dead for a while: a few days to a few weeks. They prefer a dried-out carcass, and then they'll eat to the bone. That's what makes them so valuable to taxidermists and museum collectors.
More on dermestids from Science Buzz
And check out our dermestid cam.
Dermestids will be able to get at this pig, the question is will the decomposition be far enough along before it gets too cold for dermestid activity to take place. As Liza mentions, dermestids come after the cadaver is more dried out. This pig is too juicy right now for dermestids. Generally insect activity ceases when the average daily air temperature reaches 50 degrees...
That is a good question.
There's a good discussion of the order in which things usually feed on a corpse at deathonline.net/decomposition. Generally, bacteria and flies are the first colonizers of a body, no matter where it lies.
Beetles generally don't appear in large numbers until the body has dried considerably.
Thanks for sending the link to the deathonline website, Liza. Neat summary. I'd like to point out to folks that while dermestid beetles may prefer beef (or ham, or...) jerky, I've seen them relatively early on in some cases of human decomposition. The adults may sneak in and lay eggs when we're not looking, and then the question becomes, will it stay warm enough for the eggs to hatch into larvae? Those are the hairy ones!
As to WHY the pig is on this pan...we wanted to make sure the pig would not be scavenged by rats or other scavengers so it is in a cage. I learned from our conservation team that if we left it on the grass with just a cage over it that rats would burrow under the cage to get at the pig - hence the pan. We're focused on the entomology and stages of decomposition here, so a rat or other animal absconding with our pig would be a bummer.
In truth, rats and mice can easily get into the cage. Our conservation folks (big shout out to Rebecca!) tell me that a rat can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter, and a mouse only needs a hole the size of a pencil eraser. The gaps in the mesh walls are bigger than that. But the rodents shouldn't be able to drag off pieces of the pig, and that's what we were trying to prevent.
I don't know...I think a rat would think twice about trying to squeeze through the expanded steel openings - that stuff is sharp!
Day Four, Image 1
@8:40am, Monday, 9-22-08: It's 63 degrees, hazy and calm, with 88% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Four, Image 2
See that discoloration developing on the pig's belly? (Look back at yesterday's photos to see it start.) I think we're starting to see evidence of putrefaction. The forecast calls for warm and perhaps wet weather all week. That should keep the insects busy...
@10:15, Monday, 9-22-08: 67 degrees, hazy and calm, with 81% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Since it's hard to see detail from the webcam, I'll go downstairs and get some closeup stills and video each day. (Today is Monday, 9-22-08.)
Warning: They're much more detailed than what you're seeing on this page.
If you want a look, try here.
I am only leaving a comment here to really draw attention to Liza's link above. It is graphic - and awesome.
Day Four, Image 3
@3:40pm, Monday, 9-22-08: It's 75 degrees, calm, and partly cloudy, with 57% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Four, Image 4
@5:45pm, Monday, 9-22-08: It's 76 degrees, hazy, and calm, with 50% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Five, Image 5
There's now so much maggot activity going on near the pig's mouth and chin that you can see the movement on the webcam's live feed. I promise, Buzzketeers, that we'll get a time lapse up soon so you, too, can see.
@9:00pm, Monday, 9-22-08: It's 70 degrees, clear, and calm, with 69% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Six, Image 1
Oh, friends. Our little piggy doesn't have a face anymore. Also, you can see that bloating has forced the pig's right legs up into the air.
@9:30am, Tuesday, 9-23-08: It's 66 degrees, calm and mostly cloudy (it was raining pretty good just a little bit ago), and the humidity is 90%. Humidity was high overnight (never below 77% percent) and the low temp was 65 degrees.
Courtesy SMM
I can't tell whether the maggots go into overdrive at night, or if it just seems that way since I'm not constantly monitoring the cam. I'll have to ask Val Cervenka or Aaron Tarone (our friendly forensic entomologists) about that.
The maggots don't necessarily go into "overdrive" at night, but they keep developing. In the early growth stages, the little maggots form what we call a maggot mass. All those maggots create a lot of heat , which can serve to speed up their development (remember, since flies are cold-blooded, their body temperature is the same as the air temperature) and cause big changes in a short amount of time - like overnight.
i'm curious what influence the rain has?
In general, this would be a good question for Val. Specifically for this pig, it is under a soffit so it is not being rained on.
this is an interesting experiment..... how much time do you think
it will take the pig to fully decompose?
Rain should prevent flies from flying, which means they won't migrate to a corpse while it is raining. In the case of this pig, rain shouldn't have much of an effect if the flies are already there and the pig is covered.
Just like the St. Paul Saints have done for years with their live pig, I think we need to come up with a name for our pig. This year's Saints pig was named Boarack Ohama, which edged out Hillary Rod-ham Clinton, John Muckain in fan voting. Previous Saints pigs have been named Ham Solo, Garrison Squeallor, Bud Squealig, Kevin Bacon, Muddona, Hammy Davis, Jr. and Notorious P.I.G. (Piggy Smalls).
Wilbur gets my vote. Then we need to find a bunch of little spiders.
Man, that's some pig.
Here are the close-up images and video for Tuesday, 9-23-08.
USUAL DISCLAIMER: As with all things dead pig-related, these images are extremely graphic.
That, Liza, is an absolutely fantastic disclaimer.
Day Six, Image 2
It's hard to see in these pictures, since the top half of the pig is the dry half, with the least insect activity, but the decomposition is moving right along.
The pig has developed quite a hernia from all the gas trapped in its abdomen.
@3:45pm, Tuesday, 9-23-08: It's 77 degrees and overcast, with light winds, and 60% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day Six, Image 3
Holy Cow! I turned on the feed from the webcam, thinking it was time for another still shot. And the image looked pretty much like today's image 2.
But when I snapped a still shot from the feed, this is what I got:
@8:15pm, Tuesday, 9-23-08: It's 66 degrees, overcast, and calm, with 95% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Heavens. There's a LOT more fluid, and you can see a break in the skin on the lower back leg.
There she blows! I thought the break would be in the stomach area.
Me, too.
Day 6, Image 4
Can't wait to get in tomorrow and do the close-ups...Want to pay some attention to that top shoulder joint--what's happening there? I think there's still a lot of internal pressure, because the pig seems to be rotating.
@10pm, Tuesday, 9-23-08: It's 65 degrees, calm, and clear, with 95% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Day 7, Image 1
Friends! The images LIED to us. No, we just misinterpreted. The piggy has not "popped," as Joe put it. We were just seeing some fluid pooling on that back leg.
Here was the surprise image I pulled this morning...
@9:00am, Wednesday, 9-24-08: Surprise! The pig didn't "pop" after all. It was chilly overnight, and it's still cool. 58 degrees and clear, with a light wind and 83% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
The cool temperatures might slow things down, but we're supposed to get back into the 70s this afternoon.
If you look at this picture bigger (click on it) you can see something kinda fascinating. There are all kinds of little tracks leading out of the blood pooling behind the pig. I am assuming these are left from the little bugs crawling away from the pig. Hey Val? Is this a common thing that you see at some stage of decomposition? I took some closeup pictures of it earlier today and will post them a little bit later.
Insect tracks in the blood
Courtesy bryan kennedyHere is a closeup pic of the insect tracks that I was talking about.
Day Seven, Image 2
@11:15am, Wednesday, 9-24-08: It's 60 degrees and clear, with light winds, and 59% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Need close ups!
It is just getting more bloated - both back legs now appear to be in the air! Awesome!
I must say, Joe, you really seem to be getting into all this. Do I smell a new vocation? Or is that just 7-day-old pig remains in classic bloat stage?
What are those little bumps across the pig's abdomen? They almost look like nipple wannabees. Somehow I thought things would go much faster -- maybe it's the semi-sterile environment. I have heard that in traditional patriarchal cultures, such as rural Greece and Italy, it used to be the custom for a widow to dig up her husband's body a year after burial. If there was a nice polished skull, she was free to remarry. Otherwise --- back to the ground and wait another year! I wonder how long it will take for Liza's pig to get down to skeleton?
Well, there are a lot of bumps on the pig's abdomen, but I think the bumps you're referring to are nipples. Pigs are mammals, after all, and we've all got 'em.
If we had the pig in full sun, and it were hotter outside, then decomposition might go faster. Also, if we'd wrapped the pig, or dressed it -- anything to trap all that fluid against the pig's skin. But truly, things ARE moving right along.
I tried to find a reference to the burial custom you mention, but I didn't turn anything up. I did find a bunch of other interesting ones, so I'll write more about that tomorrow.
I'm betting that our pig won't get skeletonized. I think it will be too cold before that happens, and the museum's not going to let us leave it around until next summer. But we'll see how far we get before the temperature's consistently at or below 50 degrees.
Val or Aaron: any estimates of what we can expect to see next and when? I know there are formulas you can use, based on weather data, to determine time of death. Are there rules of thumb for looking forward instead of backward?
Here are the day 7 close-ups.
No video, today, Buzzketeers. Sorry. [EDIT: Bryan just told me that he did capture some video today, and I have the movies, but YouTube isn't allowing uploads right now due to site maintenance. Tomorrow, Buzzers, tomorrow...]
Remember: These are graphic images. Viewer discretion is advised.
I added the videos. They're on the Day 7 close-ups page (link above).
Enjoy, but maybe not over lunch?
The blood tracks look like spin art. Are the maggots dragging the blood around and creating those little blood tracks?
Probably. A few years ago we hosted an insect entomology exhibit and a forensic scientist told me of a case where they found a body in a room that was covered in blood droplets. All over the walls, everywhere smatters of dried blood. At first they thought this was evidence of a struggle and a murder, but the case turned out to be a suicide and the tracks were caused by cockroaches.
Those tracks look a lot like the maggot art that Rebecca O'Flaherty does (http://www.maggotart.com/).
Oh, I'd forgotten about maggotart.com! Thanks so much for posting the link!
Day Seven, Image 3
@9:45pm, Wednesday, 9-24-08: It's 57 degrees, calm, and clear, with 71% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
The Day 4 discussion covered the impact of keeping the pig off the ground in terms of how that may slow decomposition. Couldn't decomposition be accelerated by the nonporous pan retaining all the fluids that those maggots like so much?
Also, will the gas escape only when the maggots emerge through the skin; or can it escape the way it escapes from me after I eat broccoli?
I don't think decomposition is slowed by what the animal happens to be laying on, although that's a good question. It more a question of locality and the microclimate surrounding the remains. The fluids on the pan will dry out, and while adult flies might investigate, they won't be laying eggs in it - not enough substrate. The maggots are feeding mostly on soft tissue. Gas escapes when feeding creates openings in the flesh
As for how it escapes you, I'm not going there.
Can we get a pic of the area around the pig? I wanted to get an idea of the general surroundings - exposure to wind, sun, etc. I've heard mention of the soffitt - but what else is nearby?
IFC, if you didn't see them, the pics you requested are here.
Day Eight, Image 1
Sorry to keep everyone waiting for pig updates today. Some technical difficulties and an overscheduling problem have eaten up most of the day. AND I neglected to note weather data this morning. Anyway...
@10:20am, Thursday, 9-25-08: I neglected to note any weather data when I snapped this one from the feed. But Weather Underground says that at 10am it was 63 degrees and cloudy, with light winds, and 56% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
The pig is SO MUCH BIGGER than it was when we started. Now it completely fills the frame. Val, Aaron, how much bigger can it get? Are we close to the next phase of decomposition now?
And it's MUCH stinkier than it has been up 'til now. I think you told Joe, Val, that the smell would be worst at the very end of the bloat stage. Is that right?
To be honest, Liza, I think the smell in the stage of "advanced decomposition" is worse; you know, where more putrefaction is going on. But that's just me. The opinion, I mean, not the smell.
Can we know the upper limits of bloating? It's going to be different with every case, and would depend on factors such as weather, humidity, size of the animal and how quickly flies get going. This is the kind of thing that gets measured at the Anthropology Research Facility at the University of Tennessee, given the quaint name, the "Body Farm." All kinds of data are collected from the human corpses there, to be applied in practical situations where the information is needed to estimate time since death or identify remains, for example.
By the way, you can sign up to donate your remains to the Anthropology Research Facility, but there's a waiting list, so...
That was me Val, above, not Anon. Don't know why that happened.
Day Eight, Image 2
Roll over, piggy!
@4pm, Thursday, 9-25-08: It's 74 degrees, calm, and clear, with 49% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Note the new cluster of flies near the pig's back legs. Wonder what's going on there?
Roger said he'd get me some closeups and video today, but the cage key is still here. Better go score a camera and shoot some myself.
Day 8 close ups
Day Eight, Image 3
Is the bloat stage almost over? That hole in the belly is new since this afternoon (although we've been watching and waiting for it to appear since a few days ago).
@10:30pm, Thursday, 9-25-08: 68 degrees and clear, with light winds and 53% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
The holes in the belly are still only "skin deep." But I bet something dramatic happens today. (Is that wishful thinking?)
I know what you mean by dramatic, but I think that pig is full of drama right now!
Day Nine, Image 1
We had to move the piggy a bit, Buzzketeers. Folks on Level 2 could smell it a bit inside the building, and that's no fun. So we've moved the cage. Doing that jostled things around a bit (you can see a sort of "clean" area near the front legs where the movement caused a new burst of fluids), and it means we're now going to see some shadows moving around over the course of the day. Sorry about that.
I didn't pull an early morning image from the feed, either. Apologies again. But here's what it looks like right now.
@11am, Friday, 9-26-08: It's 72 degrees, calm, and clear, with 70% humidity.
Courtesy SMM
Forecast high temperature is 85 degrees. Should be interesting...especially now that the pig is exposed to the sun.
One of the things I noticed while moving the cage was the juices that escaped were glistening. Then, on closer inspection, they weren't glistening, they were moving. Crawling with maggots. So yuck. And the smell today was world class. Bryan called it right - you're fine for a while then you get a strong wiff and its gag material.
So, while riding my bike into work this morning, I starting thinking about turkey vultures. We often see them outside the museum, riding the thermals that rise off the river bluffs. They're carrion eaters, and they're exquisitely sensitive to the smell of dead things. Obviously, they can't get into the cage. But I've expected to see them checking it out, or at least circling above, and so far...nothing. Kind of odd, I think.
Day Nine, Image 2
I think the sun and the clear, warm day are speeding things along. If you look closely, you can see maggots moving underneath the tissue-thin layer of skin at the surface. And there are a LOT of tiny maggots turning up on the belly, now, not just in the body's creases.
@12:30pm, Friday, 9-26-08: It's 76 degrees, clear, and calm, with 62% humidity.
Courtesy SMM