Dead Mule

[Eugene]

I knew the topic line would get your attention. First time anything like this has ever happened to me.

At the acreage today. Neighbor living about 1/3 mile distance cross country, 3/4 mile by road, wearing bib overalls and flip flops, walked into the shop. Bit of neighborly conversation.

Then he said that his mule got tangle up in the kids swing set the previous night and strangle to death.

He ask if I had a hole or ditch where he could put the 1000 lb. mule.

Real real real long pause on my part, thinking. Ya, I have a ditch where we could bury the mule. This guy has no tractor. If I said yes I would have to get out one of the larger tractors. Drag the dead mule 3/4 of a mile on the gravel road up to the ditch. Get out the skid steer, push the mule into the ditch and cover it up.

Told him I had no place to bury the mule.

Then he said that he could take the mule to a relatives farm about 30 miles distance.

I wished him the best, knowing he had no truck or any method of loading the mule in a truck.

I wasn't about to loan him my pickup or a trailer either.

Edit. I'm saving this one and put it in my letter with the next Christmas card.

[Dale Finch]

I was waiting for the punch line...wise call on your part.

Have a friend who, a few years ago, was asked by a neighbor if she would remove and dig a hole and bury a dead horse. So she drove her backhoe down the road to the property. The owner had failed to tell her the horse had died inside the small stall, and since it was now in rigor, it was not an easy job to get a 1000+# animal out the door!

[Lt.Mike]

[Dale Finch]

That's about the way I pictured it!

[Stanton]

Eugene, that was probably the best thing you could have done. Sometimes you just have to say “no”.

[Lt.Mike]

Somewhere on my 2-1/4 acres I have 2 horses buried. My neighbor up the road mentioned in conversation that years back he used his backhoe to bury 2 horses for a prior owner of my property, he wouldn’t say where.
Really, oh hey did I tell you?
He added he had promised to never tell anyone where. Great
It’s not like I want to dig them up in fact I’d rather not. So I’m afraid one day I might disturb the remains of some poor horse.

[MiCarl]

So I’m afraid one day I might disturb the remains of some poor horse.

It's not like the horse will care......

[Lt.Mike]

So I’m afraid one day I might disturb the remains of some poor horse.

It's not like the horse will care......

But I like horses

[Winfield Dave]

Somewhere on my 2-1/4 acres I have 2 horses buried.

Beneath the blackberry bushes

[Don McCombs]

Look for the spot where the grass grows really well.

[Lt.Mike]

Not sure but thinking an open area about the right size was behind the barn was also part of the paddock area. My property had a lot of trees when I first moved in. Trees were all you could see in a google earth photo. With trees there’s roots everywhere too. If that’s the spot my carport is over it now.

[coppersmythe]

That photo reminded me of an employee at the veterinary school at LSU. His job was to "dispose" of the animals that , for whatever reason ,died/killed there . everything from big bulls to birds . I learned quickly to NEVER look in that room , or any other room there . Animals are amazing . i watched as a group of students and a professor led a very large hog from the pens to the loading dock to the necropsy room " spot " . one of the guys said " get ready " . they were still 10'-12' away from the "spot" when the hog went ballistic . coppersmythe............................

[Lt.Mike]

Ya... you tube has beached whales that explode when cut. We’ve all seen those balloons on the roadside. I have an over sensitive sense of smell and I think any of that experience would probably kill me.
Oh and Eugene, I wouldn’t think dragging a dead mule down any length of a gravel road would be an option either. Not something I’d care to do or remember.
My thoughts are that he needed to get a backhoe and bury it on his own land.
Around here that’s in the municipal code for deceased livestock.

PS- The pic is from a scene in the movie “Animal House.”

[Donegal Cub]

That photo reminded me of an employee at the veterinary school at LSU. His job was to "dispose" of the animals that , for whatever reason ,died/killed there . everything from big bulls to birds . I learned quickly to NEVER look in that room , or any other room there . Animals are amazing . i watched as a group of students and a professor led a very large hog from the pens to the loading dock to the necropsy room " spot " . one of the guys said " get ready " . they were still 10'-12' away from the "spot" when the hog went ballistic . coppersmythe............................[/quote
Saw & dead horse reminds me of a poem by Robert Service about a contract to bury the body of Blasphemous Bill McKay . A really good poem from a great poet.

[Eugene]

After reading the Missouri Dead Animal Disposal Statute, good thing I didn't get involved in disposing of the dead mule.

The neighbor, mule's owner, doesn't own the property he is residing on. Even if he owned the property he could not bury the mule due to the physical/environmental restrictions on, under, adjacent to, and size of the property.