GenChick (imported) wrote: Tue May 03, 2016 9:04 am I heard a dead rotting human body has a sweet scent

… Is that true?

That wasn't the smell that came wafting out of my grandfathers house when we went to check on him after not hearing from him at the normal interval.

--LT

If I am not mistaking, detective Rodie Sanchez said so in one of the episodes of “Killing fields” (2016).

GenChick (imported) wrote: Tue May 03, 2016 6:00 pm If I am not mistaking, detective Rodie Sanchez said so in one of the episodes of

“Killing fields” (2016).I know it's hard to believe, but TV shows do occasionally make stuff up. My hubby figures the show Scorpion has set science education back fifty years.

Sandi

:-\I know I've seen it. Ernie.

C&TL2745 (imported) wrote: Tue May 03, 2016 7:36 pm I know it's hard to believe, but TV shows do occasionally make stuff up. My hubby figures the show Scorpion has set science education back fifty years.

Sandi

GenChick (imported) wrote: Tue May 03, 2016 10:27 am I know how animal spoiled meat smells, but human scent is different from animal scent!

I had a neighbor who committed suicide in the middle of the summer. It wasn't discovered for over a week. It smelled exactly the same as a dead rotting animal, not sweet at all.

Milkman (imported) wrote: Tue May 03, 2016 4:29 pm Trentag is home from the hospital and doing well he says

That's good news. Hopefully he'll be content about what he did for the rest of his life.

I wish I would have been as courageous twenty years ago. That most likely would have saved me from a lot of problems I'm now in.

Losethem (imported) wrote: Tue May 03, 2016 5:28 pm That wasn't the smell that came wafting out of my grandfathers house when we went to check on him after not hearing from him at the normal interval.

--LT

Part of the discrepancy in this discussion could be down to the difference between a piece of meat and a dead body. The circumstances: location; temperature; etc will also have an effect.

When something dies the body will almost always release urine and on some occasions fecal matter. If it is a person, such as LT's grandfather who obviously died at home then the urine would have soaked his clothing or bedding. Initially, there would be little or no smell but after a few hours the smell of Ammonia from the urine will be noticeable and after a day or two would be so strong that it might be noticeable outside the door.

On the other hand the products of decay (after a recent death) will not usually start to become apparent until 10 - 14 days have elapsed (depending upon temperature). That smell is different from the pungent ammoniac smell and is usually described as sweetish or sickly by those that have the misfortune to have experienced it.

Banding the testicles would likely cause the latter but only after the bands had been on for about a week.

Losethem (imported) wrote: Tue May 03, 2016 5:28 pm That wasn't the smell that came wafting out of my grandfathers house when we went to check on him after not hearing from him at the normal interval.

--LT

Nor was it the smell I experienced as a rookie cop back in 1973 when I had to look after a body that had been in a closed apartment for about 6 weeks during high summer. The stench of a dead human body is the worst death stench imaginable and once smelt will never ever be forgotten.-

Alllll-righty, then, as Ace Ventura famously said... enough about the smell. Spank you very much. I'm a bit queasy now.

colin (imported) wrote: Wed May 04, 2016 10:24 pm Part of the discrepancy in this discussion could be down to the difference between a piece of meat and a dead body. The circumstances: location; temperature; etc will also have an effect.

When something dies the body will almost always release urine and on some occasions fecal matter. If it is a person, such as LT's grandfather who obviously died at home then the urine would have soaked his clothing or bedding. Initially, there would be little or no smell but after a few hours the smell of Ammonia from the urine will be noticeable and after a day or two would be so strong that it might be noticeable outside the door.

On the other hand the products of decay (after a recent death) will not usually start to become apparent until 10 - 14 days have elapsed (depending upon temperature). That smell is different from the pungent ammoniac smell and is usually described as sweetish or sickly by those that have the misfortune to have experienced it.

Banding the testicles would likely cause the latter but only after the bands had been on for about a week.

Colin thanks for your explanation – catch the star to your reputation!