Correct disposal of a dead pest that was found?

[StephyMei1112]

There's a very large, very dead skunk carcass beneath the bushes on the front lawn. We discovered it after getting back home tonight. It's too cold and late to do anything about it right now so probably it will be dealt with in the morning.

I was just wondering though - for something like that should we call animal control to pick it up or can we just toss it in the trash? And out of pure curiosity - what about larger wild animals like coyotes or cougars? if they should ever be discovered dead does animal control need to be involved in the disposal/removal?

[GipsyQueen]

We put the dead mouse we found in our apartment in a plasic bags (lot of em) with baking soda in it and then into the trash (trash pickup was the next day)... but thats a small animal.

I think for a scunk I'd call animal control to pick it up... wouldn't want something of that size not to mention that smelly in my trash. I could imagine the smell to leak at some point after death?

[BostonBanker]

Double bag and deliver to the dump was the protocol when I worked animal control. In our area, the street department is responsible for anything on the roads, anything on private property is the responsibility of the land owner. The only time I had to deal with anything was the one time I needed to have a police officer come "dispatch" a badly wounded raccoon in someone's yard. Technically it could have been the home owner's issue, but I was right there so I took care of it.

[StephyMei1112]

Trash can it is then, Thanks!

It's fairly large - but not unmanageable.

[Xandra]

Depends. For a skunk you're probably OK (though I think it's illegal to put dead animals that aren't meat in the trash). If you find some special looking bird I'd call animal control.

[stardogs]

My experience mirrors BB's. Do handle it carefully - skunks are a pretty big rabies vector and can carry other nasties as well.