A smell you’ll never forget

[Jazzy]

What’s a smell you’ll never forget?

 

[Fritz Kobus]

burning hair. Happened when I was about 18 years old trying to light a cigarette in the wind, so turned the butane lighter up as high as it would go to try to keep a flame long enough for a light. So what happened is the flame shot up my nostril and the odor of that burning hair was horrible.

 

[Lees]

Years ago, doing some trench work for a pipe reroute at a homowners home. Needed to go about 3 foot deep. I was behind the trencher and stinger was right depth and moving along just fine.

Then, the foulest odor came out of the ground. My helper ripped his shirt off to cover his face. He hollared at me that I must have hit a sewer line. But I knew I didn't. I would have felt it. I stopped the trencher. Tried to look down and see what it was, but couldn't make it out.

The lady of the house was watching us from a window. She came out and said, I know what you hit. I said what? She said, that's our dog, We buried him there. I asked, how long ago? She said a year and a half ago. I said, how can that be? That dog would be completely gone by now. She said they put him in a plastic bag.

So, the dog, a big dog, was rotting hide, and mush and bone, contained in plastic, till I came along. A year and a half's worth.

I was told I had to finish the trench and still need to go deeper as I was not at the correct depth yet. I told them what I thought would happen. The trencher blade is going to drag that dog up and it's likely to get entangled in the teeth of the trencher. They were adamant, dig the trench.

I said OK. I took my shirt off and wrapped it around my face. And exactly what I said would happen, happened. The hide was flipping around like a sheet and was caught in the teeth. Pieces of the dog were flying all over the place and getting caught in the teeth . My helper was useless as he was on the other side of the house throwing up.

The smell was horrible. I don't think I ate anything till the next night.

Moral of this story....if you bury your dog, don't put him in a plastic bag. Just lay him in the dirt.

Lees

 

[Fritz Kobus]

^ Oh what a horrific story. So sorry you had to deal with that. I buried my first dog wrapped in a blanket and just put a large piece of plywood a little ways above to hinder any digging animals. But when I had to bury my mother-in-law's dog back in the 1990s the vet gave the dog to me in a plastic bag. I don't remember but I bet I just put the dog with the bag, but I hope not. It is a disservice to the dog as well as anyone who ever digs it up. That one was in beside the garage. Mine was in the wooded part of my yard far from where the sewer line runs, so not likely to get dug up anyway.

 

[Fritz Kobus]

Had a dog sprayed by a skunk one year and that was pretty bad especially because I did not notice until she was in the house and because it was so cold, took her in the basement shower to shampoo her. It was in the 40s (F) outside, but I had to open windows and run a fan. The house had some odor for a number of days, but the dog would smell skunky months later any time she got wet in the rain.

 

[Fritz Kobus]

Now for better smells. Linden tree flowers are great. Scratch the bark of a yellow birch and it smells like wintergreen.

 

[Jazzy]

Part of the medical training to become a Paramedic was a visit to the morgue. We had to watch an autopsy being done. There is no smell in the world to explain how bad it smelled in there. A few of the people in my class ran out and puked. One person fainted. Me, I kept trying to hold my breath for as long as I could and then just breathe in small spurts. I found out much later, unfortunately, the trick is to put vapor rub under your nose.

 

[Joshua1Eight]

Popcorn flavored gak

 

[Lees]

^ Oh what a horrific story. So sorry you had to deal with that. I buried my first dog wrapped in a blanket and just put a large piece of plywood a little ways above to hinder any digging animals. But when I had to bury my mother-in-law's dog back in the 1990s the vet gave the dog to me in a plastic bag. I don't remember but I bet I just put the dog with the bag, but I hope not. It is a disservice to the dog as well as anyone who ever digs it up. That one was in beside the garage. Mine was in the wooded part of my yard far from where the sewer line runs, so not likely to get dug up anyway.

It really was horrible. But it had some very comical elements to it also.

1.) My usless helper. Here I was trying to finish digging, and then use a clean out shovel in the ditch, and he was just running around the house throwing up. And then he would run to the truck, get on the radio, no cell phones then, and call the boss and start complaining how he needed the health department out here, and then he woulld go find another place to throw up.

2.) Transporting the ditch witch back to it's owner. I tried to get the dog out of the ditch witch as much as I could, but it didn't help. It wreaked to high heaven. I had to drive through a large city and had many stop lights. Watching the peoples faces around me that had stopped also, was hilarious. I never seen so many wrinkled up faces and strecthed necks trying to figure out who died.

3.) The ditch witch was owned by my bosses brother. My boss told me to take it to a car wash and try and clean it up. So I did. It didn't help one bit. So he told me just go and park it in front of his brothers shop. By this time, word had gotten out what we were bringing, and his brother comes out with some can of aerosol spray, and he's cussing and spraying his witch ditch.

Lees

 

[Lees]

Part of the medical training to become a Paramedic was a visit to the morgue. We had to watch an autopsy being done. There is no smell in the world to explain how bad it smelled in there. A few of the people in my class ran out and puked. One person fainted. Me, I kept trying to hold my breath for as long as I could and then just breathe in small spurts. I found out much later, unfortunately, the trick is to put vapor rub under your nose.

I'm glad that there are people like you who can do your job. Myself, I couldn't do it. Not so much the blood and stuff, but the sadness of the stiuations you come up on. It would bother me too much.

Lees

 

[Fritz Kobus]

I tried to get the dog out of the ditch witch as much as I could, but it didn't help. It wreaked to high heaven. ... My boss told me to take it to a car wash and try and clean it up. So I did. It didn't help one bit.

I might have been inclined to dig a lot of ditches until that thing cleaned itself up by so much digging. Of course you would need some place to dig, dig, dig.

I had to drive through a large city and had many stop lights. Watching the peoples faces around me that had stopped also, was hilarious. I never seen so many wrinkled up faces and strecthed necks trying to figure out who died.

In college we had a field class and the wildlife lab would dissect a deer every year. Well the state natural resources department had a dead dear for the school and so while we had the University van out they strapped the deer to the hood of the van. When we came back, it was a nice spring day and students were everywhere. We had several stop signs driving through the main campus and people would walk past, look at this dead deer hanging off the hood, and have a disgusted look. And this one did not smell bad. Actually the entire hallway in the school would stink pretty bad during the dissection, which I think was formaldehyde. I was happy to not be in that class, which was for the wildlife students. My studies were in forestry, so we only had one required wildlife class.