Posted by Boffo Could be a northern thing, but I assume mammals in the deserts of Colorado are just as nutrient deficient as Wisconsin and Ontario.
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The cow carcasses I've come across have been way too "fresh". In this desert region not much go after them and they will rot away over the months in the hot sun. Really nasty.
Eventually the health Dept gets them hauled away. One was sitting around for about 6 months, another right by a heavily traveled service road for at least 3 months in the summer.
Vultures and crows are pretty much non-existent here in this local region.
I've found well preserved hog, deer and small mammal skulls as well in the desert that have been there at least a year or two. There are pack rats everywhere but they don't seem to care for them very much. There are some signs of rodent gnawing but not as much as you might expect.
Occasionally Indian burial sites in the dunes are uncovered by the wind. Some of those bodies have been there many hundreds of years and the skeletons are fairly intact. Enough so that the coroner is contacted.