Starting a fire

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I’ve never done this until today and failed. A dead pigeon was spotted in the garden. A few neighbours have cats that frequent our garden.

Swmbo doesn’t want it buried and I’m not allowed to chuck it in the recycling bin.

I had the bright idea of cremating it. I used a metal bucket i had lying around and chucked in balled up news paper and scraps of cardboard. Then the dead bird, followed by more paper and cardboard.

It started off fine but extinguished rather quickly. Dead bird is lightly singed but still otherwise intact ie the paper on top burned but nothing below it did.

Better ideas would be welcome.
 
You need wood on the fire and wait until it's burning good before cremating the bird.
Or bag it up and put it in a bin at your local park etc.
 
We have a neighbourhood sparrow hawk pair that regularly despatch pigeons, the magpies & jackdaws clean up afterwards. Usually all we find is a ring of feathers. On the rare occasion we have found the remains it goes in the garden waste wheely bin.
 
Not advocating burning the bird but you need wood as that will provide a sustained heat source at a temperature high enough to burn the carcass. Don’t forget the carcass is mostly water and bone, that needs a lot of energy to get rid of.

What you did was a bit like holding a lit match under a leg of lamb and asking why your Sunday roast is a bit fresh...
 
Newspaper and cardboard are themselves difficult to burn. Were there holes in the bucket to get air in( though still wouldn’t have been any good with paper)?
 
I read about someone almost completely destroying a dead body by lying it on top of a shopping trolley in an industrial bin, tipping several gallons of petrol in, then throwing a match at it.
If you can get an old grill/oven rack, and a 5litre can from the filling station, you should be able to scale that down using the bucket.
Be prepared for neighbourly complaints about all the oily smoke though.

Alternatively, stick it in a peddle bin liner, go for a walk, and drop it in a public bin like you would dog poo.
 
Freeze it then put it in the poultry section at Iceland, no one will notice the diference
 
Yeah - your fire went out because it couldn't get enough air in. It didn't cremate the bird for the same reason you can't barbecue things on cardboard :)

But tuck it under the hedge, something will find it. Circle of life.
 
Tori_T said:
I read about someone almost completely destroying a dead body by lying it on top of a shopping trolley in an industrial bin, tipping several gallons of petrol in, then throwing a match at it.
If you can get an old grill/oven rack, and a 5litre can from the filling station, you should be able to scale that down using the bucket.
Be prepared for neighbourly complaints about all the oily smoke though.

Alternatively, stick it in a peddle bin liner, go for a walk, and drop it in a public bin like you would dog poo.
Click to expand...
There’s not much fat in wild birds. If you can get a human body alight it can burn nicely on its own. There are those cases of so-called spontaneous combustion for example.
 
Tori_T said:
I read about someone almost completely destroying a dead body by lying it on top of a shopping trolley in an industrial bin, tipping several gallons of petrol in, then throwing a match at it.
Click to expand...
I'm not following your reading list :)

sphexx said:
There’s not much fat in wild birds. If you can get a human body alight it can burn nicely on its own. There are those cases of so-called spontaneous combustion for example.
Click to expand...
As I understand it those cases need a "wick" such as a blanket or thick dressing gown that absorbs the rendered fat from the body and allows it to burn a bit like an inside-out candle.

Cheery stuff for a Monday morning :)
 
sirch said:
I'm not following your reading list :)


As I understand it those cases need a "wick" such as a blanket or thick dressing gown that absorbs the rendered fat from the body and allows it to burn a bit like an inside-out candle.

Cheery stuff for a Monday morning :)
Click to expand...
Likely so. About the wick. They are quite extraordinary and I should have put “spontaneous” in quotes. I think a lump of phosphorous would work though :)
 
Moot point now. I went to set fire to the remains yesterday. Some fox or cat has run off with their kentucky fried pigeon. :rolleyes:
 
The brummies are getting more like scoucers every day LOL
 
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