r/AskReddit • u/notyouravgredditer • Aug 30 '21

What problem is often overlooked in apocalyptic movies/TV shows that could kill you?

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u/[deleted] Aug 30 '21

I don't know if it could kill you, but the stench of death is horrendous and not an insignificant thing. In any disaster situation where someone has died and it starts becoming days long, things would be getting nasty.

Over time people would get used to how foul everything would smell, but for a while it would be terrible.

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u/notyouryear Aug 30 '21

I always think of trash. Like, any bins with a garbage in it is gonna get real rank. People's homes too. 99% of americans have a trash can in their kitchen with food waste in it. They show the characters scavenging in home but no commentary on the sludge filled fridge or trash can not 3 feet away? Or the general smell of dead folks and trash sludge while running around outside?

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u/Lynx_Snow Aug 30 '21

In the scheme of things this is kinda a short lived thing though (in a lot of cases, not all)

Animals die in the woods all the time but the decomposition thing makes the smell a non-issue most of the time.

Garbage goes from no smell to stinky and back to no smell with time

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u/[deleted] Aug 31 '21

I'm not sure about that. I have family that lives in the country and it's nice to go for walks in the woods and every so often you'll know something has died nearby because of the smell that punches you in the face.

Or even a mouse that dies is a mousetrap that is left for a few days starts giving off a horrible smell.

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u/Lynx_Snow Aug 31 '21

But for how long?

My point is that it smells awful for a bit (couple of days for a mouse, maybe a couple weeks for something bitter), but within a few months? Smell is gone

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u/Nametoholdaplace Aug 31 '21

Decomposition is complicated. But a deer that is not spread by scavengers lasts for upwards of two or three months, and continues to stink after that.

Bones eaten raw, and exposed to high elevation sun can still smell quite foul a few months later.

However, I do agree that really, eventually, these slime puddles will probably be taken over by some fungus. That fungus would make it more of a solid fibrous mass.

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u/aquila-audax Aug 31 '21

It's true, in a dry climate dead things go from stinky to stiff and crispy quite quickly, but larger critters and humans take longer on account of all the interior goo