Social media users are calling the duration of the progressive phase of the deer crop decaying over five days as ‘both terrifying and beautiful’.
The horrific incident began hours after Fon was killed by a passing car when his body stiffened as cells broke down and stopped producing ATP, the energy source needed to move.
Maggots and flies are then seen crawling over the carcass to feed on the flesh and tissue of the dead animal.
Bacteria and fungi will decompose the remaining tissue, but this process will take at least 60 days and leave the bones bleached in the sun.
Timelapse was created by cinematographer Wayne Reiser, known for his stunning nature videos for the BBC and National Geographic.
A cinematographer has shared a gruesome timelapse that shows the progressive stages of a decomposing deer over five days. The dead animal was found on a Missouri road and may have been hit by a car
‘I found the roadkill deer on a fairly busy street near my home in the St. Louis, Missouri area,’ Reeser told DailyMail.com.
‘I’ve shot a lot of timelapses professionally for natural history programs (NatGeo, PBS, BBC, etc.) and always thought it would be neat to film natural decomposition processes.’
His brother Oliver helped him drag the deer off the road and into the woods, where he set up camera equipment and began shooting.
‘The timelapse only took five days, which was quite a shock – I was expecting the whole process to take at least two weeks,’ Risser said.
The hot and humid July heat must have set things in motion. It was, to this day, the worst-smelling thing I’ve ever encountered.
‘Blowfly maggots crawled up my tripods and nasty flies that got into the shutter mechanism completely ruined one of my cameras by covering it in liquid.’
Instagram account Nature is Metal shares the science behind the decay process.
Wayne Reiser pulled the deer off the road and into the woods, where he set up camera equipment and began shooting in progress.
The first stage of progression is called the ‘fresh stage’ when the heart stops, blood oxygen levels drop and cells begin to break down.
As the cells break down, the red blood turns bluish-purple, changing the color of the body.
and stops the production of ATP, or adenosine triphosphate. This is why most roadkill corpses are hardened after death.
The video then captures the bloated stage, as the mother-in-law’s gut bacteria consumes her from the inside.
As this continues for up to 72 hours, gases such as methane, carbon dioxide, and hydrogen sulfide are produced, causing the body to swell and expand.
And it is the gases that create the unpleasant smell.
At this stage, organs and tissues begin to liquefy.
Maggots can be seen crawling over every inch of the lifeless body, eating away the once shiny brown fur coat and leaving only bones and some tissue.
This stage leads to the fan’s body cavity bursting open, exposing its internal organs and releasing fluid into the surrounding area that attracts flies and other bloodthirsty insects.
Flies use the body as a breading ground to lay their larvae, as decaying flesh is an excellent source of food for their young.
The timelapse shows the black insects devouring the animal in moments.
Maggots feed on the deer’s tissues and leftover meat, sucking it all the way down to the bones.
‘After about five days, the body begins to decay. The maggots continue to feed and grow, and eventually, they leave the carcass and become adult flies,’ nature shares.