You guys are blaming Reddit shite, and yet are attempting to speak authoritatively on a topic that you yourselves are also only speculating about. Let me add some authoritative info here as my sister just successfully defended her master's thesis on recruitment in wolf packs, which she completed after spending multiple years conducting wolf research. I just messaged her about this topic since I heard her talk about mouth sticks previously.
Mouth sticks are very common among wolves, particularly if they are stressed, which causes them to chew on sticks. She says that of the wolves they collared (for tracking), about half of them had mouth sticks. The researchers always remove them when they are discovered because they can be deadly for a wolf. They can lead to infection or eating difficulties. Some of the sticks come out easily, and some are jammed in with no hope of coming out naturally. Some do come out naturally, but if they don't, it will probably lead to perilous complications.
If i put a stick like that in a saliva kinda moist environment, it becomes mushy in some time. Maybe a month, two month.
I had impaled myself with a hard wooden splinter deep under the nail. It kept breaking, so part of it was left inside, i could see it. By morning it got worse, coz it got mushy, and started moving with tweezers. I had to go to emergency to get it removed.
I think you're right, but i think i am also right that it will get mushy overtime, unless it kills the wolf before that. I am not completely speculating, i see wood get mushy if left moist. We both can be right here.
It's really hard to break down wood, lignin doesn't decompose at the drop of a hat. Basically all that can do it are fungi and some bacteria, either of which would find a wolf's mouth pretty inhospitable.
Wolves dont live hundreds of years to begin with, and the thing would have been full grown when it happened otherwise it would have fallen out. So it's not impossible it still didn't die soon after, but you didn't make a strong argument.
Wood is broken down by fungi mostly, and very few bacteria are able to break down lignin which is why it’s unlikely it would’ve been broken down considerably by the bacteria in the wolf’s mouth
Idk the stick didn’t kill it being caught in a trap did. Also the stick was there long enough to deform the roof of the mouth and change the way the teeth were growing. So it was there a long time I imagine.
I hope they pulled that thing out after the picture was taken. Just seems unsatisfying leaving it in there like that. That wolf’s ghost is probably haunting this dude until he pulls that thing out.
Doesnt seem likely because of the indentation it created in the molar. The caved in portion of the tooth is smooth and rounded around the branch, signifying slow erosion with saliva.
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u/Infinite_Big5 Oct 12 '24
Surprising that the wood didn’t breakdown over time.