prettydeadstuff:

I used to be really anxious about it, but I’m very chilled nowadays. I’ve never gotten sick from any of the dead animals I’ve worked on or touched in over 10 years – I don’t even wear gloves sometimes when dealing with them. I’ve also cut myself with dirty scalpels, just washed the wounds thoroughly right away and kept an eye on it. (Note: you should really wear gloves, I’m just a relaxed idiot)

However – I do always WASH my hands, and always wear gloves at work when dealing with fresh dead mammals (most of them come in sick – don’t want to catch lepto/ringworm etc) I personally am much more likely to get sick working with live animals than dead ones.

Germs and things don’t bother me much with dead animals, I am still weary of fungus spores and mold you sometimes find on damp bones or carcasses. They frighten me ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I think as long as you are being sensible and are aware of potential diseases you can catch from fresher animals, you should be fine. Be aware of zoonotic diseases in your area (nasties that can be passed between animal and human) The longer they are dead the safer they are really, especially if they’ve been frozen.