Molly Palma
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics Current Event #14
January 22th, 2020
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”
Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020,
With the latest discoveries from the “Body Farm”, it is found that feral cats scavenge on corpses. These feral cats are attracted to bodies in the early decomposition stage. Even though both of these cats preferred a similar time period of scavenging, they scavenged on different areas on the body. Eighteen to fourty-eight days post-mortem, a feral cat scavenged a body, tearing at the “tissue from the left arm and adjacent chest area, focusing on the dermal and fat layers” From days seventeen to twenty-seven days post-mortem, the second cat tore at a corpse's left arm and shoulder, aswell as the lower abdomen. This process of figuring out the patterns of feral cats in scavenging is ongoing and can really further forensic science in the future.
This article is important because feral cats are heavily prevalent in the United States. According to lead author Sara Garcia of a newspaper in the Journal of Forensic Sciences, postmortem scavenging can “distort or conceal soft tissue trauma” which confuses forensic scientists in making an accurate time and cause of death. As a forensic scientist, it is important to become aware of all the factors that could compromise evidence, which in this case is a body, including cats, as ridiculous as that may seem.
Taylor’s article was informational but direct. After reading it, I was able to draw out a who, what, why and where. Her analysis about feral cats and bodies was supported with important quotes, which added sophistication to her article. To improve her article, Taylor would’ve finished her article with a point of her own rather than just quoting Garcia again. In addition, It would’ve been better Taylor had explained to the reader what the “Body Farm” was before she continued, because not everyone is aware already.
7 comments:
Riley Morgan
Mr Ippolito
Forensics current event
01/05/20
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”
Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020,
https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-Feral-C
t-Scavenging/
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/
The review Molly Palma performed on the article: "Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging" was very interesting and informative. She discusses how feral cats scavenge on corpses. I like how she was straightforward with the information. When she stated how “Even though both of these cats preferred a similar time period of scavenging, they scavenged on different areas on the body” it was a good way to put the information because it was a bunch of information packed into one sentence. I also appreciate how she was able to captivate the reader by using captivating words at the beginning like scevange and corpses . She did a good job stating things in her article that could have been improved and fixed in the future.
One thing Molly could improve on is explaining how and why she chose the article. She did not provide any reasoning behind her decision to write about it. Molly’s Analysis was also very short and didn't provide the detail she needed to do the article justice. She could provide a longer analysis that makes the reader feel she has read the full article and knows what it is about. She also did not state the importance of the article. To improve, Molly could spend more time talking about the details explained as well as making more connections as to why she chose the article and insert the importance to deepen her analysis.
I chose this article because it was very interesting and I enjoy reading things like this. I also wanted to see Molly’s writing style as I have never looked at one of her reviews before. By reading this article I learned about how the patterns of feral cats in scavenging is ongoing and can really further forensic science in the future. It will change my perception because now I have another piece of knowledge that I can use.
Riley Morgan
Mr Ippolito
Forensics current event
01/05/20
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”
Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020,
https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-Feral-C
t-Scavenging/
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/
The review Molly Palma performed on the article: "Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging" was very interesting and informative. She discusses how feral cats scavenge on corpses. I like how she was straightforward with the information. When she stated how “Even though both of these cats preferred a similar time period of scavenging, they scavenged on different areas on the body” it was a good way to put the information because it was a bunch of information packed into one sentence. I also appreciate how she was able to captivate the reader by using captivating words at the beginning like scevange and corpses . She did a good job stating things in her article that could have been improved and fixed in the future.
One thing Molly could improve on is explaining how and why she chose the article. She did not provide any reasoning behind her decision to write about it. Molly’s Analysis was also very short and didn't provide the detail she needed to do the article justice. She could provide a longer analysis that makes the reader feel she has read the full article and knows what it is about. She also did not state the importance of the article. To improve, Molly could spend more time talking about the details explained as well as making more connections as to why she chose the article and insert the importance to deepen her analysis.
I chose this article because it was very interesting and I enjoy reading things like this. I also wanted to see Molly’s writing style as I have never looked at one of her reviews before. By reading this article I learned about how the patterns of feral cats in scavenging is ongoing and can really further forensic science in the future. It will change my perception because now I have another piece of knowledge that I can use.
Isabelle Kennedy
1/26/20
Forensics C Odd
Current Events 14
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”
Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020, https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-Feral-Cat-Scavenging/
For this week’s current events I review Molly Palma’s response to “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging,” by Michelle Taylor. Molly does a good job at drawing the reader in, and starting her reflection on the article introducing the new finding, in which the piece describes. “With the latest discoveries from the “Body Farm”, it is found that feral cats scavenge on corpses.” Molly highlights the discoveries from the Body Farm, and proceeds to note the shocking discovery that feral cats scavenge on corpses. As well as clearly highlighting the main point in the opener of her reflection, Molly also does an excellent job at introducing an interesting finding presented in the Body Farm study. “Even though both of these cats preferred a similar time period of scavenging, they scavenged on different areas on the body.” She clearly expressed the manner in which these feral cats highlighting the similarities and introducing a very surprising difference. She then backed up the interesting fact that the feral cats fed on different types of the body, with specific information. “Eighteen to fourty-eight days post-mortem, a feral cat scavenged a body, tearing at the ‘tissue from the left arm and adjacent chest area, focusing on the dermal and fat layers’ From days seventeen to twenty-seven days post-mortem, the second cat tore at a corpse's left arm and shoulder, as well as the lower abdomen.” She does an amazing job at citing specific examples to support an earlier claim.
Although Molly’s response was very well written, it could have been a bit more detailed when explaining the article’s importance. More detail on exactly how the cats “postmortem scavenging can distort or conceal soft tissue trauma” could have used to more clearly illustrate the exact effect the cats have in messing up the body after death. As well as this, Molly could have also used more quotes from the author in her response, to provide a further insight on the author’s point of view.
Overall, Molly’s reflection was very clear and easy to comprehend. It was easy to figure out the main point she was trying to convey about the article through her response, and she did a good job at connecting the surprising fact of a feral cat’s food source to a broader picture, which is that they have a large impact in tampering with bodies postmortem.
Isabelle Kennedy
1/26/20
Forensics C Odd
Current Events 14
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”
Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020, https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-Feral-Cat-Scavenging/
For this week’s current events I review Molly Palma’s response to “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging,” by Michelle Taylor. Molly does a good job at drawing the reader in, and starting her reflection on the article introducing the new finding, in which the piece describes. “With the latest discoveries from the “Body Farm”, it is found that feral cats scavenge on corpses.” Molly highlights the discoveries from the Body Farm, and proceeds to note the shocking discovery that feral cats scavenge on corpses. As well as clearly highlighting the main point in the opener of her reflection, Molly also does an excellent job at introducing an interesting finding presented in the Body Farm study. “Even though both of these cats preferred a similar time period of scavenging, they scavenged on different areas on the body.” She clearly expressed the manner in which these feral cats highlighting the similarities and introducing a very surprising difference. She then backed up the interesting fact that the feral cats fed on different types of the body, with specific information. “Eighteen to fourty-eight days post-mortem, a feral cat scavenged a body, tearing at the ‘tissue from the left arm and adjacent chest area, focusing on the dermal and fat layers’ From days seventeen to twenty-seven days post-mortem, the second cat tore at a corpse's left arm and shoulder, as well as the lower abdomen.” She does an amazing job at citing specific examples to support an earlier claim.
Although Molly’s response was very well written, it could have been a bit more detailed when explaining the article’s importance. More detail on exactly how the cats “postmortem scavenging can distort or conceal soft tissue trauma” could have used to more clearly illustrate the exact effect the cats have in messing up the body after death. As well as this, Molly could have also used more quotes from the author in her response, to provide a further insight on the author’s point of view.
Overall, Molly’s reflection was very clear and easy to comprehend. It was easy to figure out the main point she was trying to convey about the article through her response, and she did a good job at connecting the surprising fact of a feral cat’s food source to a broader picture, which is that they have a large impact in tampering with bodies postmortem.
Ruby Howell
Mr. Ippolito
Forensics Current Event #14
January 28th, 2020
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”
Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020,
https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-eral-Ct-Scavenging/
Molly’s review of the forensic science article, “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging” by Michelle Taylor was very compelling. It was not only coherent, but also showed that she had a deep understanding of the reading itself as well as the science behind it. The article revolves around how feral cats seem to be attracted to decomposing bodies and will tear at the tissue of those bodies. The issue with this is that during an analysis of a decomposing body, the damage done by feral cats can make result in an inaccurate forensic examination, messing with identifying the correct time of death. This can heavily impact the determination of a murder case, as a corpse is a very important piece of evidence that has the power to reveal the truth of the events that occured in the crime. Molly did a very good job explaining the important points of the article, going into detail about how the scavenging of the cats can destroy important evidence, as she says, “it is important to become aware of all the factors that could compromise evidence”. While I believe she did a wonderful job explaining most of the details from the article, it was confusing in the beginning when she said, “both of these cats” as I did not at first understand that she was talking about the cats from the two different cases discussed in the article. So while I think she could work on the clarity and the explanation of the articles findings, she wrote an interesting review. I enjoyed reading this article because I now have a deeper understanding about the process of decomposing body and the importance of it as a piece of evidence. This article also communicated how easily evidence can be tampered with and contaminated, and how that affects the forensic analysis of that evidence.
Clara DeMagalhaes Current Event #14
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.” Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020, https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-Feral-Ct-Scavenging/
https://bhscsi.blogspot.com/2020/01/mollys-review-on-body-farm-cameras.html
Molly’s review on this article was generally very compelling and well written. One aspect that she summarized the original source in a way that was very clear and concise. Additionally, I liked how she mentioned that it would have been better if the author defined what the Body Farm was before discussing it. I know that if I hadn’t learned what the Body Farm was from forensics class, I would have been at a loss. Lastly, Molly did a good job at citing the reasons why feral cats and their habit of consuming corpses can be detrimental to forensic science investigations.
One additional element that could have been added to this review would be to include one of the important quotes mentioned in the final paragraph. There were also a few grammar mistakes, although these were minor and can be easily corrected with a spell check program. Overall however, the writing was well done and articulate.
It’s definitely important to take into account any factor that may affect evidence in an ongoing investigation. If even as something as unexpected as feral cats can distort the evidence and cause scientists to be unable to inaccurately determine the time of death or other factors, then they may have trouble determining important aspects of a case. Nevertheless, learning about this phenomenon was very interesting and it’s a very well-informed review.
Sophia Prior
Ippolito
Current Event Review
Feb 8, 2020
Taylor, Michelle. “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.”Forensic®, 21 Jan. 2020,
https://www.forensicmag.com/559972-Body-Farm-Cameras-Reveal-Insights-on-Feral-Ct-Scavenging/
After reading Molly’s review of the article “Body Farm Cameras Reveal Insights on Feral Cat Scavenging.” by Taylor Michelle, I was impressed by her use of details from the text, as they were integrated into her summary. Her review allowed the reader to follow along and used language that was intriguing as well as easy to understand. I was intrigued by her information about how feral cats are attracted to bodies in the early decomposition stage.
In terms of aspects of the review that Mollys could improve on, I would say she could have improved on her first paragraph summary by adding her own opinion. In addition, she could have improved on adding more quotes from the text into her piece, she could have used a couple in the last two paragraphs. After reading Molly’s review, I was able to further my knowledge of how feral cats scavenge a dead body.
I was able to take away the importance of the patterns of feral cats in scavenging has in order to solve a crime, and this will continue to aid investigations in the future.
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