Bloated kudu

**terlingua** · 26-02-2012, 06:23

This kudu was shot twice through the chest and dead within 5 min.
When we went to him he was all blown up and we could hear air leaking out when we put our ears next to the bullet hole.
Any theorys

**MyLani** · 26-02-2012, 07:06

Did one of the bullets not penetrate through the diaphragm into the stomach cavity if the shots were from the front?
It could have been gasses from the stomach cavity leaking into the chest cavity.
Not sure about the bloat though after 5 min

**driepootx** · 26-02-2012, 07:23

Have had a similar experience where the membranes below the skin become like bubble wrap. Cannot remember bullet type or placement thereof. Could be that air from the lungs has become trapped in the area below the skin?

**terlingua** · 26-02-2012, 08:35

It's been a while but I sort of remember the entrance wound was a bit far back but angling towards the far shoulder.
Since foreign hunters spend so little time in the skinning shed I'll never know where the diaphram is in relation to the ribs;
as seen from the outside.

**Andrew Leigh** · 26-02-2012, 08:37

Had the Kudu come from grazing in a field of beans. I get bloated like that when eating beans, the only difference if you stuck your finger in my belly like that I would probably fart.

A little purile but could not resist

**deonh** · 26-02-2012, 08:49

Originally Posted by Andrew Leigh

Had the Kudu come from grazing in a field of beans. I get bloated like that when eating beans, the only difference if you stuck your finger in my belly like that I would probably fart.

I think you may be right, Andrew. Kudu is a browsing ruminant with a lot of fermentation going on it's (four) stomachs (esp. the rumen). When gutting a ruminant you'll often see the rumen bulging out from the diaphragm like a balloon. Perhaps a bullet fragment punctured the stomach and this particular kudu just had a lot of gas build-up.

**terlingua** · 26-02-2012, 09:16

I'm not poking your belly till you pull my finger
I didn't see any crops around just dunes and springbok
It was the end of march if that makes any difference

**Marekjan** · 26-02-2012, 09:23

This is called "surgical emphysema" and is caused by the perforating lung injury, where the air is forced into the soft tissues of the chest (can spread to the neck and abdomen) by the effort of the respiratory muscles. It can develop within minutes.
Happens to humans too.
Mj

**Andrew Leigh** · 26-02-2012, 13:13

Excellent, thanks for that.

**Geoleeu** · 26-02-2012, 14:36

The Kudu sustained 2 penetrating (unclear if it was through and though) gunshot wounds to the chest area, according to the picture, which will result in a sucking chest wound. A mammal’s chest is a sealed cavity, and works almost like a pump, where the diaphragm contracts, increasing the chest cavity, and causing a negative pressure, which allows air to rush in, or inhalation. The opposite happen for exhalation, diaphragm relaxes, pressure increase, and cause air to escape from the lungs, exhalation.
With a penetrating injury to the chest, the chest is not a sealed air tight cavity any more, and with the contraction of the diaphragm; air is sucked into the chest through the penetrating injury. This will fill the chest with air; collapse the lungs, and large blood vessels, causing death through asphyxiation, and shock. As part of this pathology air also enters below the skin, and the tissue, causing the expansion, which is called surgical emphysema, and have a “snap crackle pop” feeling when the skin is touched over the bloated area