How long does it take for a body to decompose?

A friend found a dead possum in his back yard about 2 years ago, and I told him to bury it so that it wouldn't rot in the open and stink up the place, and attract other animals. He went ahead and buried it about a foot deep.



Now we're trying to start a garden in the back yard, including in the area where the possum is buried. The earth here is very dry, and only a few inches down is very hard (Southern California). We spent 3 hours chipping away at it, and only got about 8" deep. I figured this would be deep enough for tilled earth, that whatever we plant (with fertilizer, etc) probably won't need to go deeper than that; but my boyfriend the Ranger says in a dry, arrid climate such as this we might have to go 1-2' deep. I'm up to the challenge, but my friend and I are concerned about unearthing the dead possom. The soil seemed pretty barren to begin with, so I wonder what types of microorganisms live in it. Think the possom might still be there? No plastic bag, so special preparation.

How long does it take for a body to decompose?
There are various stages of decomp but, if you do dig him up, he'll just be bones by now. Use gloves. I am not fond of dead animals either.
Reply:Ok the possum has already decomposed, nothing but the bones will be there, you really should have buried it deeper i can't believe something didn't dig it up. You do need to till a little deeper than 8" deep. Remember the roots will stop growing when they hit that hard ground and you won't have avery good turnout. Take a little extra effort and you'll have a great garden.