Does this execution method would work in real life? (gory content)

Vultures will not land directly on the body. They land at a short distance from a carcass and carefully hop towards it, in case the carcass is not dead yet.

You could stake the person out on a platform.

I'm not sure what you're asking here. Yes, the victim will eventually die, probably of blood loss (pressure drop, blood flow slows, brain starves of oxygen). Yes, maybe birds will peck at his entrails while he's still alive, prolonging his suffering. Is that what his captors intend?

-Derek

I suspect tying someone to a column securely is extremely difficult and they'd slide down fairly quickly. Unless is has something like a ledge, or a meat-hook, or other lateral means of support.

If what works best for your story is abdominal wounds, bleeding out might be slow, depending on what gets sliced. However, the scent of blood will attract predators and later, carrion-eaters. If the person is secured on a platform, helpless to defend himself, it could get pretty grim...

Maryn, thinking wild dogs, crows, etc.

Possibly...

In your fantasy world it is evident you want to cause your victim much fear, discomfort and death, to put it mildly.
This is fantasy so no disrespect to you. But when I've been attacked by any bird it has always been by hawks. They can cause bleeding by scratching with their talons.Eating anything outside in hot countries is asking for trouble,especially at mid-day when everyone is hungry ,and especially the hawks.
So forgetting the vulture and cutting the skin of the victim around the abdomen area have you thought of staking out the victim naked and then scattering food on his/her body.
Put yourself in the place of that victim and I'm sure you will start screaming at every sound of flapping wings.
If the hawks,vultures don't get the victim, then rest assured the ants will...
Happy plotting.

Death by bird

Just read your execution style. Yes it would work in "real life" and is (or was) used by many ancient peoples as a form of death.

Also any ex POW of the Japanese would give you a real life account of watching such an execution. It was a favourite means of execution for allied POWs during the war in the Pacific.

Similarly the Romans enjoyed the slow death of leaving condemned to death by nature. That was the ultimate purpose of crucification- a slow painful death with the body being ultimately carried off to the degradation of digestion and excretion by an animal.

As late as the 1880s South Central African tribes especially the Matebele (Zimbabwe) and the Zulus would impale the condemned on sharpened pole through the rectum and the vagina (women) and then leaving them to a slow death to then be consumed by animals.

In 1860 the British Resident in Zululand described the Kings Karal (Village) smelled like a slaughter house with 100s of people impaled on poles around and lining the approaches to his palace.

So you can assume that your mode of execution is not only realistic, but both contemporary and very human.

However you could not use vultures as they are carrion eaters (only eat dead things) and not predators. Their beaks are too weak to pierce human or animal skin so they have to wait for the corpse to cure a bit or have another animal access the body cavities.

That being said if you laid your victim on their stomachs, or in the case of a woman, with legs apart and high, then natural soft openings present themselves and then vultures could be used quite effectively.

Then they will eat all of the carcase that is left.

Crows, hawks, eagles and other predatory birds will do your task of opening the body. You can save your knives and the expense of sharpening them.

However the real cause of death was starvation which is a slow a terrible way to die. You take about six to ten days, depending on size, body fat and condition, to die. The fitter, healthier and fatter you are the longer you will last. You will suffer tremendous thirst, halucinations and hunger. If simultaneously you were peeked at by a wide variety of birds and other assorted insects and animals.The sun burn would be ghastly.

If you leave your condemned outside the animals will dispose of the remains.

A note near to the point.Cats such as lions, tigers etc will only work on fresh victims, preferably living. Cats will not eat old meat unless very very hungry. They prefer live food, blood warm and moving.

Vlad Tepes the Impaler did thousands of impalements, depending on the stamina of the victim, some lasted 3 days. Hanging by the arms with legs tied--immobilized is much like crucifixtion. Death usually comes by suffocation as the person is too weak to exhale: 3-6 days depending on the person's condition. Some crucified persons were also stabbed in the torso to hurry death by blood loss.

Carrion birds would wait til the person is too weak to move. Crows and ravens would start with the soft tissues, usually the eyes go first.

If you want animal consumption while alive: rats and wild dogs would be the more horrendous. Depending on the latter, they may or may not go for the throat first. That could be stopped by the simple use of a protective metal or heavy leather collar. Then the dogs would go for the underbelly and the face. Rats go for openings and small parts first: various orifices, nose, ears, fingers, toes, genitals.

Correcting Poohcat: lack of water kills in 7-10 days. Dehydration causes weakness, hallucinations, dizziness, lethargy, the organs shut down: kidneys & liver, & GI tract, bp drops, blood volume drops, blood pressure and heart rate increase to compensate. Loss of only 15% of bodily water usually kills. Starvation takes 6-8 weeks.

How delightfully Greek.
In case it's unintentional, this is not a million miles away from what legend says happened to Prometheus.
He was staked out on a hill to have his liver pecked out by crows (daily) for daring to steal fire from heaven.

Poohcat said:

Cats such as lions, tigers etc will only work on fresh victims, preferably living. Cats will not eat old meat unless very very hungry. They prefer live food, blood warm and moving.

Click to expand...

Not quite true.
Leopards, for instance will happily wolf down rotten meat.

Which is unfortunate; eating rotten meat gives you spots. Hehehehe, OK that sentence was a joke. The rest is true.