Eye of the Jackal (IMAGE) University of Texas at Austin Caption It has been thought that scavengers change the environment in which the anthrax bacteria are living by opening herbivores' carcasses, enabling more production of spores -- the infectious life stage of the anthrax bacteria. That hypothesis is not supported by the results of the experiment. Credit Image courtesy of Steve Bellan. Usage Restrictions None License Licensed content Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert system.