Dead Mice Smell

[hytem]

Anybody have an idea of how to get rid of the dander odor of dead mice in the walls (or somewhere in the house)?

Terminix came in and put poison food cubes around--with the assurance they go outside after eating the food. Wrong. They go back to their nests in the walls and die. These outfits don't do anything more than what you could do yourself--laying out traps.

Result: a bad odor which has persisted in the hot air ducts for a month now. The problem is I'm allergic to animal dander, which is the main odor at this point. It's really bad when the animal is sick or dead.

Cleaning out the ducts professionally with suction didn't help much. I've located the entry areas in the basement wall next to the garage--which I've sprayed with odor-killing detergent and laid down 40 lbs of odor-adsorbing charcoal briquets. I've also been inside the ducts and found no dead mice. I found another entry point from the basement into the closet next to the kitchen--put holes in the walls inside the closet and pumped odor killer into the walls.
That has helped, too. I also have HEPA air purifiers--but they don't seem to handle dander very well(fine toxic oils and dead skin). What also helps is to find the droppings and get rid of them. They smell, too. In fact, I can smell everywhere the mice have been--at least the sick ones. You are very sensitive if you are allergic. It's on your clothes and everywhere else--if you have a hot air duct system to move it around the house.

The moral of the story is never use poison to kill rodents if you are allergic to dander. It's much more intense when the animals are sick or dead. Just use traps. And don't call Terminix or anybody else. The upside is the mice won't be back until the odor disappears. They can smell it, too.

If anybody has any more ideas that have worked, I'd like to hear them. Thanks.

[rcecale]

EWWWWWW!!!! I know this smell you speak of!

I bought a newly built condo in SoCal several years ago. A few months after moving in I noticed the "aroma" eminating from one of the walls. Apparently, they were drywalled in and starved to death...a whole family of the little buggers. Even after cutting a hole in the drywall to remove them, the odor persisted.

Try spreading some powdered lime on the area. IIRC, that's what I ended up putting on mine. It worked pretty quickly.

Randy

[Dottore]

There are poisons around that blind the mice so that they seek daylight and die outside.

That said, when it happened to us I went to the local head shop and bought a big bottle of patchouli oil. We put a drop under our nose every now and again - and that seemed to work.

An aroma therapy burner would also make sense until the smell goes away.

[hytem]

Originally posted by rcecale
Try spreading some powdered lime on the area. IIRC, that's what I ended up putting on mine. It worked pretty quickly.

Randy

Charcoal is supposed to work as well--according to a guy at Home Depot I talked to. He also mentioned lime.

Trouble is, I don't know where the dead ones are. I found one dead one on the cellar floor. One caught in a trap behind the kitchen range--probably sick from the poison. That's it.

Where do you put the lime if you don't know where the nests are?

I could buy some lime and put it along the basement/garage wall.
Also in trays in the closet, etc. Is lime corrosive or toxic? Can I spread it on the basement floor and in the wood rafters along the walls?

I have a lot of charcoal in trays around the house, but I don't think it's helping much.

[TimT]

Trouble is, I don't know where the dead ones are. I found one dead one on the cellar floor. One caught in a trap behind the kitchen range--probably sick from the poison. That's it.

Check the refrigerator. The mice seek water when they are posoned, and sometimes the head for the works on the back of the refrigerator The compressor and a drip tray for condensation are usually located behind the fridge.

I just went through this and found two dead mice in the drip tray, sucked them up with the wand from a shop vac. Cleaned the drip tray with chlorox as best I could. And ended up cleaning the whole fridge.

This has happened a few time over the last couple of years. and the mice always end up in the works of the fridge (in my house anyway)

[Rondinone]

Dander won't come through the walls, it's particulate like dust. The smell from decomposition is from lighter molecules that contain sulfur and nitrogen. Maybe those are bothering you? A charcoal filter is definately the way to go. The good news is, after the animal dries up the smell will go away.

I can't tell you how many dead flying squirrels are in our attic, because I've lost count. Most don't even smell, the dessicate immediately. Only the ones that get under the plastic insulation and stay moist cause a problem.

[hytem]

Originally posted by TimT
Check the refrigerator. The mice seek water when they are posoned, and sometimes the head for the works on the back of the refrigerator The compressor and a drip tray for condensation are usually located behind the fridge.

I pulled out my refrigerator tonight, and didn't find anything except a lot of dust. The back isn't open at the bottom--a plastic plate with vented holes and hexagonal screws securing it to the metal back. Didn't see any drip pan inside. Nothing obvious from the front, either. No smell, so I figure they aren't in there, though we saw one early on run in back (trapped behind range next day-probably same one).

A lot of the odor is coming from droppings in the cellar along the garage wall and shelves, where i figure they were entering. When we had cats, my wife had a litter box there with edible (corn-based) litter! Call it yuppie litter. The mice had a field day, even with a cat around. I can't have cats anymore because of the allergies. That's bad, because we live in a wooded neighborhood with many field mice. Everybody without cats has them.

I'm using an odor control detergent called ZEP--used in hospitals.
I've sprayed it undiluted everywhere I can smell the dander, and it's effective though not completely. There are still places where there are droppings--in the cellar--and that may be the source of the odor at this point. I also have to get behind the lower cabinets in the kitchen, where there is some odor.

Thanks for all your suggestions so far.

I wish there was something you could put in your duct system to neutralize the odor. The duct-cleaning guys bombed it with something, but it wasn't effective for more than a few hours.

I have some lime (calcium-based), and am going to put some in the basement along the garage wall.

[rouxroux]

you might spray some Nil-Odor or Ozium in your intake (return) and let it circulate through the system. I know when my Father was still flying with Capital and United they used that to get rid of all sorts of odors. That liquid Nil-Odor was so strong that just a few drops in a cup would honey-up a Viscount or a Connie REAL quick.

[dafischer]

Ummmm...dander doesn't smell.

[hytem]

I'll check out the Nil-Odor. I have Ozium in a small spray can. It's good localized. Maybe I should spray some in the return vents on the walls.

Someone said dander doesn't smell. If you are allergic to it, there is something that smells and gets into your sinuses. It is especially bad with sick animals--from my experience with our cats and now, the poisoned mice. The mice didn't seem to bother me before the poisoning. Used humane traps to catch 20 or so
and released them in the woods out back (they just return). Also, the droppings in the cellar didn't affect me until after the poisoning.

I checked the fresh poison food cubes when the Terminix guy was here, and they didn't smell. But the poison container where the mice had been did smell--so it's the contaminated mice that are smelling.

[Noah930]

I remember reading some article in National Geographic many years ago. It was about the Smithsonian, I think, and how they prepared animal specimens into skeleton presentations. To help clean off all organic material off the skeletons (and just leave the bones behind), they'd leave the carcasses in drawers filled with roaches. So just let the roaches do the finding and cleaning up for you. I'm sure that'll clean up the smell of which you complain. (I am not responsibe for any side effects or sequellae of my suggestion.)

[hytem]

Originally posted by rouxroux
you might spray some Nil-Odor or Ozium in your intake (return) and let it circulate through the system. I know when my Father was still flying with Capital and United they used that to get rid of all sorts of odors. That liquid Nil-Odor was so strong that just a few drops in a cup would honey-up a Viscount or a Connie REAL quick.

What works pretty well are Renuzit Super Odor Killer gel containers. Made by Dial soap company. I started by putting it over the floor vents where the odor was strongest--on the garage side. Next, I tried putting a couple into the main ducts in the cellar upstream of the air blower. I have a couple in each direction from the middle of the house. The gel does neutralize a lot of the odor, making me feel a lot better, and replaces it with a pleasant clean smell.

I phoned Dial about it, and they said that was OK health-wise, to put it in the ducts, and they had another caller previously who had done the same. In an air stream, the gel will evaporate pretty quickly, but the containers are only $1.20 each. And hopefully, it's a temporary problem--now into its 5th week.

I have some spray tubes of Ozium, by the way. Sprays aren't as effective since the odor source is in the vent system.

[Danny_Ocean]

They make hairless cats now for allergy sufferers...and are pretty good at ridding mice. The mice laugh so hard they suffocate.

Seriously, though...perhaps an ozone generator (available at some rental stores) would help. I had a dead something under my house. Couldn't fit in the crawlspace so just waited for Mother Nature to do her thing. Took about 3 months for the odor to dissapate.

[hytem]

Regarding hairless? cats, the dander problem isn't the hair, it's dead skin and oils from the saliva and urine. The oils are the killer, and it's the same with mice--especially when they are sick. Really toxic stuff for some people, but the Renuzit product seems to neutralize it pretty well.

[JavaBrewer]

I had rats die in the walls and ceiling of a townhome. The pest guy said they would eat the poison, get thirsty, and go outside in search of water. WRONG. They died in the house structure. After putting up with that sweet sick smell for 2 weeks with no letup I starting cutting holes in the ceiling looking for the offender. I'm skeptical that the oder will ever go away and I really think the sheetrock walls will absorb the smell and it will always be there in form or another.

[hytem]

Originally posted by dmoolenaar
I had rats die in the walls and ceiling of a townhome. The pest guy said they would eat the poison, get thirsty, and go outside in search of water. WRONG. They died in the house structure. After putting up with that sweet sick smell for 2 weeks with no letup I starting cutting holes in the ceiling looking for the offender. I'm skeptical that the oder will ever go away and I really think the sheetrock walls will absorb the smell and it will always be there in form or another.

Try putting Renuzit Odor killer cones in your walls. Or in your hot air/ac ducts upstream of your blower. The stuff really does neutralize the smell. You have to replace the cones every few days. They have a tendency to blow down the duct when they are almost empty of gel and very light. Might have to tape them down.