Best Way To Find A Decomposing Animal In Your House..Stinks!
 

Guys - I have been travelling alot lately and asked my awesome neighbors to check on my place while I was away, so I got an email today stating that they went inside my house and it stinks of a rotting animal. Maybe a mouse that got trapped or something..who knows..

DAMN!

They looked all over the house and could not find anything...

What do you think I should do to seek out the carcass? I do not own a curious dog or cat that could seek out the dead offender. The thought stinks...literally.

Thanks in advance...need some big help on this one!

Yasin

I feel for ya... sometimes it can be tough to find them. I had something very large die in my house several years ago. Went up into the attic and couldn't find it myself so I hired a "specialist" for something like $150 to find it. He failed too. Few days later the meat flies showed up everywhere, hatching from maggots, I guess. I ended up staying at a hotel for 2 or 3 weeks until the damn thing dried up.

Sometimes they die in the toe-space in the kitchen cabanets. STINKS:eek:

Not sure a dog or cat will help at this point. You may need some sort of carrion eater.

"Examples of carrion-eaters, or scavengers, include Hyenas, Lions, Vultures, Wedge-tailed Eagles, Virginia Opossum, Tasmanian Devils, Black Bears, Komodo Dragons, Bald Eagles, Raccoons, flying squirrels, and Blue-tongued lizards."

Mouse died in the Hvac system in my BMW havent driven it much this year needless to say...
took apart the dash but still could not locate it.. It smells okay now 10 months later...
small things can really stink big..

If it's been awhile since you been home and don't use all the bathrooms/washer/etc, the P-traps can dry up and sewer gases can enter the house. It can smell REAL bad. Run water/flush/etc to fill up all of them.

Ditto on the traps .................. Sinks like a sewer ......... fill the void with water and magic, the smell goes away.

Hey Cary - Haven't seen you around these parts in a while :) I was just near you a few weeks ago, in Missoula. Do you still have the IGA?

Went through this over the winter...

If you're LUCKY its a mouse. If you're NOT its something larger like a squirrel. A mouse will take 3-4 weeks for the smell to leave. We had to abandon our ground floor bathroom for this period as a result. A squirell can take months.. ..racoon? Then you're drywalling the house.

Every contractor basically told us they end up replacing 3-8 sheets of drywall per dead animal with a 50% success rate. Many many worse ones too. They suggested dealing with it.

We had good luck with an ozone machine and carbon filters. Also drilled in a few small holes where we suspected it and dumped in a ton of activated carbon. Basically you tear out half the walls or wait for it to dry out...

Don't you hate it when the freezer you put your MIL in goes on the fritz the minute you leave for vacation ?

Yup. Good call.

Sounds great guys...I will definitely try the toilet flushing first and then move onto pulling the fridge out, washer, dryer out! X-fingers it is not a large animal like a racoon!! Thanks for all the suggestions.
Yasin

We had a mouse stuck in the wall between the kitchen and the formal dining room. You could hear it scratching around trying to get out. Our daschund was going nuts. She pointed right where she thought it was. When the mouse died it smelled pretty bad. Our dog just camped out in the dining room waiting for a chance to eat through wall and get the "treat." We had to barricade that room to keep her out. It took several weeks for the smell to go away.

If you lived closer to me I would bring over our dog. She would find it in short order.

BTDT

Find someone with a beagle. I bet a case of beer they find it in 15 minutes

I can't imagine leaving a dead mouse in the wall for weeks. I usually can find the spot where the animal died within a panel or two. Drywall patches and new paint, good as new.

I have a hyena if you want to borrow him.

You can rent fiberoptic camera's from places like Home Depot these days. Seems it would be easier patching a small hole then replacing drywall until you found it. I've got a great nose, too bad I couldn't come over. Turn off all you HVAC and keep checking the house, you should be able to get a smaller and smaller radius to locate it.

See if you can hook up with the local cop shop to get a cadaver dog to come over ?