Dead animal in a wall problem.

[calico]

:bang2:


Can anyone help me out? I have heard a scratching and thumping above my kitchen and beneth my guest room floor for several weeks now. It sounds very big and I have heard it moving in the joining attic which is probably where it gained entrance to the space above the ceiling.

Anyway, A few days ago I heard it above the kitchen again along with the sound of babies feeding and whatnot. I assumed it was an opossum that had given birth to some babies in my trashcan before disappearing.

Later that day I hear a frantic squeeling from the wall inside my pantry. Sounds like a baby fell down into the wall

I forgot about it and for the last 2 days have been out of my house for most of the time. Last night is when the smell hit me. I cooked dinner and all was normal until 2 hours later. I could faintly smell something decaying so I took the trash out assuming that was what it was.

I wake this morning to a smell that is just unreal. My entire house is flooded with it. I can't get used to it and I could not stay in my house today because I kept puking my guts out.

I had to go buy on of those painter/fertilizer masks just so I can breathe in my home.

Then tonight, I hear more scratching in my pantry wall and this time I hear a raccoon chirping in there :bang2:

So now, I don't know if it is a raccoon who came to pick the corpse already in there or if it was originally a raccoon in there who gave birth and now the mother has fallen down there.

First of all, does anyone have any ideas of something that I could spray that will kill the smell some and not mask it like air fresheners?

Does anyone have any ideas how I might be able to get these things out of there without having to rip the wall open? (I know there is nothing, but I can hope.)

This is a freaking nightmare fellas...I don't know how I can sleep tonight with this because this mask will not stay put at night.

 

[Danny White]

Man, that really sucks.

I have mice that die from time to time in my basement ceiling and they stink for about a week. But it's never as bad as you're describing. I usually just put out an air freshener and in a few days the smell goes away.

This will be a pain in the arse, but since it's in your pantry, you might want to try to figure out where it is and cut away the drywall and try to remove it that way.

Otherwise I'd have to say you'll have to wait it out until the thing completely decomposes.

 

[calico]

Man, that really sucks.

I have mice that die from time to time in my basement ceiling and they stink for about a week. But it's never as bad as you're describing. I usually just put out an air freshener and in a few days the smell goes away.

This will be a pain in the arse, but since it's in your pantry, you might want to try to figure out where it is and cut away the drywall and try to remove it that way.

Otherwise I'd have to say you'll have to wait it out until the thing completely decomposes.

One problem is that it is not drywall, but wood so it will be much more expensive to repair...plus a live raccoon is in their now and I will have to have animal control here to do it because I don't want to be the one to deal with an angry and frightened raccoon.

This is going to suck.

 

[Danny White]

One problem is that it is not drywall, but wood so it will be much more expensive to repair...plus a live raccoon is in their now and I will have to have animal control here to do it because I don't want to be the one to deal with an angry and frightened raccoon.

This is going to suck.

Try putting a fox or a wolverine into your crawlspace and maybe it will find the racoons and eat them... problem solved! :

 

[locked&loaded]

how the heck are they getting in, in the first place?

 

[calico]

how the heck are they getting in, in the first place?

There is a covered walkway that runs from the garage to house with many wires running inside the walkway ceiling all the way into on of the upstairs attics. A raccoon or opossum could easily get inside it...hell, my neighbors cats have gotten inside my attic through there.

Once this is taken care of, I will finally put a screen over the opening.

 

[lane]

man.....this really sucks.

it brings back memories of the time a mouse or possum died beneath my son's floor in his bedroom..the smell was enough to make you commit suicide.

it went away after a couple weeks or so......but he was not allowed to be in his room for quite some time.

i really wanted to rip his floor up , however you could not tell exactly where the smell was coming from.

i feel for you big time.

if i was in your shoes i would take a sledgehammer to whatever wall you think it is and repair it later.

 

[calico]

man.....this really sucks.

it brings back memories of the time a mouse or possum died beneath my son's floor in his bedroom..the smell was enough to make you commit suicide.

it went away after a couple weeks or so......but he was not allowed to be in his room for quite some time.

i really wanted to rip his floor up , however you could not tell exactly where the smell was coming from.

i feel for you big time.

if i was in your shoes i would take a sledgehammer to whatever wall you think it is and repair it later.

yeah, It looks like I am going to be forced to if more animals die in there in the next few days. All I know is that something big died in there because the smell is soo damn strong it is unreal. Right now my office is the only room in the house where I can close the door and take the mask off and breathe without gagging...setting up an air mattress in here for the night so I can actually get some sleep.

 

[lane]

a side note: there's this stuff called "pure citrus orange" air freshener, it's all natural and kills odors, not just cover them up. it's the best stuff we've ever got. you get it at walmart for about 2 bucks. or you can burn scented candles, incense, or sage. at least smudging with sage will kill the evil spirits of the dead critters lurking in your house. or you could just torch the place! lane wants you to know this is his wife typing and not him. lol

 

[calico]

a side note: there's this stuff called "pure citrus orange" air freshener, it's all natural and kills odors, not just cover them up. it's the best stuff we've ever got. you get it at walmart for about 2 bucks. or you can burn scented candles, incense, or sage. at least smudging with sage will kill the evil spirits of the dead critters lurking in your house. or you could just torch the place! lane wants you to know this is his wife typing and not him. lol

lol, I will check it out tomorrow...I think I have seen that stuff before.

 

[lane]

calico.........i feel for you man bigtime.

lane here.

the freaking draft is tomorrow and you are having to deal with this bull s@$t!!

 

[lane]

lol, I will check it out tomorrow...I think I have seen that stuff before.

pure citrus is allsome!!!

all natural too!

 

[Signals]

Man, you have my sincere compassion on this issue. I had something similar, but not so extreme, happen to me a couple of years ago.

It sounds like the direct approach.... cutting a hole in the wall is going to be your best option.

 

[calico]

calico.........i feel for you man bigtime.

lane here.

the freaking draft is tomorrow and you are having to deal with this bull s@$t!!

lol, no kidding. I think I will spend the day grilling outside and floating in the pool with some beers while the draft is on my el cheapo garage TV near the pool (but not too close).


I just had a friend stop by and when I opened the door the smell about knocked her out :laugh1: She would not set foot inside the house...I am going to have to buy more painters masks just to have friends over, lol.

 

[Danny White]

lol, no kidding. I think I will spend the day grilling outside and floating in the pool with some beers while the draft is on my el cheapo garage TV near the pool (but not too close).


I just had a friend stop by and when I opened the door the smell about knocked her out :laugh1: She would not set foot inside the house...I am going to have to buy more painters masks just to have friends over, lol.

Reminds me of that Seinfeld where everyone had the supernatural B.O. that nothing could get rid of. :laugh2:

 

[calico]

Reminds me of that Seinfeld where everyone had the supernatural B.O. that nothing could get rid of. :laugh2:

no kidding.

I think I should take some of my clothes outside and put them in my car so they don't get this stink in them.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

Here's a suggestion on how to get the live critters out.

Get some strong rat poison. The poison will eventually kill the critters but not before making them extremely thirsty. They then go outside to find water but they can never find enough to quench the thirst and they die outside.

As for the dead one in the wall, get a saw and start cutting. It's the only way I know of to get it out.

 

[calico]

Here's a suggestion on how to get the live critters out.

Get some strong rat poison. The poison will eventually kill the critters but not before making them extremely thirsty. They then go outside to find water but they can never find enough to quench the thirst and they die outside.

As for the dead one in the wall, get a saw and start cutting. It's the only way I know of to get it out.

You are right about the poison. When I was a kid we had a few rats who lived behind the washer and dryer. We left some poison for them and one day I went out to the garage fridge to get a sode and left the door open to the house behind me.

I grabbed a soda and turned to see one of the rats slowly crawling out the door and it attempted to make the pool, but it died before it got there.

 

[silverbear]

lol, no kidding. I think I will spend the day grilling outside and floating in the pool with some beers while the draft is on my el cheapo garage TV near the pool (but not too close).


I just had a friend stop by and when I opened the door the smell about knocked her out :laugh1: She would not set foot inside the house...I am going to have to buy more painters masks just to have friends over, lol.

Are you sure the previous owner wasn't named Gacy, or Dahmer??

 

[Rack]

Calico, call an exterminator. Problem solved.


As for the carcus, start tearing the wall apart, then call a carpenter.