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-   -   How do I get rid of a dead rodent inside a wall? (https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showthread.php?t=612578)

  • Nov 15, 2011, 08:39 PM
    JSF3161955
    How do I get rid of a dead rodent inside a wall?
    I'll bet you've never had this one before! A small rodent---mouse /mole/chipmonk---has fallen inside a wall in my house and has died. The smell is very characteristic and incredibly bad. This is the fourth in two years. They always end up in the same place. I know that flies will home in on the "smells of death" with their receptors to lay eggs on the carion. If I can introduce some maggots into the wall space through a small hole, will they also "home in" on the prey and take care of the smell by eating the rotting flesh? It would be a shot in the dark to place them directly on the item in question. I know I can get them close, but it may be a foot away. I don't care about the hatching flies at this point; we're heading for winter. Please spare no details; I have a BS in Zoology.
  • Nov 16, 2011, 12:17 PM
    jcaron2
    I don't think you could get enough maggots in there to eat all the flesh quickly. You'd still have to wait several days to weeks (depending on the size of the critter) for bacteria or dehydration to do the bulk of the work.

    If this is something that happens year after year, and you can narrow it down to a particular stud bay, I'd be tempted to go to my local home center and buy a single- or double-gang old-work box (like you'd use to install a new electrical receptacle in an existing wall). Then I'd just cover up the box with a blank cover to match your existing outlet covers (or even install some non-functional outlets in the box if you REALLY want it to match your existing ones). That way, whenever this happens, you simply have to unscrew the cover, then loosen two screws to pull the box back out of the wall, giving you access to the wall cavity behind it. Unless your hands are really small, you probably need a two-gang box to get a hole wide enough to reach into.

    http://waterheatertimer.org/images/Old-Work-Box.jpg

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