# Any experience getting rid of dead rodent smell? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 26, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487 "2017-05-26T16:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/1 "2017-05-26T16:29:41Z")
I had a recent rat infestation in my attic and walls. Good news: the poison worked. Bad news: I have a problem with dead rodent smell. Any recs for the best heavy duty odor eliminator? There’s a product called RatSorb on Amazon that seems to be especially for this, but reviews are mixed; there’s also one called Bad Air Sponge that has better reviews but doesn’t specifically mention dead rodents. Anybody had experience with these? Or with anything else that did the trick? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/2 "2017-05-26T16:34:04Z")
First, get rid of the dead rodent. Reported for forum change. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/3 "2017-05-26T16:37:24Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > First, get rid of the dead rodent. > > Reported for forum change. Not so easy when they’re in the walls and ceilings. We just open the windows and let the maggots do their job. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/4 "2017-05-26T16:37:41Z")
Thread relocated from Thread Games to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/5 "2017-05-26T17:30:04Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Thread relocated from Thread Games to IMHO. Sorry about that- senior moment. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/6 "2017-05-26T18:32:19Z")
This is the reason you use traps instead of poison. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/7 "2017-05-26T18:41:22Z")
Can’t recommend any product, but thankfully it doesn’t last too long. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/8 "2017-05-26T18:43:40Z")
Lots of ventilation and Fabreze. There’s no significant difference between the odor masking and absorption materials so just buy the cheapest. It should go away eventually. Mice often just dry up and aren’t a problem but in humid weather it can be a disaster. Rats are larger and quite a problem. It’s worth cutting into the wall and getting the remains out. Otherwise you’re hoping it doesn’t get worse and just masking the odor. ---
**Author:** ![Mikeisskeptical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@Mikeisskeptical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikeisskeptical)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/9 "2017-05-26T18:54:44Z")
Mask it with the smell of a dead water buffalo? Seriously though, not much you can do. It usually doesn’t last much more than about 10 days. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2017, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/10 "2017-05-26T21:03:21Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > This is the reason you use traps instead of poison. Traps are fine when it’s one or two, but this was an infestation- they bred before I knew they were there. Traps don’t kill enough when those little _(&%#@$%_^ multiply. I’ve in fact run the gamut from “I’ll get a humane trap and release them” to “I’ll get a snap trap, at least it’s a quick death” to a combination of glue traps and Sonny Corleone at the tollboothing them with BB pistols. And exterminators are almost useless: they know how to charge money and toss poison, which I can do for free. My 14 year old terrier killed more of them than they did. ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/11 "2017-05-27T00:30:25Z")
My ex decided without talking to me first, to use poison to get a smallish rat in our house. It worked, we actually heard the bastard squealing as it died. But it was somewhere in the kitchen inside something. After a couple of days, the smell of the corpse was intolerable, and filled the entire house. No air freshener could touch it. Finally, I took the kitchen apart, one cabinet assembly at a time, until I found the thing and got rid of it. This is probably the real reason why people keep cats, instead of using poison. ``` Since that experience, I have become incredulous every time someone claims in the news, to have had no idea that their apartment neighbor had died weeks ago. If something only eight inches long could poison an entire two story house with plenty of ventilation, the idea that a corpse the size of a human wouldn't kill the air of a city block sized space, is beyond my imagination to believe. ``` ---
**Author:** ![Projammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/projammer/32/559_2.png) [@Projammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Projammer)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/13 "2017-09-15T06:05:11Z")
Just add some [Carrion Beetles](https://www.insectidentification.org/insect-description.asp?identification=American-Carrion-Beetle) into the suspected areas. They’ll take care of the problem in no time. Seriously though, just give it a little time if it is just mice. Bigger rats or squirrels may have to be cut out of the walls. An [inexpensive borescope](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01MYTHWK4) will more than pay for itself. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/14 "2017-09-15T18:58:56Z")
As said above, there are only 2 methods proven to be effective (and I have employed both): 1. get rid of the carcass; and 2. wait it out Number 2, as the name implies, stinks more yet is sometimes unavoidable. ETA: candles can help, but sometimes just make it smell like gangrenous French whore (or so I’ve been told). ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/15 "2017-09-15T21:10:40Z")
I had a mouse. I used poison. The mouse tried to poison _ME_ by relocating the D-con from the package into my toaster. I survived, and the mouse did not. After agonizing detective work, I determined the mouse body HAD to be inside the refrigerator. I took everything out and tilted it 90-degrees onto it’s side. Yep, there he was, stuck up inside the insulation. Moral: Get a trap. ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/16 "2017-09-15T21:20:32Z")
Using fans to pull fresh air through the house and attic can help lessen the smell a bit. You’ll need to be strategic with the open windows and fan locations to ensure you maximize the airflow. Don’t use the AC system since the odor remain in the vents. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2017, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-experience-getting-rid-of-dead-rodent-smell/787487/17 "2017-09-16T15:53:40Z")
[Zeolite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeolite) can be used to get rid of the smell of a dead human. Mice shouldn’t be any problem.