# How long before a dead animal smells? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 15, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719 "2021-09-15T21:03:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/1 "2021-09-15T21:03:01Z")
Rabbit in a not hot environment in a crawlspace. 1 day? A week? We can’t catch the guy. It refuses to go into live traps with very good bait. ---
**Author:** ![DemonTree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/demontree/32/8646_2.png) [@DemonTree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DemonTree)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/2 "2021-09-15T21:21:40Z")
Know anyone with a ferret? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/3 "2021-09-15T21:44:02Z")
No. But it’s getting close to that. I’ve traveled to Denver 4 times, 100 miles each way to deal with this. I’ve enlisted a ‘pro’ but don’t know how successful he will be. The ‘pro’ is going there again tomorrow. I just can’t continue to take my entire day to check the trap. And it’s a bit of a drive… ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [September 15, 2021, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/4 "2021-09-15T22:35:03Z")
Good luck! To answer the question in the OP, [this pest control site in Des Moines puts the time between death and the start of decomposition odor at about 72 hours.](http://www.wildliferemovaldesmoines.com/animalcorpsestench.html) (I’m impressed with the uncompromising factualist approach of the web content creator who decided to name that webpage file “animalcorpsestench.html”.) ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/5 "2021-09-16T00:00:57Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > I just can’t continue to take my entire day to check the trap. And it’s a bit of a drive… Is the problem that the house is unattended and you want to notice that the rabbit is dead in the trap before it begins to smell? How about an internet-connected camera pointing at the trap? ---
**Author:** ![ASGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@ASGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ASGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/6 "2021-09-16T00:34:19Z")
Not hot but dry? I think the animal will dessicate and mummiyfy. You will have no smell at all, just a dead dry carcass. ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/7 "2021-09-16T02:29:17Z")
I may be of some assistance in a few days. Sometime last night I caught a rat in a trap. This morning I put it into a plastic bag and tossed it into the garbage, which is in the garage, attached to the house. I thought better of that upon realizing garbage pickup is 1 1/2 week away so I moved it to my outdoor shed. Hopefully I will remember to return it to the garbage for pickup day. The shed can get hot. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/8 "2021-09-16T11:54:48Z")
Thanks all. I should find out today if the live trap got 'em. If it didn’t, not sure what I’m going to do. I have a professional involved now. We’ll see what he says. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/9 "2021-09-16T19:18:16Z")
I think it will probably stink a bit first - I had to pull a dead rat out from between the two metal skins of a warehouse wall one time - I reckon it had been dead about 4 or 5 days or so - it smelled pretty bad and was still intact (albeit bloated), Smaller animals like mice and small birds might dessicate with little to no smell - anything rat size or bigger is going to stink a bit unless it’s in conditions that are both hot and dry ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2021, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/10 "2021-09-16T22:10:20Z")
In the future, I’d recommend burying the animal if you can. They can get ripe pretty fast. ---
**Author:** ![Keith1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/6de8d8/32.png) [@Keith1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keith1)\ **Post date:** [September 17, 2021, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/11 "2021-09-17T12:54:45Z")
Solved the problem with a trip to the dump. I’m rebuilding my deck so had a dump run. I included dead rat. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2021, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-before-a-dead-animal-smells/950719/12 "2021-09-18T12:20:28Z")
Well, dead rabbits take about 4-6 (guessing, don’t know when he expired) days before they start to smell. If the guy only went into the live ‘Have a Heart’ trap he would have had food and water and would have been rescued. We did all we could…