Dead Rat In Attic, Please Help, Urgent !! (Fremont: renting, movers)

[sakash]

I live in Fremont and I have dead rats in the attic, and the smell is unbearable. I called all of the local dead animal removing services, and they said they will charge me even if they couldn't find the dead animal. I do not want to hire them yet, because I know it is near impossible to find a dead rodent in "loose fill" insulation. I tried to find it myself and couldn't find it after two hours of searching. I don't think I will go back up again because the smell is terrible, and my legs and back are hurting from my first try. What should I do? If I don't ever find this dead rodent, what can I do to (1) avoid catching a disease, and (2) disinfect the air and make the smell go away? I would greatly appreciate your suggestions. Thanks, all.

[Ultrarunner]

In time, the smell will go away...

I found one in the last house I bought... nothing but a skeleton.

The best approach would be to remove it and be careful not to damage your ceilings when you are up there.

What about a fan?

[DMenscha]

Are you sure it's a dead rodent smell? perhaps one of the vent stacks from the plumbing has come apart. Rare and smells different I know, but might be worth a look. Can you hang a fan at the attic vent?

Good luck, sounds like no fun at all.

[sakash]

Yeah, I am pretty sure it is a dead rodent. When I went up to the attic I can clearly smell the stench of a dead and decomposing animal. Good suggestion on the a fan. I do have one. I will go up there again to reset the thermostat on my attic fan so it will run 24 hours. Ideally I would like to remove the dead rodent, but it is impossible to find it especially in loose fill insulation. I was thinking of renting the blow-in insulation machine which reverses as a vacuum, and suck all the insulation out of my attic in the hopes it will suck the dead rodents and its nests. what are your thoughts on this? Is this really practical?

[Lindsey_Mcfarren]

I wouldn't go up there unless I was wearing a mask and gloves.

I wonder if there is a way you can use a cat to find the rat without harming the car AND your ceilings. I imagine if you had the right cat, he would be RIGHT on it.

[BonVivant]

I dont think vacuuming insulation out is a great idea. You will have to put new insulation in and it will be pricey. And i think all the fiberglass you will expose yourself to will make you more ill than rat smell.

Maybe someone on the forum who knows more about insulation can tell you if this is a feasible idea?

Also, could you tell us how you are so sure it is rat smell?

Good luck! I hope you stop smelling a rat soon! =)

[redwoodlvr]

If you can afford to hire the dead animal removers I personally would just go ahead and do this rather than suffering if it were me in your situation. Maybe you can negotiate a lesser price if for some reason, they cannot find the dead carcass.

su_g, once you've smelled a dead rat, lol, you know it's a dead rat. It's really hard to explain...I would say what comes closest to describing it is imagine a mix of rotting garbage sitting in the hot sun, rotten eggs, a funky pair of socks of a teenaged boy and maybe a dressing of sulfur sprinkled on top. Hey we're animals too with a keen sense of smell, you just know...

[LexusNexus]

Sounds like it's time to spend some money and complete clean out the attic, replacing the insulation and everything. You should do all you can to locate and eliminate the dead rodents and take some preventive measures after the cleanup. I can't see how you can live with the stench.

[Capt. Dan]

the advantage to temporarily removing the insulation is that maybe you will see how the mice/rats are getting into the attic and plug it. Since you DONT know what killed the mouse, I would not touch it or let my cat eat it.

[sakash]

Thanks so much for all your input, guys. The smell has faded away by itself, and I ran the attic fan for a few hours which took care of residual smelly air. I also found where the rats are coming in. I have set many traps in the attic, and couple of weeks later I will plug all wholes. Hope this will put an end to the rodent menace in my house.