Dead Animal in Wall

Eric:  So we’re here with Vic at All City Animal Trapping. And today I wanted to talk about the subject of dead animal in a wall. So you know, this is something that I think is interesting because If you have a dead animal in the wall and you don’t know that it’s there it’s kinda, it’s weird to begin with.  Let’s start off with, what do you do if you find out that you have that animals in your walls?

Vic:  I mean, usually it starts to make some calls.  Usually what happens is you’ll you might hear something or, and then you start questioning if you heard something or not.  But that whatever it was, stop making that noise.  Cause you know, they died and then a few days later you started smelling something and then that’s when you say, well that makes sense. Cause I heard something, you know, a few days ago and that’s kinda when a lot of times when people call us and say, I just got up, you know.  I had the gas company come out or I had a plumber coming out and they’re all telling me it’s a dead animal.  And then I found you guys. So when can you come? You know, that kind of thing.

Eric:  Okay. So when they’re hearing things in the walls and they’re not thinking it’s ghosts or anything.

Vic:  Yeah. I mean, if it dies and you kind of start to question yourself.  But then you remember you heard something and then now you smell it.  Yeah, so it makes sense.

How Do They Even Get There

Eric:  How do they get there? Like how, are they making their way into the walls of your house?

Vic:  So it all depends on where the opening is. If the openings on the roof and they got into the attic and fell from the attic into the wall and couldn’t climb back out and ended up passing that way.  A lot of times animals will find an opening in the wall or something from the outside and get somewhere and then get sandwiched somewhere and get stuck and not be able to find their way out.  Or they can’t turn around inside the wall to go the way they came. And it’s almost impossible for them to back up the entire way out.

So yeah, it can be different. Some homes are built where the walls are accessible through the crawlspace under the house. And it’s kind of climb a wire or a AC depth ducting in, into the wall or electrical or something to get to access that part of the wall. And they’re not able to get dropped down and come back out and then they get stuck.  So, I mean, there’s a lot of different possibilities.

Eric:  And I’m assuming the people that call you, one of the other things that tips them off maybe is the fact that there’s some kind of odor coming from somewhere.

Vic:  Sure, sure. And then, you know, it’s only gonna get stronger. Usually it might start a little faint at first and then, and then, uh, you know, a lot of our customers basically they can’t sleep in their own house and get a hotel or something like that.  It becomes really strong.

How Long Before You Can Smell the Dead Animal in Wall?

Eric:  And usually, you know there are all kinds of animals and sizes and shapes and everything.  But generally, how long does it take for an animal that’s a dead animal that’s in your wall will to start to smell.

Vic:  Usually it’s a couple of days just takes to get it to that certain stage of decomposition.  You know, that’s whatever the animal is, it just however much it weighs and you know, what shape it was in that kind of thing. And then if it’s in the summer, obviously it’s going to start smelling a lot quicker than if it was cold outside, you know? Then that smell just permeates throughout your house.  Definitely whatever area it is, the strongest.  But you know, most of the time you don’t even want to be in there. If that’s all you can smell just makes it really uncomfortable.

Eric:  It’s gotta be pretty strong since it’s going through the walls. The odor.

Vic:  Absolutely. Absolutely. And if it’s in your AC duct or heater, every time you turn it on, you’re going to smell it and strong because it’s pushing the air through.

Eric:  And I guess, uh, these days with COVID, you know something that always comes to mind as germs and things like that.  To your knowledge if there’s a dead animal in a wall of your house over time can you get sick from that? Just breathing that in?

Possible Health Issues

Vic:  I mean, to breath it in, I’m sure it would take a lot, but we’ve had Instances where old dead rodents out of dishwashers and out of the stoves and ovens the broiler on the bottom of your oven, or, you know what I mean?  And had to pull them from the wall and see a nest down there. And, you know, I’m sure if it’s ingested, obviously, it’d be very harmful to you.  But sometimes it can be accidental and you didn’t really know it was there.

So, I mean, there’s just a lot of possibilities of the different bacteria of different animals.  If that animal happened in eat some rat poison that a neighbor left outside or something.  And then it found its way in your home and, and died in your dishwasher, you know, and that’s some problem. It can be a very big you know, that’s not a, I don’t think a very common thing, but it’s definitely something we’ve got to think about.  When it comes to protecting your home and the health of your family and all that stuff.

Eric:  Absolutely. So how can people find you?

Vic:   On our website, www.allcityanimaltrapping.com.

Eric:  Okay. Well if anybody has any questions on the subject, if somebody wants to call you right away and get immediate answers and possibly service, is this something that you offer?

Vic:  Absolutely. Absolutely. We’re open every day, including weekends and holidays and the phone is always on. So just give us a call anytime.

Eric:  Alright, well thank you for your time, Vic.

Vic:  No problem. Thank you.