Rotting corpse, moaning children and yoga

[BigBaublesGalore]

I woke up today and decided I would start a new positive routine, healthy eating and yoga (as I'm overweight and my health is suffering) I got up early with ds, sat down in the lounge with my morning coffee and could smell something REALLY FUNKY!

I kept getting whiffs of it but I couldn't put my finger on what it was. Anyway... got the yoga mat out from the back of the sofa, Sat on it and again I could smell this funky smell... now I'm thinking it might be me as I'm in a different room...

Anyway as soon as I start the yoga the kids decide to start a bickering session about whose going to eat all the Pringles later... (because I told them they're not having them for breakfast)

So 3:15 seconds into the yoga I just gave up because I couldn't even hear adrienne telling me to breath calming deep breaths over the children bickering and even when I could the stench of that smell was horrible...

I sniffed the mat some more and yep I finally remember... it's the smell of death! I've experienced that smell before when the cats bought in a mouse and hid it behind my washing basket... Ive traced the smell to the back of the sofa where the mats are stored... the ends of the mat that touch the carpet smell rancid...

I pulled the whole front room out, Xmas tree and all, lifted all the sofas (at least I got a workout) but fuck me there's not a single corpse down there but it stinks!

Not even fabreeze is covering it up

What could it be?

Aibu to eat the whole tub of Pringles in spite

Definitely8minipieOP check out local area rat catcher Local Authority will have a number if you have no luck.

They don’t have to be decomposing to smell it starts a day or two after apparently.
Strange to find bats down there. Bats are not awful we have them in the loft occasionally one flies into the kitchen in the summer and has to be rescued I use an old bit of towel and my kids always found them quite interesting to look at before releasing them. We only have pipistrilsi wouldn’t be as keen with flying foxes.

@InTropicalTrumpsLand I wish it was a miniature hammer...

Manxiouscat 🤣

@BigBaublesGalore yeah that was a wake up call for her.... 🤣

That is the biggest rat I have ever seen! It's a good thing you got it (and the bats) out, as I'm sure the stench would have gotten much worse if you had left them there and hoped for the best. Well done, OP!

[quote BigBaublesGalore]@Gingernaut potentially! If that's the case will have to wait it out

@MeowMeowLikeACow that's interesting about COVID, I didn't know that could be a symptom. [/quote]
I thought we could wait it out once when the dead rat could not be located immediately, but it got worse each day and I couldn't stand it a minute longer on the third day. The smell can last weeks apparently! I would try and find it, even if it means pulling up floor boards.

Posted too soon before reading all your posts. Well done on finding them.

Eeeew eeeew that is rank!! At least you found it early and the smell hasn't ad too much time to embed in your nostrils.

@viques

I had a dead mouse in my toaster once. Didn’t smell, I have a feeling it had been there a while and had been dried out by the application of heat. ...... put me off toast for a while, even now I check my toaster (not the same one natch) to make sure there isn’t a little face peering back at me.

Ewww I think I would have been put off toast for life 😂

Strong disinfectant on the boards might help.

I've had rats on my allotment for quite some time and we've learnt to co exist, frankly. Unfortunately the people in the adjacent houses weren't so relaxed about it, and someone must have put poison down. Last week I had to bury two corpses (so other creatures didn't eat them) and- horror of horrors- terminate the existence of a third that was breathing its last in the middle of the path (decisive blow to the neck with the sharp edge of a spade, as my practical friend advised me when I messaged him in hysterics. It works).

@Laiste

Got a rat and a bat - what's next? Cat?

A witch with her hair in a plait

I've just read this and it's made me all 'yucky' - I hope you're half a bottle of wine down and ordered a takeaway for your herculean efforts today?

Great thread though OP! :)

And I thought I was good at procrastinating before exercising

Oh God that is my worse nightmare OP. I am hiding under my duvet now, scared of imaginary rats under my floorboards.

@KeithLeMonde

Let's hope the dragon doesn't show up

Has anyone else reading this thread bought mouse trap on Amazon Prime just in case 👀

The smell of a dead rat is awful! We had a terrible problem a few years ago with rats. They were under the floor boards and accessed the cavity walls and then the buggers nested in the loft. We could hear them scratching and running around. They chewed through cables, water pipes (hence we had a water leak under the floor). The final straw was when I came home from work and found one sitting on the kitchen work surface. I lost the plot and moved out of the house for a week. We got pest control in who just put poison down, then we had the smell followed by fly infestation. Hopefully it's just one rat and you don't have any more unwelcome visitors.
Our issues went on for months. We sealed every hole we could find but we could still hear them in the loft. One night DH went to the toilet and found one in the bath, I opened the airing cupboard door and one tried to run out, I slammed the door and actually decapitated! Eventually we found a company in London (we are in the Midlands) called Pestology. They told us that usually rats access houses from the sewers, even a tiny crack in a pipe near your house can get them access to the drainage system. They can tunnel short distances and lay scent trails so they keep coming back. Pestology did a full drain survey and found a tiny crack in one of our drainage pipes leading to a shared drain. They fitted a one way metal gate thing, that allows waste to flow out but the rats can't get past it. since then no more rats!!! We have a cat but it was no deterrent. I wanted to burn the house down at one point as it stressed me out immensely!

@Ginormarse I think we're getting to that point too.. we had the pest people in and they killed them with bait and then they went away for a month but now they're back!!

We had many cats when I was growing up and living in the sticks they brought in all sorts of animals.
One time we had ‘the smell’ and realised it was only around when we opened the fridge. The fridge was emptied and cleaned but the smell continued.
Eventually the fridge was moved and it was discovered that there was a rat that had got under the fridge and chewed through the cable that goes to the light. It had electrocuted itself but still completed the circuit. Every time the door opened the light came on and electricity passed through the rat warming it gently.

FMyUterus* I would definitely recommend Pestology. Pricey but worth every single penny!

I heard a story once but no idea if it’s true.

A couple find one morning that the cold tap in the bathroom stops working. All they are getting is sludge.
They call a plumber and explain that they have a header tank in the loft. The plumber asks if they had a mouse problem about a month ago. Yes they did. They had the pest control guy out who put down poison.
The plumber explained that the poison takes about two weeks to function and it makes them thirsty. The mice will then head for a source of water, the header tank, and drown. Then about a month after the poisoning they have all decomposed and what little remains blocks up the pipes.

As I say, this may or may not be true.

Ugh. I’ve read pages 4-8 of this thread with a hand over my mouth... I’m itchy as hell.
That thing was HUGE! I don’t know what to say but if I were you I’d be outta there. My god! What an ordeal you have been through today🤮

...... I can confirm @StanfordPines if you have an uncovered tank or a tank where the cover isn't secure, has holes in it...

Wondered why the tapwater wasn't running so well, eventually tank was checked. Outlet blocked by SEVERAL dead mice and evidence of more in the bottom of the tank.

We'd been drinking and bathing in dead mouse soup for I don't know how long.. weeks by the amount of remains tied in with poisoning the mice. Bleurgh.