How To Find and Remove Dead Mice In the Attic or Walls

Mice that live in your house also die in your house. The life cycle of most species of mice is very short - usually only a few months, and rarely more than a year. They breed in high numbers, and they also die in high numbers. Out in the wild, most mice are quickly eaten by housecats, owls, fox, snakes, and all sorts of predators. But in the safety of your home, they just may get to die of old age! More commonly, mice die in your attic, especially in higher numbers, because someone has applied a mouse poison (rodenticide). While it's true that not all the rodents in the attic will eat the poison and die, several will, and they die in your attic or walls. You may be reading this page if that has happened to you, because it causes a terrible odor! The smell of decomposing mice is horrible. Even though these animals are comparitively small, the smell is very strong. The only way to solve the odor problem is to find and remove the dead mouse carcasses.

To find and remove the carcasses, you have to literally sniff them out. There is no magic odor detecting tool to find them, other than your nose. The only other option is a thermal camera, because a rotting mouse will give off a little heat. But it's subtle. Your best option is to enter the attic and sniff, sniff, sniff around until you find a mouse, and then bag it, and spray the area with an effective cleaner. I like enzyme-based cleaners, but you can use a bleach cleaner if you like. Be sure to remove all maggots and body juices and soiled insulation. If a dead mouse carcass is inside a wall or drop ceiling or any other inaccessible cavity, the best method is to move back and forth, with your nose against the wall or ceiling, sniffing and sniffing. It's a bit of work, but once you come directly on top of the spot with a dead rodent, you will know it - the smell changes. Use a drywall saw to cut a hole in that spot, and remove the dead animal. If you've used poison, there could be several mice, so keep looking! Once you think you've gotten them all out, open the windows to air out the place!

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