Well, that stinks

About two weeks ago, I heard a bunch of ruckus somewhere in the rafters of our house. Somehow, a squirrel had managed to gnaw a hole into the eaves, which he used to get into the space between the ceiling and the roof. I’m pretty sure he was stockpiling pinecones and other goodies for the winter. Obviously that had to stop, so one day I went out and covered the hole with some chicken wire.

We continued to hear the ruckus for a few days, and wondered if there was another hole he’d found (or made). I circled the house, looking for anything big enough for a squirrel, but didn’t see any obvious holes. It was kind of annoying.

The ruckus died down, and we haven’t heard it for a week or so. Good news! He’d given up and was storing his stash somewhere in the forest, as all good squirrels should.

Fast forward to a couple of days ago, when we came home from a trip to town and both said “Hoo boy, the house stinks!” When we walked in the door, there was a noticeable smell. I’m sure you know where this is going. It was the smell of a dead animal. Apparently I’d sealed off the hole with the squirrel still in the house, and he couldn’t get out! Hence the few days of ruckus, and its eventual cessation. The smell has become gradually stronger yesterday and now today.

And we were kind of at a loss about how to solve the actual problem. It was pretty clear he’d died somewhere in the rafters, but there’s no attic or other access to that part of the house. Maybe he was in the ductwork, although that would be tricky unless it was open somewhere. In any case, with the entire house smelling bad, it was impossible to narrow it down to a certain spot (“Aha, he’s behind that wall!”). It got to the point where we were seriously considering moving to the party house for a while.

Unsure what to do, we opened up the furnace to see if we could figure out whether the smell was indeed in the ducts, or if it was in the walls. And much to our joy (well, relatively speaking), we found the little guy inside the furnace. He didn’t look well.

I flung him out into the forest for some lucky bear to find, Pepper sprayed some peppermint oil into the furnace, and now we’re airing out the rest of the house. That’s great news, because if we hadn’t found him so easily, I shudder to think how long the house would’ve smelled as he slowly decomposed…