Dead Animal in Your Attic: Smell, Health Risks, and How to Find It

A dead animal in your attic announces itself by smell. A sweet, sour odor that builds for several days and then slowly fades usually means a rat, squirrel, opossum, or raccoon has died in the attic or a wall cavity. In Florida heat a carcass breaks down fast (a small one often within about a week, on the calls we run), and the smell usually peaks before anyone finds the source. This guide covers what the odor means, the health risks involved, and how to locate a dead animal in your attic. If whatever is up there is still alive and moving, that is a different job, and our page on animal removal from your attic covers live wildlife. If you would rather not go looking for a carcass yourself, that is what our dead animal removal service is for.

Key takeaways

• In Florida heat the smell from a dead rat or squirrel usually lasts one to two weeks on our jobs, and three to four weeks for an opossum or raccoon.
• The odor is unpleasant, but the bigger health risk is the droppings, urine and flies the animal leaves behind.
• The smell can keep going after the body dries out, because fluids soak into insulation and drywall.
• Getting the carcass out is half the job. The other half is sealing the opening it used, or the next animal moves in.

Smell it now? Call 800-932-7287. We answer from 7 AM to 11 PM, seven days a week, and can usually get to you the same day.

Is the smell from a dead animal dangerous?

The odor comes from gases released as tissue breaks down. It is unpleasant, but it is not what we worry about most. The bigger risk is what the animal left behind in its droppings, urine, and nesting material. The CDC lists hantavirus, leptospirosis, and salmonellosis among the diseases rodents spread to people, and says people can get sick by breathing air or eating food contaminated with rodent waste. Raccoon droppings can carry raccoon roundworm, which is why a raccoon carcass is rarely the only thing that has to come out. According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the parasite appears to be widespread but low in prevalence in Florida, raccoons concentrate its eggs in communal latrines, and the eggs can survive for many years. Bats bring a different problem: the CDC says histoplasmosis spreads through bird and bat droppings and can turn into a long-term lung infection in people with weakened immune systems.

Then come the flies. University of Minnesota Extension says that when an animal dies inside a chimney, wall void, or ceiling, a sudden population of blow flies may show up indoors several days later, and maggots can drop through gaps in the wall or ceiling. It lists blow flies among the common filth flies, which it says can transmit diseases such as diarrhea and dysentery. Anyone with a weakened immune system should stay out of the area, and we tell customers with asthma or other breathing problems the same thing.

How long does the smell last if nothing is done?

On Dr. Critter's calls it runs about one to two weeks for a rat or squirrel and three to four weeks for an opossum or raccoon. Those numbers come from our own jobs, not from a study. In Florida heat the smell tracks decomposition, and a bigger body takes longer. What we also see is that the odor does not stop when the carcass dries out: fluids soak into insulation and drywall and keep it going until that material is removed. The flies run on a shorter clock. University of Minnesota Extension says the maggot problem ends once the food is gone, which may take up to a week for an animal the size of a squirrel. Knowing the type of animal helps you predict where it is and how big a job the odor represents. Rats and squirrels are small and often die inside insulation or a wall void near where they nested. If you still hear live ones afterwards, our rodent removal service finds the way in and seals it. Raccoons and opossums are larger, take longer to decompose, and produce a far stronger smell. The noises you heard before the smell started, and the time of day you heard them, are the best clue to what is up there.

Wear protective gear

A dead animal does not mean the attic is empty. Live animals often still move through the same space, so treat it as an active site. For rodent cleanup the CDC says to wear rubber or plastic gloves and to wash your hands with soap and warm water after you take them off. Its bat guidance is to avoid touching bats at all and to wear leather work gloves if you have to capture one. We also wear a fitted mask and clothing we can wash or throw away, and carry a good flashlight. The light is your most important tool, both for finding the carcass and for spotting nails, wiring, and weak ceiling joists while you move around.

Where is the dead-animal smell coming from?

From wherever the smell is strongest, and the way to find that spot is to walk the house with the doors closed behind you and stop where it peaks. Follow the smell to its strongest point, then look for the details that confirm it: a cluster of flies on the ceiling below, disturbed or stained insulation, and dark staining on drywall. Carcasses often end up in the hardest spots to reach, wedged in a soffit, a wall cavity, or under insulation. If the odor is strong but you cannot find the source, a professional with an experienced nose and the right access tools can usually locate it quickly.

Who removes a dead animal from a wall or attic?

A wildlife removal company does, because the job is locating a carcass inside a structure, opening the wall or ceiling at the right spot, and sealing how the animal got in, none of which is a pest-control spray route. Rats and mice are the most common version of the call, and our dead rodent removal service covers what that involves. Once you find it, the carcass has to come out along with any soiled insulation and nesting material around it. For a dead rodent, the CDC's cleanup steps are specific. Open doors and windows for 30 minutes first. Do not sweep or vacuum droppings, urine, or nesting material, because that can put tiny droplets containing viruses into the air. Spray the dead rodent, the nest, and the area around them with disinfectant and let it soak for 5 minutes (or as the label directs), then double-bag everything and put it in a covered garbage can that is emptied regularly. Raccoon droppings get different treatment: the CDC says raccoon feces and material contaminated with it should be removed carefully and burned, buried, or sent to a landfill. Larger animals may have to be removed in pieces. If reaching the carcass means opening a wall or ceiling, or if you are simply not comfortable with the job, this is the point to call a professional wildlife company rather than push further.

What professional dead animal removal looks like

Here is how one of our dead animal calls runs, start to finish:

1. Find it. We follow the odor, check under insulation and around the HVAC vents, and use thermal imaging when the carcass is inside a wall.
2. Get to it. When it is behind drywall, the wall is opened where the odor and staining peak, so the opening stays as small as the job allows.
3. Take it out along with the soiled insulation and nesting material around it, wearing respirators and gloves, and bag it all for disposal.
4. Treat the spot. The surface gets an EPA-registered antimicrobial, and contaminated insulation is replaced.
5. Find the way in and seal it, so the next animal can't do the same thing. Our exclusion work carries a lifetime warranty.

Don't want to go hunting for it? Our dead animal removal crews do this every week. Call 800-932-7287.

Then close the door the next one used

An animal that died in your attic got in somehow, and the opening it used is still there. Removing the carcass and sanitizing the space solves today's problem, but sealing the entry point is what stops the next animal from repeating it. If you are hearing live activity now, or you want the entry points found and sealed for good, our team handles animal removal from your attic from the first removal through permanent sealing under a lifetime warranty.

Dr. Critter has handled dead animal calls across Greater Orlando and the Tampa area since 1996, with same-day visits in most of our service area. Call 800-932-7287, or read more about our dead animal removal service.