Dead Raccoon Trapped Under Deck -- What to Do?

Sounds like opening up the deck is not an option.

Start with the lime and after that has had a day or two to work, dump some dirt or sand on the whole mess to bury it and then forget about it. Seal up any access so that it can't happen again.

Option 2: get it real wet and go on vacation for 3 weeks.

yick.

You wouldn't really want to kill the bacteria if you intended to let it rot.

Lovely topic.....

I have a question. Did you poison the raccoon and it died in its home? I have a family of raccoons living under my deck, was thinking about poisoning, but worried they will die under the deck. Interesting dilemma.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@hyperx.com says... :) I have a question. Did you poison the raccoon and it died in its home? I :) have a family of raccoons living under my deck, was thinking about :) poisoning, but worried they will die under the deck. Interesting dilemma. :) :) :) Animals have a tendency to head home when sick, so more of a chance of dying where they are living.

Or any farm supply / feed store.

Then dig under the deck. Often easier to remove some soil than the deck itself.

Lime ? Lime ?

Pouring garden lime(stone) [calcium carbonate] on the dead critter would do nothing. After all, you can spread it right onto your lawn and no harm is done. It is simply used to adjust the soil pH.

Thats LIME.

Now, if you want to dissolve a body (ala SOPRANOS), its LYE that you want to use, not Lime. LYE is what they used to make soap in the old days.. This is Sodium Hydroxide It WILL dissolve fat and body material (and clogs in your drain, and metal pipes!)

Guido

On the lawn you use it in moderation. On a dead critter you would use lots more. It will definately help eliminate odors of rotting things. I've used it where a gray-water pipe outlet has gone sour. We used to use it in the outhouse to tone things down a bit.

For the lawn- a translucent coating that can hardly be seen. For killing odors-- a solid coating, maybe 1/4" thick should calm things down for a bit.

That might work-- but i'll bet lime is cheaper and it is certainly easier to get ahold of in quantity.

Jim

I presume that the deck is at or near ground level.

Can you stick something stiff down between the boards and move it to a place where you can reach it? Piano wire is very stiff in the larger sizes. Even a piece of lattice or one of those driveway reflector posts.

Now that I'v had my say, I am new to the group searching for an answer to my sod delema. I'll continue my search.

Thanks.

Taking up a couple of deck boards (especially if they are screwed down) is not difficult.

I have a tool that is handy for such tasks. I took the 10' fiberglass pole from a bicycle flag, removed the flag, and hose clamped a hook made of some brass rod (approx 1/8") to the end. Allows me to reach into lots of places.

Drive around town until you find a guy standing on the street asking for money. Tell him to get in, you have a job for him to do. Get him to do it, then feed him lunch.

Personally I don't think it will cause disease. Depressing topic but someone on the news pointed out that the dead bodies from Katrina wouldn't cause disease even if they weren't buried quickly.

It is people or animals who die from communicable diseases that are a health risk. Of course maybe you don't know what killed the raccoon.

But soon the bugs and flies will find it and eat it. When they are done, they'll leave. What part of the country are you in and how long has it been there?

The traditional substance is lime. a powder, white, I think. It's used iirc when people are afraid of contagion and there are too many bodies to bury them right away. Maybe I'm thinking of cases when cattle die. It speeds decomposition iiuc. I think you can buy it at garden stores, where it is sold to change the pH of soil iirc. Sure, don't people spread it on lawns for that reason?

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Better let him eat the lunch first.

Personally, I would just leave it to decompose. The worst of the stench should be gone in a couple of weeks.

I wouldn't touch it--it may have died of rabies.

To reply to my own post, it was after the tsunami in the far east that I heard some scientist on the radio say this. Then I heard someone repeat it after Katrina, that people killed by other than communicable disease are not a health hazard (for quite a while?)

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that it is in a

have no problem

I am worried

topic but

Katrina

To reply to my own post, it was after the tsunami in the far east that I heard some scientist on the radio say this. Then I heard someone repeat it after Katrina, that people killed by other than communicable disease are not a health hazard (for quite a while?)

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No more so than any other rotting carcass, no. They are, however demoralizing, so it's best to get them removed from the vicinity of the emotionally traumatized as quickly as possible.

And the longer you wait, the more gross and disgusting the process is going to be.