Death in the Shed - How long will the odor last?

[DerbyDad03]

I opened my wooden storage shed last night and based on the smell, I'm thinking something died either in it or under it. The odor isn't overpowering, but there's no doubt that it's there.

If the creatures final resting place is under the shed, it's staying there, if it's in the shed, I'd have to empty the shed to fiind it.

How long before it goes away if I do nothing?

Most of the items in the shed are "hard" so I doubt they would absorb the odor, but there are some soft items like life jackets, folding camp chairs, a canvas bag for my cargo carrier, etc.

I'd leave the doors open to air it out, but that's probably how the creature got in there in the first place. I noticed some damage to the plywood floor right where the 2 doors meet when closed, so I'm assuming the creature got in when the doors were opened and tried to get out through the only opening it could see. When it couldn't, I think it must have crawled into a back corner and died.

[dennisgauge]

Approximately 30 days if you leave the carcass, 2-3 days if you can find it, remove it, and disinfect the area.

[Jules Richardson]

Depends on what it is - the skunk which died beneath the gas tank in our back yard took about 4 years :-) Small critters such as mice will probably only take a couple of weeks (or quicker if it's under the shed where other things can munch on it)

[DerbyDad03]

I don't think the odor is strong enough to be a skunk. We have mice, chipmunks, squirrels in the yard. There's the occasional skunk or raccoon in the neighborhood, but mainly near the woods, not in my yard.

I know that there are chipmunks that hang around the shed, especially under it, so I'm guessing that one got curious or the cat chased it into the shed or maybe stashed it there for later. ;-)

If I wasn't going away this weekend, I'd empty the shed, but that's not going to fit into my schedule until at least Monday. Oh well...

[Fat-Dumb and Happy]

Barrow a dog if ya don't have one, they will sniff it out. Let them roll in it for the reward, then return it to the owner.

[Dean Hoffman]

This won't help for now but might be a preventative measure. Mothballs. Get the old stinky kind, not the scented ones. Critters supposedly don't like the smell anymore than humans do. We had some skunks in our barn one winter. The barn has seen much better days and isn't worth fixing. The moth balls seem to keep them out. I put some moth balls in an old shop bench drawer. The mice decided to move.

[fred.flintstone]

If it was a large animal, it would stink so bad you could barely stand the smell. It's probably a dead mouse. The stink usually goes away in a week. I hate mice!!!!

[DerbyDad03]

Mystery solved...sort of.

I started moving stuff around in the shed and picked up what I thought was an empty lawn and leaf bag that was lying on the floor. It had just a little more weight to than it should have, so I looked a little closer.

There were few holes in it and lump in the bottom. I opened it (slowly) and saw a lump covered with maggots. That was enough for me. I put it in another plastic bag and sealed it up tight. I really don't care what it used to be.

[nestork]

Now wait to see if the smell in the shed dissipates.

Did you check to see if the bag stunk?

[DerbyDad03]

Do you think that a maggot covered mass wouldn't stink?

[bob haller]

since the OP made this public..............

today the EPA will be at his door, demanding a EPA approved clean up plan with site monitoring for a year and ground water testing......

I hope his homeowners covers things like this, the EPA approved clean up contractor will charge 10 grand for clean up and shed removal, necessary to prove all rules have been met

[DerbyDad03]

It's...um....not my shed. Yeah, that's it. I don't know how it got there. I think my former neighbor...no wait...2 former neighbors ago (long since dead) must have put it on my property. I've been using it...errr... I mean....just maintaining it only because I'm a nice guy. It's his dead rodent, not mine.