[Evening]

While Im not overly keen on poisoning rodents, I decided to poison one that was going into my kitchen. Well as a final act of revenge it has decided to crawl under my built in cupboards and die. Now every time I open the cupboard Im hit with an unforgivable stench. Bare in mind this is only day 2 since the smell started so its bound to get much worse. So weird question, but does anyone know how long it will last? Im not able to remove it, but I have to walk past it every time I go into the kitchen so it puts me off my food just a bit...

[pachyderm]

No advice for you -- I just was struck by how "dead rat in my cupboard" was a good topic for General Social Chat!

[disguise123]

its gonna last about a week, depends on the heat and if its humid, and if bugs can get in and help decompose it.
Hmm your positive you cant get there?

[Evening]

ha ha pachyderm! And yeah Im 100% I cant get into there, its a big floor to ceiling built in cupboard, and the base of the bottom shelf is what the rat is under. There is a gap they can get through to get under there. I tried to remove the floor of the cupboard to get to it but I cant. Its well and truly staying.

[**Angel**]

You should leave it open for a few days :\

[Evening]

I had to close it actually because it will stink my house out. I only live in a little homette, and its actually making me rather sick walking past it. Though perhaps when Im not home Ill open all the windows and leave the cupboard open.

[FooZe]

Originally Posted by Evening

And yeah Im 100% I cant get into there, its a big floor to ceiling built in cupboard, and the base of the bottom shelf is what the rat is under. There is a gap they can get through to get under there. I tried to remove the floor of the cupboard to get to it but I cant. Its well and truly staying.

If it's truly a rat, not a mouse, don't count on it to become odorless in any reasonable amount of time. It'll probably smell really awful for about two weeks, then pretty bad for a few more.

I'd recommend acting quickly while you can still get it out as a tidy package. If you wait till it leaks into the floorboards you'll have a much harder cleanup problem. If you were to cut an access hole or two in that bottom shelf to find the corpse and remove it, could you fit a piece (or perhaps two pieces) of plywood over the whole shelf afterwards to cover the damage?

[lynn P.]

I agree with Fool Zero - get someone with a saw and get it out. The thought is having this decompose is gross and considering this is your kitchen, this is all the more reason to get it out. It you rent tell your landlord and he's obligated to remove it.

[Christina86]

Get a professional to get it out - a carpenter or a pest removal specialist who can give you tips and advice on how to prevent future incidents like this. In the future, it's also far easier to use humane traps or things that aren't poison to get rid of 'problem pests'.

[FooZe]

Originally Posted by Evening

... Im 100% I cant get into there, its a big floor to ceiling built in cupboard, and the base of the bottom shelf is what the rat is under. There is a gap they can get through to get under there. I tried to remove the floor of the cupboard to get to it but I cant. Its well and truly staying.

One more thing to look at -- though preferably for someone who's had some construction experience. That cupboard had to be installed and fastened into place sometime, somehow, and it might be easier than it looks to reverse the process.

The most likely way to install it would have been to build the main body of the cupboard an inch or so shorter than your ceiling height; slide it into place; attach it to the wall(s), probably only with a handful of screws or nails, firmly enough that it doesn't shift or tip over; and cover the gap between the cabinet and the ceiling with some wood trim. If someone were to remove first the trim at the top, then the screws or nails holding the back of the cabinet to the wall, they'd quite likely be able to slide the whole thing away from the wall and get a look underneath.

If there happened to be a rathole behind the cabinet allowing access through the wall or floor, it could be covered (with sheet metal, etc.) while the cabinet was out. If it turns out that the corpse is located not under the cabinet but inside the wall behind it, the wall could be cut and patched relatively easily and the cabinet put back in place to hide the patch.

Good luck with this, Evening!

[Evening]

It is absolutely impossible to get to it without pulling apart and damaging the bottom. The cupboard is an old one from the 70s, but it is actually built INTO the wall, not ONTO the wall. Its stuck right in there, the shelf at the bottom has been permanently glued down. I think Im just going to wait it out. The smell isnt overwhelming, and by now, being perhaps 4 days, its not going to get much stronger than it is. Ill just use lots of air freshner and keep the cupboard closed.

[wing]

I agree that is probably much easier to disassemble than it looks, even if you have to take down part of the wall. I'd rather have a big hole in the wall than have my house reek for who knows how long. Once the decomposition starts, that gross liquid will seep into the wood and you'll have that odor in your house for a long, long time.

[SadGirl_56]

Perhaps you can salvage the pelt and save for a nice fur coat later?

[salukigirl]

Call an exterminator. They have to take apart stuff like that all the time and should know the best way to do it. I wouldn't advise just leaving it because guaranteed you will have issues with insects after it's gone and possibly other rodents. Or call a construction company and explain the problem. You really need to get that thing out. It will only cause more issues later on.

[**Angel**]

I would of taken it out for you x

[Evening]

As I and another person have tried on about 4 occasions to pull it apart, I can somewhat guarantee that no, its not happening without substantial damage. The body will only stain the wood if its ON the wood, which its not.

[disguise123]

hows the smell today?

[Evening]

It hasnt really changed in the last few days, its the same as it was yesterday. The first few days it kind of built up, I wasnt even sure what it was for the first day! Ive had one die in cupboard under the sink in the laundry once, only a small one like the one thats under the cupboard now. That one I didnt even know was there until I discovered it a few weeks ago. It had been there so long I didnt know what it was until I spent a while assessing it and eventually noticed teeth. They arent uncommon in my area, there is a creekline near my house that used to have a big olive tree, you could walk past and hear them eating all the olives. :P

[Flooded]

I gagged reading the title but in true style I still opened it and gagged a little more

Hope it's gone soon!

[Evening]

ha ha, well I did make someone on here faint once when I made a thread about a spider, I guess its just what I do best!

[disguise123]

lol evening!!!
Well at least ur in good spirts, my family is renovating their bathroom they have found a few complete rat skeltons !

[lonegael]

We have the big Norwegian browns here and they are really nasty. From time to time they die under the floor borards and you can't get them out. Even as big as they are, it takes about a week or so to finish the process and about two weeks for the smell to peter out completely. As far as damage, Even though the house is very old and we have found hundreds of skeletons of them when renovating (no exageration) we haven't found damage from them having been dead. They cause far more damage alive. The biggest prolem is the smell and the fleas that leave them. Traps are best, of course, but the critters don't always oblige you. You can try cutting a hole in the bottom of the closet or having a carpenter or an exterminator do it for you. If I had the option I'd go for that. Might be good to think about if they have a tendency to get undet the closet, in the case one does this again.