Animal in the Wall

05.25.2004 - If you hear scratching or clawing in your wall, and you think there's an animal stuck down there (what else could it be?  A wall gnome?) it's best to take care of the problem as soon as possible.  Many wild animals are excellent climbers, but most homes feature drywall, which is pretty slick and hard for most critters to climb.  Thus, if you don't do anything about the problem, the animal is either going to scratch and chew its way out of the wall and into your home, or it's going to die down there, and the odor will not be pleasant. Today I went to a house at which the homeowners did not do anything about the scratching in their wall.  It lasted for about a week as the animal slowly died of dehydration and exhaustion.  Then the body started to decompose, and the odor was so bad that these lazy cheapskates finally decided to do something about the problem. I arrived at the house and it smelled like the end of the world.  I searched in the attic and followed the stench to an area where the wall reached the attic.  However, there was no space to work with, at the edge of the house, and I wasn't able to lower down a snare pole to grab the critter.  Thus, I went into the home and used my trusty orange reciprocating saw to cut a hole in the wall above the stench area.  Inside was a dead mother opossum, and a few baby possums that were still alive!  Wow!  I removed the baby possums, who I assume were happy to get some fresh air (I can't imagine living with that odor in the wall), and then I removed the carcass, disinfected and deodorized the area, and fixed the wall. How do animals get inside walls in the first place?  The answer is always the same: the animal(s) were living in the attic and fell down the wall. It's very common for animals to live inside the attics of homes.  Most homes have gaps in certain areas leading from the top of walls to the attic space.  Many of these gaps have wires that run down the wall and into the attic.  It's easy for wild critters such as squirrels, rats, mice, raccoons, and opossums to climb up and down these wires.  However, when an animal decides to explore down a wall cavity, perhaps for a nesting area, with no wires, the animal falls down and is trapped.  It will scratch and claw and make a big noise.  Do something!  Hire a wildlife removal professional to either cut open the wall and remove the animal, or use a snare or other means to get it from the attic.  If you don't deal with the problem while the animal is alive, you will have to deal with it when it's dead.  Believe me, a dead animal in the wall is not pleasant.  Even a little mouse will stink up the house, and if it's a larger animal, the home will be unbearable, and the odor will last for months.

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