Animal In Heating Vent

A dead animal is occasionally found in building duct work or in the air handler itself.

Animal in heating vent.

We have found birds mice rats and twice a raccoon and a dead cat in ductwork. When a mouse dies in a vent it stinks. Confirming that there are rodents in your air ducts is pretty easy. When a small animal becomes stuck it most likely entered your home through one of the various vents or ducts of your hvac system.

Consider purchasing an ultrasonic animal repeller to keep animals away from your home. If you ve got ducts under the house it s possible for an animal like a raccoon or opossum pictured above to either rip their way into the duct or take advantage of an opening in the duct. It will not harm your vents. You can get 100 pure peppermint oil from any healthfood store.

If you can see the animal you can proceed. Unfortunately to pinpoint the source of a dead rodent in the vents you ll need to follow your nose. Signs there s an animal stuck in your ac. Decomposition will take about a week for a small creature.

Let s take a look at how animals can give your hvac system a hard time. Not only does the mouse cause a foul odor but it can also attract gnats and flies. The smell is often the first sign people receive alerting them of the dead rodent. Dead animals or even insect nests in building plumbing especially building vents can also produce unexpected sewer odors see septic and sewer gas odor links discussed below.

When an animal enters your hvac ductwork and dies the rotting smell is circulated throughout your home whenever the system is running. Many times wild animals such as birds or even squirrels enter your home in order to avoid the summer heat or stormy weather outside and they end up becoming trapped inside. This will prevent rodents birds bats and other creatures from getting inside the only necessary openings in your home or business s ductwork. These devices run on an ac plug or batteries and emit a high frequency sound that humans can t hear but the kinds of animals that find air ducts cozy absolutely hate.

Cover vent openings with a wire mesh cover 16 gauge 18 gauge or 22 gauge works best. But it s actually not too common. It may be that your sense of smell will lead you directly to a specific hvac vent in your home. If so carefully remove the vent cover and use a flashlight to peer inside.

When the heater runs it forces that bad smell into the house.