I have a mother raccoon and babies dead inside a tree. They are starting to smell …what can I do??? I can’t remove them as the dead mother slipped down into the center of the tree where she had her babies.
We have customers with dead animal odor problems but in most of these cases, the animal has died in a part of the home that is inaccessible. That being said, we do occasionally have similar situations including animals dying in trees. No doubt if it was to happen as you’ve described – in a tree or some area outside the home – any large animal can create enough odor to make the area stink. Fortunately there is way to overcome the problem.
The first thing to understand is that you do not want to spray any kind of cleaner into the area. Bleach, pine sol or any kind of household cleaning compound will only make the problem worse so do not spray it up into the area.
Now if you have already done so, simply take your garden hose and water down the same area as best as possible. The goal here is to wash away any cleaner. You see, it’s very important to leave the carcasses open and accessible so they will naturally get recycled by fly maggots. And by keeping them free and clean of cleaning compounds, flies will naturally find the bodies and lay eggs which in turn will hatch maggots that will consume the bodies. And once the bodies are gone, so too will the odor. Unfortunately, it will take several weeks for this to happen naturally and during the time, the odor will no doubt be intolerable. So here’s what you do.
We have an odor eliminating spray that you will need to apply to area. Known as T.O.N., this material will neutralize the gases created by the decaying process so even as the animal rots and is consumed by maggots, the smell will all but disappear.
T.O.N. won’t interfere with the maggots and other insects that will eat the carcass so they will be able to go about their business of eating the flesh (this is vital for the odor to go away). But by applying the T.O.N., you won’t have to suffer with the odor during this process. In most cases the odor will be detectable for several hundred yards so don’t be surprised if 4-5 neighbors all smell it. We’ve seen this happen with just one raccoon; a mother and babies will no doubt smell even worse.
To treat the area, simply mix up the T.O.N. in any Pump Sprayer and apply it to the void as best as possible. Use at least 1/2 gallon per treatment trying to get the area treated as well as possible. You should see several days of no odor following the treatment and during this time, maggots and other insects will be eating away at the carcass. And when you start smelling the carcass again, spray it again. I expect you’ll have to treat 2-3 a week for the first week; less frequently as the body decays until the odor is finally gone and doesn’t return.
Here are links to the items you’ll need in our cart. Please show your support for our business by purchasing the items we recommend from the links provided. Remember, this is the only way we can stay around and keep this valuable web site up and running. Thanks for your business!
Leave a Reply