What does a dead animal smell like?

[Anonymous]

I don’t think these two things are related, but this is what just happened:

Noticed a squirrel had dug up a potted plant so I went out onto my deck to sweep the mess. As I was sweeping, I noticed this rancid, almost mushroomy smell. I assumed it was from my disturbing the soil and thought nothing of it. I went back out just now and I can still smell it. Assuming it was the soul, I stuck my head in the pot and determined that was NOT where the smell is coming from.

I sniffed around and it’s hard to determine a source, but it could be coming from underneath our deck, which is closed up with lattice. I can’t see anything, nor can I say I smell anything, but I keep catching whiffs of the smell and can even smell it now in my nostrils even though I’m back inside.

It literally smells like how your hands might smell after handling a mushroom, only more rancid. Is this a dead animal somewhere?

[Anonymous]

We had a squirrel fall down the exterior vent for the gas furnace and die. It smelled like a really rancid fart.

[Anonymous]

dead animal smell, you can't miss. it is very strong and pungent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:dead animal smell, you can't miss. it is very strong and pungent.

Are you saying that’s what I’m smelling?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:dead animal smell, you can't miss. it is very strong and pungent.

Are you saying that’s what I’m smelling?

LOL. No one can tell you what you are smelling OP. Your nose is attached to your face. But, based on your description, it's a possibility.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:dead animal smell, you can't miss. it is very strong and pungent.

Are you saying that’s what I’m smelling?

LOL. No one can tell you what you are smelling OP. Your nose is attached to your face. But, based on your description, it's a possibility.

Obviously! I just couldn’t decipher what you were saying. It’s definitely strong and pungent, but in a weird, mushroom-y way. It’s absolutely gross though.

[Anonymous]

Sour. Like rotten meat.

[Anonymous]

Dead mice to me smell like spoiled potatoes. Earthy but also tinged with a meaty scent like a dead deer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sour. Like rotten meat.

Definitely sour.

I wonder if it could be wafting from a neighbors yard, and that why I’m only catching it intermittently.

[Anonymous]

Can you check under your deck? Usually dead animals are picked up by other animals - fox for example. If the area is closed up, you may have something rotting in there rather than becoming someone's dinner.

[Anonymous]

I don't think dead creatures smell like mushrooms, but they do have a super strong, off-putting scent, and that scent is unmistakable once you smell it.

Like once you smell it you won't say, oh is that mushrooms or a dead animal/body? You will know the difference.

[Anonymous]

A bit like rotten cabbage. It is a strong, unpleasant odor.

[Anonymous]

I sat behind a parent last night at a sporting event and kept smelling a terrible,
moldy,mothballesque odor. Initially thought perhaps a dead animal was under the bleachers - nearly gag inducing (fully admit I am hypersensitive to smells) but then the odor vanished when he did.

[Anonymous]

I don't know if anything really smells like dead animals except dead animals. It is so unpleasantly unique. Simply unforgettable.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I sat behind a parent last night at a sporting event and kept smelling a terrible,
moldy,mothballesque odor. Initially thought perhaps a dead animal was under the bleachers - nearly gag inducing (fully admit I am hypersensitive to smells) but then the odor vanished when he did.

He must be under OP's deck.