Strange Smells-Dead Mouse or Gas Leak?

[johnmiic]

I recently plugged up holes in the walls behind my appliances with steel wool to stop the parade of mice entering my apt. I had 1 mouse left and the trap didn't get him. The trap was overturned and I found a trial of blood leading under the stove. So he was mortally wonded but I suspect he died where I can't get him because I have checked over and over but can't find the body.

So my kitchen has reeked with this terrible smell since then but the smell has not entirely gone away. I suspect perhaps when I moved the stove I did something and perhaps I have a slight gas leak. I say slight because it is barely noticable. Still I'm not sure it's just not a dead mouse corpse.

How can I tell, ( and don't say light a match)?

[mitchedwards]

Best bet is to call your utility company, they will have a portable sniffer that will tell if you have a leak or not.

[monkey tennis]

It might be a Rat

[Seeker]

Your local Fire dept should have a sniffer too. They can tell you if you have a gas leak.

[megocrazy]

Dude, even a small leak in an unventilated area can be serious. Make the call and get this taken cared of. Not something to mess around with.

[mitchedwards]

YOu could put a canary near the stove, if it dies then its a gas leak

[jessica]

You could try using a weak solution of mild dishwasher soap and water and painting that over your gas lines or seams of your gas lines. If you see bubbles forming--you've got a gas leak. Make sure you vent your place and get the utility company over right away.

[Captain]

It may be both.
Think about it...you've wounded the mouse.Not just physically, but psychologically. He knows your dangerous now, one not to be trifled with. If he wants to survive he's gonna knotch this up a bit. He knows its got to be you or him now, and hes not going to roll over and die....NOT without a fight!!!
One quick nibble...voila!...a gas leak. He's probably...even as you sit here and read this...rewiring all your appliances. That toaster on your counter is now a death trap! Put in the toast, push the plunger and BOOM! no more John. DONT touch that channel changer....it may be 100+ channels of death...just waiting to happen.
Once you've riled up vermin....you've awakened the beast!!!

Seriously though, natural gas and dead mice smell nothing alike. Dead mice have a musty kind of smell to them, that while annoying (and hard to get rid of) wont make you feel ill. Gas has a strong smell that will make you feel nausous in high quantities, and in smaller doses will give you at least a headache.
If in ANY doubt, your apartment should have a shut off valve for the gas line somewhere. Close it, and call in the gas company. (Dont forget to warn them about the mouse!)

[misterdroid]

It may be both.
Think about it...you've wounded the mouse.Not just physically, but psychologically. He knows your dangerous now, one not to be trifled with. If he wants to survive he's gonna knotch this up a bit. He knows its got to be you or him now, and hes not going to roll over and die....NOT without a fight!!!
One quick nibble...voila!...a gas leak. He's probably...even as you sit here and read this...rewiring all your appliances. That toaster on your counter is now a death trap! Put in the toast, push the plunger and BOOM! no more John. DONT touch that channel changer....it may be 100+ channels of death...just waiting to happen.
Once you've riled up vermin....you've awakened the beast!!!

Genius... that's the best laugh I've had in a while.

[Captain]

Thanks!

Did you find out what the source was John?....John?

[johnmiic]

My head hurts......real bad........

[Cosmicman]

Dude. I **** you not. Rotting mouse bodies can smell something horrid. Their bodies are much like humans and they give off a gas when they decay.
Several years ago. In my band, my brother's drum set, a mouse climbed into the bass drum hole and died at some point.
The whole entire band was complaining about the "gas leak" and we tore up the whole entire practice place looking for the problem.
A week later, my brother took apart his bass drum to change the head and found a dead mouse in there rotting away in the padding he tried to make a home in.
He cleaned up his bass drum and the smell went away in a day.


A rotting dead mouse is the worse smell you can have.

[jessica]

Maybe you can have a cadaver dog come over and try to pinpoint the smell! Do you have friends in law enforcement?