Last week I posted about a little problem. To recap: mouse invasion, lazy cats, sloppy kids, crappy traps, POISON = dead mouse in inner sanctum of fridge.

Try googling “dead mouse smell” and you’ll find many anecdotes about coping with the unholy hand grenade that is an un-locatable decaying rodent in one’s home. Nothing can quite prepare you for such a situation, but it is comforting to know that others have endured and taken the time to share their own stock of knowledge. Across the board, I found a pretty consistent projection of 3-4 days of intense smell. Unfortunately, by Saturday afternoon (Day 5) the stench had reached astronomical proportions, permeating all three floors of the house and out into the yard. We had had enough.

This is our old flashlight.

It’s what we were using last week in our unsuccessful attempt to locate the decaying carcass. As mentioned previously, it only pretends to be a flashlight and should be sold strictly as an accessory to Star Trek costumes.

Now armed with new blinding Workforce (read WORKHORSE) flashlight

we were ready. My husband again unscrewed the back of the fridge and began the quest anew. The smell was unbelievable, pouring forth as he poked around, until lo and behold – he found it!

The body was a mess, lodged right next to the fan (which would explain the powerful circulation), in a stage of mid-decay, covered in writhing maggots. I of course knew you’d want to see for yourselves:

Ah, what a birthday present! We disinfected the entire region and even poured a little cleaning solution into the well in the back of the fridge before reassembling everything. I can’t tell you how lovely the smell of Simple Green is wafting though the kitchen. Hooray!