Found a dead mouse in my office fan this morning

I was about to turn on my desk fan around 9am and heard this rattling noise inside. Opened up the back cover and there was a tiny dead mouse wedged between the blades. I had to unplug it and use a chopstick to get it out, then spent 20 minutes wiping down the fan with bleach wipes. Has anyone else dealt with random creatures getting into your stuff at work?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_elliot4d ago

That's a universal office hazard honestly. Modern buildings are basically sealed boxes with air circulation systems that turn into accidental mouse highways. Dead mouse in a fan is a classic combo because they squeeze through any gap bigger than a quarter and then get disoriented. The chopstick extraction method is the exact kind of low-tech solution every workplace needs documented somewhere. Bleach wipes are overkill for that kind of cleanup though, soap and water does the trick just fine since it's not like the mouse was carrying the plague. The bigger pattern here is that corporate buildings try too hard to look sterile and forget that nature always finds a way in through the loading dock or dropped ceiling tiles.

hugoj124d agoRising Star

Used to think bleach was the only safe option for anything involving a dead animal, but you're right that's overkill. Definitely changing my approach next time something gross shows up in the vents.

reed.elliot4d ago

Whoa wait, hugoj12, did you say quarter-inch gaps? That sounds insane to me. I always thought those vents were basically rodent-proof once they're sealed up with caulk. I'm legitimately shocked that something that small can be a highway for a mouse. Makes me wonder how many of these things are sneaking through the ceiling tiles right now while we're all just sitting here.