To be thorough, I went out to the airport again today after work. I wanted to look down the rest of the fuselage to see if there was anything further forward from the access panels I opened yesterday. In the event there was, and it was of the deceased avian persuasion, I took a pair of leather work gloves and a plastic bag.
I opened the panel on the left side again and looked inside and forward. Well, I did see more stuff up there. There were some twigs, some grass, a few feathers. I couldn't really reach any of it so it will have to come out later.
I opened up the baggage compartment and removed the panel that separates it from the rear. I shined my flashlight around and looked for anything. Then I looked down.
It was right there, just inside the rear compartment. A deceased bird. I put on a glove, picked it up, and put it in the bag. It was still intact. It had probably been dead for several days, possibly a week or so, but it hadn't fallen apart yet. It was definitely the source of the odor. Hopefully with it gone the smell will dissipate quickly. It didn't look like it had decomposed much, the skin was still intact.
There's a pretty good mess in there, but I am not at all equipped nor qualified to disassemble the cabling that would be required to get down in there. I honestly don't know what I'm going to do about it at this point. It will need to be cleaned out eventually, but I can fly the plane. I'll contact the shop and see if they have any advice or recommendations. I may have to take it somewhere to be professionally cleaned out. More money, I guess, and more time not flying. Crap.
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