Emile Hirsch Finds Dead Rat Under His Stove Burner

Emile Hirsch got a whiff of something nasty in his house -- and it turned out to be one of the vilest things you could imagine ... rodent infiltration.

The ''Into the Wild'' actor made the discovery while properly attired with an n95 face mask -- not for the 'rona --- just to block out the foul odor he'd detected, but couldn't quite put his finger on. That is, until his nose led him to the kitchen stove.

Check it out ... Emile lifts up the range and lo and behold -- there's a freakin' RAT under there, which appears dead (hopefully it is). If you're panicking by just hearing that, watch how crazed EH got ... rightfully so. Ol' ratsy seems to have suffocated on the gas.

It's a good thing he found it too, 'cause Emile says he was turning the house upside down just to track down the gnarly smell. Yep -- dead rats will definitely leave that behind.

Even in the age of COVID-19, sometimes the grossest things are the simplest.

This one goes out to you, Emile!!! Hit that UB40 ...