Mouse proof your airplane?

[astjp2]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Decon is now required by law to need multiple feedings to exterminate, the only way to get single feeding is from the farm stores until April then they will only be able to sell it in 5 gallon buckets for around $200.00+

[lawheelock]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

I have been successful in using little pans of moth balls inside my planes to keep the critters out. Lucky so far.

"Decon is now required by law to need multiple feedings to exterminate, the only way to get single feeding is from the farm stores until April then they will only be able to sell it in 5 gallon buckets for around $200.00+ "[/U]

I guess the do-gooders, tree huggers, and environmentalists would all rather eat mouse turds in their cornflakes than to see a pretty little mouse suffer. These folks are sure helping destroy freedom and health.

Larry Wheelock, N96179 BC12D project

[Marv]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Manufactures make more money selling as a blood thinner for humans. The name it goes by as medicine slips my mind right now, but it is a fact. Marv

[Hank Jarrett]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Mice are successful because of the way they eat. They will eat a little of each thing and see if it makes them sick. Then they go back and clean house. Their weakness is that rodents can't throw up or back up. When I was growing up and squirrels were eaten the kids used to put loop snares on a limb so a squirrel would get his head through it. They WOULD NOT back up on the limb when the snare went around their neck and each time they moved forward the snare got a little tighter. Eventually they fell off the limb and hung themselves. The kids would just wait and check, then pick up the catch. Never could bring myself to taste squirrel, but was told it was really good.
DeCon works by blocking Vitamin K that is necessary to cause blood clotting. When they eat it they literally bleed to death internally. The reason they went to multiple doses was to, first, reduce the dose so when your dog or kid ate it, give them a chance to puke it back up. Second, to not make the mouse feel sick till he got a lethal dose.
I think the commonly used chemicals are called Warfarin and Cumiden (not sure of the spelling). They are taken by humans to prevent blood clots (IN MUCH LOWER DOSES!). Overdoses are NOT PAINLESS. Lots of little blood vessels rupture over time and human overdoses are very painful. Luckily they can give vitamin K to people and pets for accidental poisoning if they know what it is. Problem is to much vitamin K can kill you too. The trick to poison treatment is knowing the poison and how much was taken.
Not too many kids or pets are hung crawling out tree limbs.
Hank

Unless you have pet squirrels!

[M Towsley]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Marv,

As Hank described, I think you are referring to Coumadin and Warfarin.

[magman]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Moth Balls have been effective in many cases.

Lots of other folks swear by "Dryer Sheets" .

Still other believe the wrap around sheet metal barriers to be the best.

Doing the critters in is permanent but ideally it should take place BEFORE they are in the aircraft.

Entrance is via Main or Tail Wheels & residence can be anywhere.

A favorite seems to be the "Headliner Area".

Keep in mind they do NOT use an "Outhouse"!

Once they are admitted if the path past a Spar is a little too small they merely gnaw it a little bigger.


You really have to understand that when mice move in it may be the beginning of a rebuilding project.

[M Towsley]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

The only nest I found in my first BC-12D was under the floorboard when I did my first annual after purchase. It was very old and was probably when my plane had been stored outside as part of its earlier life.

Also shows how often the floorboards were taken up for annual.

[Marv]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Yes Marty, coumadin is what i was thinking of. My memory is getting short for some reason. Marv

[skyboltone]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Two things. I've used de-con to stamp out a rat infestation on my Hatteras. BAD idea. They crawl to inaccessible places to die. Not good.

Second thing. I found the same airplane on Trade-a-plane. It's a BL model. That's why it's so cheap.

[Larry Lyons]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

Dyer sheets do seem to work (they work amazingly well for musty smells and or mold prevention in marine, RVs, and aircraft) but have to be replaced every 6 months or so. My son was able to protect his hopped up off road truck for several years but did not replace the sheets one summer and they moved in to dine on the wiring the next winter. L

[skyboltone]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

There is a product, available only on line only as far as I can tell, called "Damp Rid". It's a powder that has been infused with formaldehyde, and packaged in something like a tobacco sack. It will kill and eliminate mildew as long as the area is enclosed sufficiently to contain the fumes. I've used it on basement kept luggage and believe it or not, an Accordion. (please don't tell my mother I play accordion, she thinks I'm a bank robber) I would imagine that a sack or two of that, kept just inside an inspection port here and there in an airplane, will probably eliminate any sort of infestation. If you have a stinky mattress on your boat you can throw in a couple sacks and seal it all up in plastic sheeting for a couple of weeks. The formaldehyde stink dissipates quickly leaving a springtime fresh aroma etc. etc.

[rammon3]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

A good example of mouse damage can be seen here http://vb.taylorcraft.org/showthread...2661#post62661 . This will require new spars several ribs and whatever else I find during disassembly. These mice were part of the OWR (Occupy Wing Root) movement.

[KewFlyer]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

We use the "Damp Rid" containers regularly year round inside the plane as well as small women stockings sacks with damp rid over containers to receive the water drips, placing them in the wings and tail section; all marked with red tape !! (remove B 4 flying!). I keep the tail on a 2 1/2 ft o maybe 3 ft pedestal [cant remember exactly]. No odors or smells inside the cockpit. During winter time, I hang one plastic bag containing Damp Rid from the exhaust pipe sealed with duct tape, another plastic bag also with Damp Rid covering the air filter and plug the excess oil drain pipe to keep the engine sealed and dry [ plus 4 oz of MMO in each cyl thru the plug]. We place 6 maybe 8 milk wax cardboard containers, which we cut three sides of the bottom so the flap piece will hinge on the uncut side, allowing the mice to go in to feast on mice poison. Once in, the mice can not get out since we place stoppers so the flap only opens to the inside [ idea from our previous RC plane building life]. Every few weeks, we visit the planes and check on the milk containers and if it has any residents, we just pick up the container and dispose of it and replace it with a new one. So far, this method has worked in our hangar. No rat poison is place inside the plane. Two hangars down from mine, the owner brings his cat to scout his and my hangar for rodents. So far, we haven't found any visitors. Hopes this helps.

Happy Holidays to all...

Ralph

Note:
Damp Rid is available at Lowes as well as the mice poison. Milk containers are post consumer at my household against my wife's instincts of buying the one gal containers, which I sneak in a few times a months and hide the empties in the basement until the next trip to the hangar. The price we pay to make our planes mice free..... only us understand it.

[skyboltone]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

There is another product I've used for mildew in various areas. It's a powder infused with formaldehyde packaged in something like a tobacco sack. I realize of course that some folks think that formaldehyde will cause your babies to be born naked, but when used appropriately you won't have any problems with nesting critters. I would think that one sack in each wing, just inside an inspection port, and a couple in the fuselage would be sufficient. I'm not sure the stuff is available any longer. Remove before flight.

[N96337]

Re: Mouse proof your airplane?

The best thing for mice is a Jack Russell Terrier, or some other small dog.... cats screw around and play with mice and usually wind up loosing about half of them....the dog KILLS and goes for more!!!
The worst infestation I've ever seen was in my Bellanca project when I went to pick it up! It was in a small garage, with one small window up high. We walked in in the dark, and the owner told us to just stand there and he'd get the lights. The whole time we were standing there I thought my girlfriend was kicking me in the leg... when the lights came on, the WHOLE floor was covered with mice, and what I was feeling was mice trying to crawl up my legs!!! My girlfriend (bless her!!) calmly stated that she was going to wait outside. When I slit the fabric on the fuselage, mice poured out!! I was trying to figure out why anyone would put a pale yellow naugahyde headliner in...come to find out, it had been white....just colored yellow from mouse urine!! The space between the headliner and top fuselage fabric was all packed FULL of mouse nests. The belly was packed to the floorboards and all the way to the tail with mouse nests....needless to say, I got it for about 1/3 what I had originally thought, and all the while we were loading it, we were kicking mice out!! A friend of mine was working at the US border, and wanted to see it when I came through.... he opened up the back of the truck and mice came pouring out! He just slammed it shut and told me he'd come to the house and look after I got it cleaned up! I trapped over 25 mice out of the wings when I got them in the hangar, and spent a couple months with a suit and fresh air breather, gloves and bleach, cleaning up the mess and throwing away LOTS of stuff! I've cleaned up lots of mice messes, but that is by far the worst... I'll have to see if I can find any pics.
John