Dealing with Mice

Thanks Brad!

Yep, dark quiet places is what they like best - above the headliner, for example, in the insulation right around the spar carrythrough. :(

Also under the carpeting - which is where the "evidence" was found this time.

As much as I hate using poison, as long as there's no cat on the field I'm inclined to go that route if nothing else works very well. Blue is strictly an FBO dog, never seen him out and about so little chance of him getting hold of a poisoned mouse from the community hangar.

Sticky traps... sounds like they might work too if properly baited. Disposing of the corpse might be icky though -- I fly too often to leave them to dry up.

el con said:
Michael
Now that be funny:yes:

On the mouse problem
We use all the above ,they all work to some degree.
Also found in my boat if you open up closed spaces they tend not to use those areas ,they like dark quiet places.
Poison bait blocks work best,traps next then down the line. My wife says her plastic fake snakes from the dime store help deter mice, couldn't prove that though. We have the electronic repelling units.

I like the idea of a protective box that only mice can enter,I would put poison blocks in there, a bowl of water and maybe a bowl of the old poly glycol antifreeze(winter) in there (not the new safe Sierra stuff)
We also use the sticky mouse trays ,stick some sunflower seeds in the middle , they cannot runaway and die in hidden places then. If left for a long time mice are only a pile of fuzz and bones stuck to the tray.
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Big headache, no doubt. I'll repeat a few things from my own experience but won't pretend to have a final solution. :(
When storing my combines, where mice can wreak havoc with wiring if they nest, I open things up so there are fewer hiding places (this is only partially possible).
I put a box of mothballs in the cab every year when done.
Dryer sheets and balsam don't work well enough or long enough.
I put lots of poison blocks around - agree, when mice eat it they seek water. Put water out for them so they go to it.

I'd fashion a rat guard for the charger cord. Like they put on ship's hawsers and anchor ropes. Same idea as trying to keep squirrels out of bird feeders.

If you use the charger all the time, is there a way you can install a "through the cowl" plug or otherwise obviate the cord as a route of entrance? That might be more convenient in any event.

You know you can track mice with the right frequency of UV light. Google up "track mice with UV". Mice don't really have a sphincter, as I understand it, and dribble urine all the time. (Just tell your wife that next time she sees one in the laundry room.) That's how they track themselves and others, I'm told. After you see the UV urine trail,then what? I don't know, but it might help if you know where they are going.

I think in your situation I'd make a rat guard for the cord, find a way to fasten mothballs ot the outside of your airplane where you thing they enter, like a little muff around the gear legs filled with mothballs. Velcro them so they are easy to install and remove. That way, no mothballs in the plane.
 
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jnmeade said:
Big headache, no doubt. I'll repeat a few things from my own experience but won't pretend to have a final solution. :(
When storing my combines, where mice can wreak havoc with wiring if they nest, I open things up so there are fewer hiding places (this is only partially possible).
I put a box of mothballs in the cab every year when done.
Dryer sheets and balsam don't work well enough or long enough.
I put lots of poison blocks around - agree, when mice eat it they seek water. Put water out for them so they go to it.
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Thanks! That pretty much confirms my thinking on the best way to go about it.
I'd fashion a rat guard for the charger cord. Like they put on ship's hawsers and anchor ropes. Same idea as trying to keep squirrels out of bird feeders.
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The thing is that anything that has to be attached to the cord is likely to not get attached, or not in the right place to be effective. I don't put my plane away, the FBO does, so they normally plug in the battery minder. (They're not always conscientious about that, either, but they're good enough that it's *usually* on. With a rat/mouse guard, sometimes just isn't good enough.)
If you use the charger all the time, is there a way you can install a "through the cowl" plug or otherwise obviate the cord as a route of entrance? That might be more convenient in any event.
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I hadn't thought about that seriously, assuming that it would require a 337, but I agree that it would be the only workable solution to keep them from getting in that way. I'll have to talk to the shop doing my annual to see what they think. Thanks for the idea!
 
azure said:
Thanks! That pretty much confirms my thinking on the best way to go about it.

The thing is that anything that has to be attached to the cord is likely to not get attached, or not in the right place to be effective. I don't put my plane away, the FBO does, so they normally plug in the battery minder. (They're not always conscientious about that, either, but they're good enough that it's *usually* on. With a rat/mouse guard, sometimes just isn't good enough.)

I hadn't thought about that seriously, assuming that it would require a 337, but I agree that it would be the only workable solution to keep them from getting in that way. I'll have to talk to the shop doing my annual to see what they think. Thanks for the idea!
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Minor alteration. Log book entry.
 
Just don't use glue traps. I'm no sissy, but those made me want to cry when I saw what they did to the dying mice I had in my house in NC.
 
Be a good citizen. Spend the 20 gallons worth of gas and donate a sonic box to the hangar. Tell the FBO you've done it, maybe they're give you some gas. Even if they don't, it will be less than the damage the mice do while you're trying to coerce someone else into doing something and you'll feel so much better about yourself.
 
bflynn said:
Be a good citizen. Spend the 20 gallons worth of gas and donate a sonic box to the hangar. Tell the FBO you've done it, maybe they're give you some gas. Even if they don't, it will be less than the damage the mice do while you're trying to coerce someone else into doing something and you'll feel so much better about yourself.
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Who said anything about coercing them into doing something? (other than Steingar, and he wasn't serious, at least I don't think he was ;))

If I was sure the sonic boxes worked I'd do it, but I'm not about to sink 0.1 AMU (or even 0.05) into something that might be totally ineffective. The reviews I've read aren't exactly glowing. The ones I've seen are ultrasonic, and high-frequency sound waves are blocked by any objects in the way (such as other planes). Considering that I have no control over where they put the plane, this doesn't seem like a very effective way to keep mice away. It's too bad because I really would prefer to use nonlethal methods, but I'll use anything that works, as long as the FBO is okay with it.
 
The solution to this problem is so simple its funny. Seeing how all little grass strips usually do not have concrete floors and field mice are everywhere. There is a very simple solution to this problem we use all the time.

Go get some flashing that you would use on your roof. Metal flashing is what you want. Take some of this flashing and make circles out of it. Now put these around the wheels of your airplane. Mice can not climb this. They will come up to it and run around it and not try and climb it. Even if they do try and climb it they can't. Simple easy and no need to argue with the FBO about rodents.

Tony
 
1600vw said:
Go get some flashing that you would use on your roof. Metal flashing is what you want. Take some of this flashing and make circles out of it. Now put these around the wheels of your airplane. Mice can not climb this. They will come up to it and run around it and not try and climb it. Even if they do try and climb it they can't. Simple easy and no need to argue with the FBO about rodents.
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See posts 3 and 24. Also 42 and 43.
 
1600vw said:
The solution to this problem is so simple its funny. Seeing how all little grass strips usually do not have concrete floors and field mice are everywhere. There is a very simple solution to this problem we use all the time.

Go get some flashing that you would use on your roof. Metal flashing is what you want. Take some of this flashing and make circles out of it. Now put these around the wheels of your airplane. Mice can not climb this. They will come up to it and run around it and not try and climb it. Even if they do try and climb it they can't. Simple easy and no need to argue with the FBO about rodents.

Tony
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Mice can jump unbelievable heights. I've seen one jump three feet vertically and over a cat that was cornering it. It got away. I have found mice numerous times in metal garbage cans that had nothing near them to climb on. Cans that were 30" high. They get in there among the paper and junk and then can't jump out without a solid surface to launch from.

They get used to mothballs. I used to use mothballs until I found a pair nesting in the airplane, not far from the stuff.

Poison works. So far.

Dan
 
Poison didn't work out well for my friend with his Malibu. The mice just carried the poison into the left wing root and stockpiled a bunch of it. After I removed the poison and then found where it had started to corrode the skin and rib.
 
I use a product called Cabfresh.


http://www.earthkind.com/products/featured-fresh-cab-rodent-repellent

It's like a high powered potpouri that turns away mice. I put it in my popup I store in my hangar. I'm paranoid about the little varmint-cong ruining the canvas. It does have a strong "fresh" odor, but I don't notice it when I use the camper after removing the little pouch it comes in.

I supplement that with a couple boxes of D-con. No airport pets to worry about. No problems in over 9 years. Not sure if my success is from the Cabfresh or the D-con.
 
Tom cat glue traps work for all kinds of stuff. I caught a ton of lizards in my hangar. Roaches in the house. If a mouse comes around well he will be caught too. Works for me.
 
kmead said:
Poison didn't work out well for my friend with his Malibu. The mice just carried the poison into the left wing root and stockpiled a bunch of it. After I removed the poison and then found where it had started to corrode the skin and rib.
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They might do that with pellets. They won't do it wih bar bait, especially if it's wired to something. There are holes in the bars for that.
 
I took in a feral cat a few years ago. It took months to tame him, but he now has a 'doggy door' so he can come and go as he pleases. He sleeps in the hangar on an old sleeping bag, and when its cold I put a 100-watt lamp over his bed. He's been with me for over 3-years now, and I never have a mouse problem. (He leaves the guts on the floor for me after his mouse meal.)
 
I didn't read through the entire thread.

I did recently watch a mouse and a snake keep airliners out of service in 2 separate events.

The exterminator the company usually hires for mice uses some kind of sticky humane glue board baited with crunchy peanut butter. He told us he uses a lot of them, he placed them in areas that tend to be rodent pathways, and he said a capture within 4 hours was almost a certainty.

I only know about it because the mouse turned into a real sideshow at one of the out stations. Someone thought they saw a mouse, they tried a DIY extermination job that turned up fur(?), but no mouse. At that point we needed a mouse carcass to confirm the threat was cleared.

It got worse after the sea lawyers got involved with references to health and sanitation regulations. Weekends are always such a relief.
 
I haven't read everything in this thread so sorry if this is a repeat. The hangar I'm in (75' x 75' heated...yeah, I know, hate me) started smelling like dead mice recently. The owner uses an extermination service. There were six of these scattered about along the walls. I took them outside, opened them up, and found a minimum of four...and up to a dozen...mouse carcasses in each. They appear to work well, as I've never seen a mouse in the hangar. They've been power washed, they're getting sun bleached now, and they'll be reinstalled...maybe with some velveta even though the mfgr says that no bait is necessary.
 
Throw some 4 foot long boards on the floor along the walls and create mouse trails. Then bait them.




Really old school farmer stuff is using boards the same width then quickly and swiftly kick the bottom board up against the wall each morning in the hog barn.



 
This moustrap needs no bait, though you can use it. I used to use peanut butter mixed with icing sugar.

6a00d8341c5da453ef010534b7e821970c-800wi


With no bait, just set it and place it on the floor against the wall, facing the wall. Mice run along the base of walls and when they get to this thing they try to climb over it. Bang. Mouse caught every time. Very easy to remove mouse; just pinch the thing open again. I've caught many mice with these things, no bait at all.

Dan
 
Dan Thomas said:
This moustrap needs no bait, though you can use it. I used to use peanut butter mixed with icing sugar.

6a00d8341c5da453ef010534b7e821970c-800wi


With no bait, just set it and place it on the floor against the wall, facing the wall. Mice run along the base of walls and when they get to this thing they try to climb over it. Bang. Mouse caught every time. Very easy to remove mouse; just pinch the thing open again. I've caught many mice with these things, no bait at all.

Dan
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It's eerie to see the mouse smiling...
 
Update: now with my plane back in the community hangar, the FBO has agreed to put out traps. I think I've talked them into trying poison with the bars mice can't carry away, but we'll see. Still, the ideal solution would also involve some kind of mouse repellent inside the plane. I'm just not sure what would effectively repel mice without rendering the cabin uninhabitable by humans...
 
azure said:
Update: now with my plane back in the community hangar, the FBO has agreed to put out traps. I think I've talked them into trying poison with the bars mice can't carry away, but we'll see. Still, the ideal solution would also involve some kind of mouse repellent inside the plane. I'm just not sure what would effectively repel mice without rendering the cabin uninhabitable by humans...
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Not to mention the unknown and possibly corrosive nature of such compounds.

I've seen a beautiful new headliner that was installed in a Cessna 182 eat just about everything aluminum that it touched due to improper treatment with fire retardants. What would a mouse bait, repellant _______ etc do?
 
azure said:
Update: now with my plane back in the community hangar, the FBO has agreed to put out traps. I think I've talked them into trying poison with the bars mice can't carry away, but we'll see. Still, the ideal solution would also involve some kind of mouse repellent inside the plane. I'm just not sure what would effectively repel mice without rendering the cabin uninhabitable by humans...
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My opposition to poison is that the mouse crawls somewhere inaccessible, dies and stinks the place up.

Poison is just a bad solution on multiple grounds.
 
I just leave boxes of crap, with nesting material, laying around the hangar......so they leave the plane alone. :D
 
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1600vw said:
The solution to this problem is so simple its funny. Seeing how all little grass strips usually do not have concrete floors and field mice are everywhere. There is a very simple solution to this problem we use all the time.

Go get some flashing that you would use on your roof. Metal flashing is what you want. Take some of this flashing and make circles out of it. Now put these around the wheels of your airplane. Mice can not climb this. They will come up to it and run around it and not try and climb it. Even if they do try and climb it they can't. Simple easy and no need to argue with the FBO about rodents.

Tony
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That works very well.
 
There is/was a company selling ferret poo in little airable boxes as rodent repellent. No idea if it works but is a possible organic solution. Pay money to buy poop to put in your plane, makes sense.
 
ClimbnSink said:
There is/was a company selling ferret poo in little airable boxes as rodent repellent. No idea if it works but is a possible organic solution. Pay money to buy poop to put in your plane, makes sense.
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Actually the FBO owner nixed the idea of using a live cat, but implied a ferret might be a possibility. ;)

(I doubt if he was serious, though, especially since he said he would consider using poison bars.)
 
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