Mice vs wing spars…prevention?

[takair]

1 hour ago, Shadrach said:

That's why Al designed it with wet wings. The tank weeps make for natural fumigators.

Lol.  Great fumigator and keeps the critters out of that area.  I have bladders now and one downside is that those bays become uninspectable dry bays….right in front of the gear well.  One of my concerns is if the critters can get under the bladders and make a mess adjacent to the spar.  That is one reason I was wondering if the corrosion prevention treatments in any way neutralize the pee.  I think the answer is “no”.  Perhaps it dilutes it and maybe eventually weeps it out….or not…

[Will.iam]

I tried the roller over a 5 gallon bucket and they licked the roller clean and never fell in, hell I was feeding them not catching them. Then I got the glue strips, I got a lot of hair/fur on the strips but no vermin, now I had hairless critters loose in the hanger.  Finally I got this:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B092C5J71L/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_X33QDRNRFQ46ZGMGJ8G0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
 

notice it’s a rat trap not mouse trap and that is because once I caught one I realized they were huge rats! Hence they could lick the peanut butter off the roller across the 5 gallon bucket without having to get on the roller just from straddling from the ramp side and top of rim of the bucket. And how they had the muscle strength to pull themselves off the glue trap by literally ripping their hair off but the rat trap killed them. Although one managed to drag the trap with it’s body 45 feet before it died from its wounds. 

[201Steve]

On 2/9/2022 at 9:50 AM, GeeBee said:

First is eradication. Our local shelters provide "working cats". These are cats too mean to adopt out. For a nominal fee they will drop them off at night and pick them up in the morning.

This is amazing. Just like temp workers. 

[Pinecone]

On 2/10/2022 at 9:32 PM, 201Steve said:

What if he dies inside your wing? 

That is why mouse/rat poison is good.

It causes them to be very thirsty, so they seek out water and die there.  Not in your walls or airplane.

Traps (live or kill) are also good as they hold the animal or remains right there for disposal.

 

[Skates97]

On 2/9/2022 at 6:50 AM, GeeBee said:

Vermin control is vital in a hangar. First you have to get rid of them, then you have to prevent them.

First is eradication. Our local shelters provide "working cats". These are cats too mean to adopt out. For a nominal fee they will drop them off at night and pick them up in the morning. About a week of that and your mice are gone and the cats get to live out their lives hunting. A lot of businesses use these cats at night. Just make sure you cover your windows so they don't scratch them.

Prevention comes in the form of those little houses with bait, but don't place them inside. Put them outside so they are not lured inside. Any mice that approach the hangar will go for the easy meal first.

Finally you have to get all hangar tenants to agree....no food left in the hangars or the planes.

We don't have any mice at my hangar!

When we bought our house there was a feral cat that roamed the back yards on our street. We never saw rats or even squirrels. Ten years later the cat is gone and the squirrels and rats moved in.

There's a neighborhood that shares a brick wall to the end of the taxiway in front of my hangar. I see cats on the wall all the time. I have had glue traps in my hangar for years, never had a single mouse. When I was based at a different airport surrounded by fields I had mice in the glue traps on a regular basis.

[201Steve]

So cats is the way. Generally animals near a runway are frowned upon, no?

[EricJ]

23 minutes ago, 201Steve said:

So cats is the way. Generally animals near a runway are frowned upon, no?

We have coyotes on our field all the time.    They're seldom on the runway unless they're actively hunting something near there, which is pretty rare.    The field I learned on grazed sheep and the sheep dogs would sleep on the runway because it was warmer there.    I suspect cats would be less of an issue than the usual suspects, especially if most of the prey are around the hangars. 

[Fly Boomer]

16 hours ago, Skates97 said:

There's a neighborhood that shares a brick wall to the end of the taxiway in front of my hangar. I see cats on the wall all the time. I have had glue traps in my hangar for years, never had a single mouse. When I was based at a different airport surrounded by fields I had mice in the glue traps on a regular basis.

I subscribe to the Nick Cage philosophy — anything worth doing… so I have the “mouse houses” with poison inside, plus half a dozen snap traps, plus half a dozen glue traps.  Can’t tell how effective the “mouse houses” are, snap traps are marginal, glue traps are very effective.  Every few days, I harvest mice, snakes, toads, frogs, bugs of all flavors, and even got a rat once.  I keep cartons of the glue traps on hand.  When I ask my hangar group neighbors about critters, they say they never see any.  Wonder why?

[RobertGary1]

One of the benefits of being outside for 20 years. No rodents. 

[Ned Gravel]

1 hour ago, RobertGary1 said:

One of the benefits of being outside for 20 years. No rodents. 

+1

The only benefit.  Ok, also no hangar fees.  But on the days when my bird is disguised as a snowbank, I would give all those up.  Just sayin’.   

[ArtVandelay]

One of the benefits of being outside for 20 years. No rodents. 

There’s no rodents outside?

[PT20J]

Just duct tape mouse traps to the inside of the inspection covers during annual 

[Larry]

Is that a "minor alteration" or do you have a STC?

[RobertGary1]

On 7/22/2023 at 1:09 AM, ArtVandelay said:

There’s no rodents outside?

Not in 20 years. They seem to like the comfort of a hanger.