Freakn' Birds!!

[Jon Kraus]

Just had our annual last month and I dug what seemed like 10 pounds of
birds nest out of the tail of our Mooney. I can't believe that the damn
birds can even get in there but they did.

Tonight I was getting ready to punch some holes in the sky and had my
little Jack Russell Terrier with me. She loves to go out to the airport
and search for chipmonks and such. This time I was almost done with the
preflight when I noticed Jackie freaking out back by the tail. I looked
in where she was pointing to and saw 4 little mouths open waiting for
some worms or what ever the hell baby birds eat. Luckily they were
right where an inspection cover is so I removed it and sure enough 10
more pounds of crap shaped like a nest and 4 baby birds are in there. I
removed the mess and buttoned up the tail and went flying.

When I landed I made a post flight amendment to my pre-flight checklist.
It now reads:
Check with Jackie for no birds

:-)

Jon Kraus
Birdless '79 Mooney 201

[Roger]

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 03:06:38 GMT, Jon Kraus >
wrote:

>Just had our annual last month and I dug what seemed like 10 pounds of
>birds nest out of the tail of our Mooney. I can't believe that the damn
>birds can even get in there but they did.
>
>Tonight I was getting ready to punch some holes in the sky and had my
>little Jack Russell Terrier with me. She loves to go out to the airport
>and search for chipmonks and such. This time I was almost done with the
>preflight when I noticed Jackie freaking out back by the tail. I looked
>in where she was pointing to and saw 4 little mouths open waiting for
>some worms or what ever the hell baby birds eat. Luckily they were
>right where an inspection cover is so I removed it and sure enough 10
>more pounds of crap shaped like a nest and 4 baby birds are in there. I
>removed the mess and buttoned up the tail and went flying.

If the nest is like crap, or more precisely, like clay, they are Barn
Swallows and once those suckers find a spot they like there is
absolutely nothing you can do to keep them out except eliminate them.

Although, if you had a way of just putting a single mothball back
there it would most likely keep them and any bees out.

OTOH I don't know about the advisability of mothballs (Naphtha) in an
Aluminum, or fiberglass tail cone.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

>
>When I landed I made a post flight amendment to my pre-flight checklist.
>It now reads:
>Check with Jackie for no birds
>
>:-)
>
>Jon Kraus
>Birdless '79 Mooney 201

[Darrel Toepfer]

Roger wrote:

> Although, if you had a way of just putting a single mothball back
> there it would most likely keep them and any bees out.

We play a 24 hour radio station on a boombox, seems to keep them away
from the planes in the hanger... I saw a feather duster hanging from the
roof of one t-hanger, plane owner attested to its effectiveness...

[Paul kgyy]

I have a Kennon tail cone cover that I use on my Arrow - covers up the
small holes for the stabilator. Gotta remember to remove before
flight, though...

[Chuck]

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 07:27:11 -0500, Darrel Toepfer
> wrote:

>Roger wrote:
>
>> Although, if you had a way of just putting a single mothball back
>> there it would most likely keep them and any bees out.
>
>We play a 24 hour radio station on a boombox, seems to keep them away
>from the planes in the hanger... I saw a feather duster hanging from the
>roof of one t-hanger, plane owner attested to its effectiveness...


Down here in San Antonio, we have this little pesky "split-tail
swallow" that is endangered. When I worked on Randolph AFB, the damn
little birds were coming in under every door cover could and literally
sticking a nest to the side of the stucco walls. One year, a pair
stuck a nest right over the door. At least two/three times a week --
someone would open the door to walk out, startle the bird on the lip
of the nest which would take off crapping as they went. We were
getting hit all the time.

We were severely warned about the fines & penalties if we were caught
knocking down nests. And when one nest disappeared after duty hours,
some environmental freak actually came out and ran an "investigation"
to find & punish the "horrible killer". Worse yet, we weren't even
allowe to scare them away once they had a nest in progress.

We tried a number of things to keep them away, but didn't have a lot
of luck. Until one person suggested we hang pieces of fishing string
from the underside of the overhang. Apparently -- they can't see
fishing string, hit it in flight, and that scares them off. We didn't
believe it would work any better, but set out a few. And the guys who
had to go outside to smoke reported seeing the birds completely
confused when they could come under and hit the fishing string.

After that, we strung it up all over the place. We would run pieces
left to right every 6 to 12 inches taped to the underside of the
cover. Then from those, we would cut various lengths and tie them
onto the side-to-side pieces leaving them hanging. After that, we
NEVER had bird nests under the overhang any more.

I tell this story as it might help you guys with hangers. I doubt it
will help the guys with outside storage much. But the guys with
hangers might consider hanging lengths here and there next time
they're in the rafters. I tell you -- it's the funniest thing when
they swoop under, hit those strings, and back off flittering around
trying to figure out what's out there. It should cut down on the
nests in the rafters too.


Chuck
PA28-180

[Roger]

On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 07:27:11 -0500, Darrel Toepfer
> wrote:

>Roger wrote:
>
>> Although, if you had a way of just putting a single mothball back
>> there it would most likely keep them and any bees out.
>
>We play a 24 hour radio station on a boombox, seems to keep them away
>from the planes in the hanger... I saw a feather duster hanging from the
>roof of one t-hanger, plane owner attested to its effectiveness...

The guys in the hanger next to us do that... It's OK if you don't have
neighbors, but it's more obnoxious than the birds if you do.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

[Roger]

On Sun, 19 Jun 2005 05:35:08 GMT, Chuck > wrote:

>On Fri, 17 Jun 2005 07:27:11 -0500, Darrel Toepfer
> wrote:
>
>>Roger wrote:
>>
>>> Although, if you had a way of just putting a single mothball back
>>> there it would most likely keep them and any bees out.
>>
>>We play a 24 hour radio station on a boombox, seems to keep them away
>>from the planes in the hanger... I saw a feather duster hanging from the
>>roof of one t-hanger, plane owner attested to its effectiveness...
>
>
>Down here in San Antonio, we have this little pesky "split-tail
>swallow" that is endangered. When I worked on Randolph AFB, the damn

If they are that common they definitely are not endangered except in
the eyes of a few. Kinda like barn swallows up here.

Just get a couple of good cats and let nature take its course. The
cats were after all strays that just wandered in.

I've seen mine take birds out of the air between 7 and 8 feet off the
ground. OTOH he's not exactly the small house cat normally thought of
when cats are mentioned. He occasionally brings home lunch of me.
It's certainly fresh and were it much bigger it'd be worth cookin'
<:-))


Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com