Rodent Deterrent?

I opened up my trailer today and found a live mouse in the cockpit.
Naturally, there was a lot of mouse poop in the cockpit and in the
trailer. I had made at least one mistake of leaving a good supply of
crackers and granola bars in the cockpit and up front in the trailer.
Little bugger had a great home, complete with large food supply.

Tomorrow, the glider will get its annual condition inspection and I'll
be looking closely at tubing and wiring. I don't know if I'll have a
chance to do a leak check tomorrow on the system, but I will soon. My
quick look today didn't show any teeth marks.

Does anyone know a deterrent to rodents? How can I keep them out of
the trailer? The trailer stays parked outside, unfortunately. Would
moth balls work if placed in both the trailer and the cockpit?

Thanks,

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

Ray,

Don't you have some ferrets??
They are your answer to getting the mice to de-ass your trailer!

Brad

see.............mousebgone.com

On Jan 5, 3:37*pm, rlovinggood wrote:
I opened up my trailer today and found a live mouse in the cockpit.
Naturally, there was a lot of mouse poop in the cockpit and in the
trailer. *I had made at least one mistake of leaving a good supply of
crackers and granola bars in the cockpit and up front in the trailer.
Little bugger had a great home, complete with large food supply.

Tomorrow, the glider will get its annual condition inspection and I'll
be looking closely at tubing and wiring. *I don't know if I'll have a
chance to do a leak check tomorrow on the system, but I will soon. *My
quick look today didn't show any teeth marks.

Does anyone know a deterrent to rodents? *How can I keep them out of
the trailer? *The trailer stays parked outside, unfortunately. *Would
moth balls work if placed in both the trailer and the cockpit?

Thanks,

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

Brad,

Yes, my wife has a ferret, "Wolfgang". But I don't know if she'll
like me for leaving her fert in the trailer that is about 56 miles
from the house.

But, she is in Belgium right now and will be there through early March
(they call it "sabbatical". I call it an extended vacation...)

I wonder what little Wolfgang would think about running up and down
inside the fuselage?

I'll also look into mousebgone.com.


Thanks,

Ray

Ray,

when you clean out Wolfgangs litter box, put a little bit of that
special stuff in a small tray and put it in the trailer.

Years ago when I was rebuilding my ASK-14 wings, I noticed when I
removed the canvas there was a conga line of dead baby mice spread out
along the spar. I had put some ferret stuff in the wing root cuz I
heard mice running around inside. Apparently mom left and the baby
mice went looking for her.

Brad


On Jan 5, 4:02*pm, rlovinggood wrote:
Brad,

Yes, my wife has a ferret, "Wolfgang". *But I don't know if she'll
like me for leaving her fert in the trailer that is about 56 miles
from the house.

But, she is in Belgium right now and will be there through early March
(they call it "sabbatical". *I call it an extended vacation...)

I wonder what little Wolfgang would think about running up and down
inside the fuselage?

I'll also look into mousebgone.com.

Thanks,

Ray

Brad:

EXCELLENT! Little Wolfgang does leave a pile every day and I'll take
some with me tomorrow morning.

Ferret Poop in the Trailer!

Hope my wife doesn't find out. If she does, she'll probably charge me
for the service...

Thanks for the info. And thanks for the link to mousebgone.com where
they sell the stuff that I can get here every day.

Ray

You are most welcome..............ferrets rule!

Brad


On Jan 5, 4:24*pm, rlovinggood wrote:
Brad:

EXCELLENT! *Little Wolfgang does leave a pile every day and I'll take
some with me tomorrow morning.

Ferret Poop in the Trailer!

Hope my wife doesn't find out. *If she does, she'll probably charge me
for the service...

Thanks for the info. *And thanks for the link to mousebgone.com *where
they sell the stuff that I can get here every day.

Ray

On Jan 6, 12:10*am, Brad wrote:
Ray,

when you clean out Wolfgangs litter box, put a little bit of that
special stuff in a small tray and put it in the trailer.
snip

This is said to work for those of us with cats as well. But I agree
with the other poster, don't leave any food in the glider.

Learned about this from a handful of Minden pilots...
Buy a "Mole Chaser", which runs on 4 C- or D-cell batteries. Put it
in the cockpit and turn it on. It emits a noise every 20 or 30
seconds, which for some reason isn't liked by rodents.
These things are likely more expensive at your local nursery but on
Amazon for about $15.00 US.
I have gone so far as building the circuit board of a mole chaser
into a project box, incorporating a 5V regulator and an "Anderson
Powerpole" connector. Everything 12V of mine uses or has adapters to
Powerpoles, so any available battery, charger, solar panel or
combination can be hooked to it.
Have also used moth balls, but the smell isn't pleasant to people
either. Have needed to un-stick a mouse trap from my shoe. Haven't
tried cat or weasel deposits!
Yes. Of course I've flown with a mole chaser still running. Only
noticeable when flying slowly, which we know the fix for.
Jim

Ray,

The best way to keep mice away is to prevent them from getting inside
in the first place. That means patching up every little nook, cranny,
seam, gap, hole, crack that a mouse could get through. And they can
get through amazingly small openings. 1/4 inch hardward cloth is good
as is aluminum flashing. Self tapping sheet metal screws are
wonderful.

Then, make sure you leave nothing food-like inside the trailer.

Then hang original style Napthaline moth balls by the handfull in old
nylons in the wing roots, spoiler boxes, and fuselage. Remove before
flight.

Then put some of the really deadly (not warfrin) mouse killer bars in
the trailer (in containers accessable to mice but not dogs and cats
that might show up around the trailer some fateful day in the future)

If you do all that you will probably not have any mouse damage come
springtime. The damage can be considerable especially corrosion from
mouse urine. The smell can be impossible to remove and is nearly
fatal in an enclosed cockpit on a warm day.

Matt

On Jan 5, 5:37*pm, rlovinggood wrote:
I opened up my trailer today and found a live mouse in the cockpit.
Naturally, there was a lot of mouse poop in the cockpit and in the
trailer. *I had made at least one mistake of leaving a good supply of
crackers and granola bars in the cockpit and up front in the trailer.
Little bugger had a great home, complete with large food supply.

Tomorrow, the glider will get its annual condition inspection and I'll
be looking closely at tubing and wiring. *I don't know if I'll have a
chance to do a leak check tomorrow on the system, but I will soon. *My
quick look today didn't show any teeth marks.

Does anyone know a deterrent to rodents? *How can I keep them out of
the trailer? *The trailer stays parked outside, unfortunately. *Would
moth balls work if placed in both the trailer and the cockpit?

Thanks,

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA

years ago a friend and I checked out a homebuilt wooden motorglider,
think it was an Oldershaw? The wings were stored LE down in the
trailer and the mice had moved in. The LE at the root rib was rotten
due to all that mouse urine..........Matt is right on with that
comment!.

Brad


On Jan 5, 4:29*pm, wrote:
Ray,

The best way to keep mice away is to prevent them from getting inside
in the first place. *That means patching up every little nook, cranny,
seam, gap, hole, crack that a mouse could get through. *And they can
get through amazingly small openings. 1/4 inch hardward cloth is good
as is aluminum flashing. *Self tapping sheet metal screws are
wonderful.

Then, make sure you leave nothing food-like inside the trailer.

Then hang original style Napthaline moth balls by the handfull in old
nylons in the wing roots, spoiler boxes, and fuselage. *Remove before
flight.

Then put some of the really deadly (not warfrin) mouse killer bars in
the trailer (in containers accessable to mice but not dogs and cats
that might show up around the trailer some fateful day in the future)

If you do all that you will probably not have any mouse damage come
springtime. *The damage can be considerable especially corrosion from
mouse urine. *The smell can be impossible to remove and is nearly
fatal in an enclosed cockpit on a warm day.

Matt

On Jan 5, 5:37*pm, rlovinggood wrote:



I opened up my trailer today and found a live mouse in the cockpit.
Naturally, there was a lot of mouse poop in the cockpit and in the
trailer. *I had made at least one mistake of leaving a good supply of
crackers and granola bars in the cockpit and up front in the trailer.
Little bugger had a great home, complete with large food supply.

Tomorrow, the glider will get its annual condition inspection and I'll
be looking closely at tubing and wiring. *I don't know if I'll have a
chance to do a leak check tomorrow on the system, but I will soon. *My
quick look today didn't show any teeth marks.

Does anyone know a deterrent to rodents? *How can I keep them out of
the trailer? *The trailer stays parked outside, unfortunately. *Would
moth balls work if placed in both the trailer and the cockpit?

Thanks,

Ray Lovinggood
Carrboro, North Carolina, USA- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -