Hi Fold Doors Rat problems

Patrojv

Patrojv

Filing Flight Plan
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Patrojv
Hi guys!! We are planning to install a Hi Fold door from WI in a new hangar. Our biggest issue in our farm are rats. We think this problem will be with any door though. Any recommendations on how to rat proof a hangar?

Any suggestion of door or methods to avoid them getting in are welcome

thanks!
 
Get cats :cornut:
We don’t have any so we put out poison. Keep food closed up as well as towels/rags - they use them for nesting.
 
They can get through the most ridiculously small hole so there is not much you can do.
If there is not a big enough hole, they can eat their way through to make it big enough, even through sheet metal, yes.
But you are on a farm, you know this already.
My hangar is wide open to critters and I rarely see a mouse or rat. Flickers and owls, rabbits - yes. So I wonder if rats would only be nearby if there was a barn nearby.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
They can get through the most ridiculously small hole so there is not much you can do.
If there is not a big enough hole, they can eat their way through to make it big enough, even through sheet metal, yes.
But you are on a farm, you know this already.
My hangar is wide open to critters and I rarely see a mouse or rat. Flickers and owls, rabbits - yes. So I wonder if rats would only be nearby if there was a barn nearby.
Click to expand...
We are not that lucky here. In rat season, the plague control guys comes every other day to measure the damage to the crops.
 
I have two Hi-Fold doors on different buildings. I don't have very many rats but have mice. One Hi-Fold seals pretty well, the other has a little opening on each end where the rubber doesn't seal well. I see mice in both buildings, but not lots and lots. I use lots of poison. It seems to help.
 
I'll state the obvious and then some particulars.

Mice and rats are vastly different and so must the approach be to eliminating them. For any pest first realize that they need the four things we do to survive i.e. food, water, shelter, and a mate. Depriving them of these things are the first order of business. Rodents can survive (mice more than rats) without a water source if they can get enough moisture from their food source. One big food source for mice is grass seed when the grass is not cut often enough. Many of us have food & drinks in our hangar but that can draw pest inside. Keeping it clean helps but if there is food there they can smell it and will find it.

Using baiting stations around the building helps control the population but also attracts the rodents. If using rodent bait stations place them away from the building such as along a fence line. Note that different states have regulations for bait station placement and some baits and placements require licensed personnel to use.

To catch mice inside the best method I've found is good old snap traps baited with a bit of peanut butter and maybe chocolate but also include sunflower seeds as it's hard for them to resist a sunflower seed. Rats are caught using peanut butter but oddly enough they are attracted to raw bacon and pepperoni. Commercial attracts are also available. When rats are nesting even some cotton balls will work. Rats are extremely smart and prebaiting the traps (baiting without setting to kill) is a wise move until they get over their caution and accept food from the trap. If you ever miss a rat with a trap is is extremely unlikely that the rat will ever come close to a trap like that again. If you find the burrows in the ground where the rats are living connect some hose to your auto exhaust and place it in the burrow. Don't take too long for the family to go to sleep for good.

Dunno if this helps ...
 
I took in a feral cat over 6 years ago. He lives in the hangar. I put in a 'doggy door' so he can come and go as he pleases. I put a heat lap over his bed on the wing of the plane. No more mice and a 'buddy' when I work at the hangar.
 
I place poison blocks along the walls of my hangar. Occasionally, I'll find a dead mouse on the hangar floor, but my sense is they don't survive long enough after getting into the hangar (and eating the poison) to nest.
 
There’s some videos on youtube on catching rodents with a bucket, a ramp and a coke can. I think those traps are illegal in some places.
 
I've never seen a hangar door that sealed tight enough that rats are going to be kept out. If you have a rat problem on the outside, you'll have them inside.
 
Thanks guys! Mice is the biggest issue, cats are a nono as they are many dogs that eat them. Its a big farm, from wheat, raps, oats to apples and hazelnuts.

In the past we use to have a front wheel cover so they don’t climb to the engine..
 
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