Mice = Bad

[skyflyer8]

Here are some pictures showing what an industrious and hungry mouse left behind the ailerons of a Bonanza.

There was a nest inside a wing, and suffice to say "evidence" all over.

 

[alaskaflyer]

Cessna 170's are notorious for mice nests, the tailwheel leaf spring makes a great boarding ramp for them to access the fuselage and get up into the headliner.

 

[vontresc]

It is rumored that mice don't like Bounce dryer sheets. Don't know if there is actual emperical research to back this up, but at least it makes your plane smell fresh

 

[RotorAndWing]

A friend of mine owns a Hughes 269A helicopter, called me complaining of high oil temp. After giving him several suggestions, I asked "Have you cleaned out the tunnel behind the oil cooler?" ( these engines use a cooling scroll and pump air out the cooler from the shroud, and are notorious for acting like a vacuum and picking up loose grass)

He calls me back a couple of hours later and says problem found. He found a mouse nest built right behind the cooler, and a couple of Kentucky Fried Mice still in the nest.

 

[Geico266]

Here are some pictures showing what an industrious and hungry mouse left behind the ailerons of a Bonanza.

There was a nest inside a wing, and suffice to say "evidence" all over.

Kate,

There was a Cessna 120 that just came out of annual before a buddy bought it. During installation of a new radio two weeks after taking delivery the A&P noticed a little corrosion under the wing skin. He actually stuck his finger through the skin. The wings were full of mice nests. The mouse urine turns out is very corrosive to aluminum. The A&P that did the annual lost his ticket after the FAA got involved.

I'm not sure what to do, but you need to clean that area very well. Maybe just flush it out with water? Hopefully, and A&P will chime in with a proper proceedure.

On the other side of the coin, the same A&P buddy was doing an annual on an Aero Commander that flew in. Crawling in the tail section when his flashlight found 2 big eyes staring back at him. You have never seen an A&P move so fast! Seems the owner left his anti-rodent device in the plane. The cat was removed after much coaxing.

 

[Tom-D]

here are a few pictures of mouse nests that I removed during the restoration of NC19143, I found 4 total in the old aircraft, but no corrosion

 

[Tom-D]

Kate,

I'm not sure what to do, but you need to clean that area very well. Maybe just flush it out with water? Hopefully, and A&P will chime in with a proper proceedure.

Apply much soap and water, and OBTW cat urine is as bad or worse than mouse pee. Best prevention is a lot of decon rat and mouse bait in the hangar

 

[mikea]

Best prevention is a lot of decon rat and mouse bait in the hangar

Only if you're concerned about the poor critters starving to death. The current generations developed immunity to warfarin 30 years ago.

1) Get rid of their food.
2) Use traps. The original metal spring traps work best.
3) Get professional baits.

 

[Geico266]

Apply much soap and water, and OBTW cat urine is as bad or worse than mouse pee. Best prevention is a lot of decon rat and mouse bait in the hangar

I'm assuming you can just hose it out right?

 

[Tom-D]

Only if you're concerned about the poor critters starving to death. The current generations developed immunity to warfarin 20 years ago.

1) Get rid of their food.
2) Use traps. The original metal spring traps work best.
3) Get professional baits.

Our mice must be slow to evolve, it worked great here. I find dead mice all the time in my hangar.

 

[mikea]

Our mice must be slow to evolve, it worked great here. I find dead mice all the time in my hangar.

Your country mice don't have enough enough city mice cousins.

 

[Tom-D]

I'm assuming you can just hose it out right?

Yes, along with a bit of agitation with a paint brush.

I use a garden sprayer filled with soap (general purpose detergent from Walmart) to spray the whole area, scrub it good, and hose it out. allow to dry, then spray it with a ACF 50

 

[Lawreston]

One must catch them in the act and scold them, "Bad mouse!" They'll feel badly and sneak away.

HR

 

[Lawreston]

Oh, that was no airplane; an old chest of drawers which was in an old storage building on my property for many years before this house was even built in 1997. And there must have been a sweater in the top drawer(which was swelled so shut I had to budge it with a hammer to slide it out). That only tended to disturb the residents. But first, I had to knock the top off the chest.

HR

and it's obvious I'm living amongst oak trees, eh?

 

[skyflyer8]

Wow interesting pictures!