The smell of a decomposing mouse somewhere forward of the firewall

In article ,
"Peter R." wrote:
The theory being that the only way the mouse
can get inside is to crawl up the tire.

They certainly must be creative or have strong mouse feet, for I cannot see
how a small field mouse is able to climb up the tires. The little *******s
are probably dropping onto the aircraft by parachute from the ceiling.

Rubber would be no problem. About the only thing they can't climb is
glass, or a similar slick surface. It would be no problem for them to
climb the tire and gear.

I'm no expert on mouse behavior, but my theory with the bait blocks is
that the mice will come to the hangar for the bait and NOT to explore my
aircraft. I believe that they will leave the hangar to look for water
after they consume the bait. The mice will enter the hangar even if you
don't have bait, as the hangar provides shelter.



JKG

In article ,
"Dave Stadt" wrote:
I use sticky tent shaped traps and place them along the walls. Seems mice
like to travel along walls. Never had a mouse last long enough to cause a
problem.

Mice will travel along walls. When you place snap traps, you are
supposed to place them with the activation pedal toward the wall.
However, the mice must move so fast along the walls in my hangar that
their rear legs, and not their body, most often get trapped. Sometimes
they are able to free themselves (the trap will be dragged across the
hangar, but empty) and sometimes they are able to set it off but not get
trapped (the trap will be set off but not moved). I have actually
watched a mouse, with its rear leg trapped, free itself after a couple
minutes worth of effort. I have never had a problem with the traps in
my house. I suspect that the glue traps would be more effective.

However, the bait blocks appear to be working. It took about a week for
obvious signs of feeding, but the "food source" must have been
discovered because the baits were chewed pretty well by the end of the
second week. Some of the blocks were actually missing from the hangar,
so the mice must have moved them (didn't know they could do that.) I
may set more snap traps, or glue traps, to see what happens. However,
mice are plentiful and I'm not sure that I could set enough traps to
ensure that the hangar stays mouse-free.



JKG

In article ,
"Peter R." wrote:

Jonathan Goodish wrote:

I believe the smell will subside in 2-3 weeks, though I could never wait
that long. The stench from a single dead mouse can fill an entire
T-hangar without a problem.

If you couldn't wait, what did you do? Pay the mechanic to look for it or
seek it out yourself?

I never had mice in my airplane (knock on wood). However, I have had
them in the walls of my house. After about a week, we couldn't stand it
any longer and I had to start cutting drywall. I must have done this a
half-dozen times before I was finally able to stop them (hopefully) from
entering the house, though I still catch them in the garage. Needless
to say, I am now fairly skilled at repairing and replacing drywall.

If you don't smell it in the cabin, I would probably de-cowl the
airplane and go searching with a flashlight and a mirror.



JKG

Jonathan Goodish wrote:

I never had mice in my airplane (knock on wood). However, I have had
them in the walls of my house. After about a week, we couldn't stand it
any longer and I had to start cutting drywall. I must have done this a
half-dozen times before I was finally able to stop them (hopefully) from
entering the house, though I still catch them in the garage. Needless
to say, I am now fairly skilled at repairing and replacing drywall.

Ah, you need a couple of cats in your house. That will solve the mouse
problem.

One night a few years ago a mole accidentally found its way into our home.
Our two cats, which normally sleep with my wife and me, never came to our
bedroom that night. We found them in the dining room the next morning
batting around a dead mole.

If only I could find a cat that was happy to live year-round in the
t-hangar. That is the answer.

If you don't smell it in the cabin, I would probably de-cowl the
airplane and go searching with a flashlight and a mirror.

The Bonanza V35, unlike Cessna or Piper single-engine aircraft, cannot be
fully "de-cowled." Either side opens up via top-mounted hinges, but doing
so only exposes the top half of the engine. The bottom half of the cowling
is not removable, save for removable baffle louvers. Here is a picture
that gives you an idea of what I am attempting to describe:

http://www.taturbo.com/louverson.jpg

Additionally, with all of the Tornado Alley turbo mods in my aircraft's
engine, there is very little room under the non-removable cowling to
maneuver or see.

--
Peter

JJS jschneider@remove socks cebridge.net wrote:

I'm not very familiar with Bo's, but on my Cherokee we found a mouse nest
in the heat muff around the muffler once.
Take a look there if you haven't.

Thanks. That is the area we suspect is housing the mouse.

--
Peter

In article ,
"Peter R." wrote:
Ah, you need a couple of cats in your house. That will solve the mouse
problem.

That's what I told my wife, but she won't go for it.

I did have a dead mouse in the hangar (on the floor) and it was very,
very obvious as soon as we opened the man door... unfortunately, a
familiar scent.



Additionally, with all of the Tornado Alley turbo mods in my aircraft's
engine, there is very little room under the non-removable cowling to
maneuver or see.

By "de-cowl," I obviously mean to the extent possible on your aircraft
without drilling out any rivets. However, with your mods, it sounds
like it will be much more difficult to poke around.



JKG

In article ,
"Montblack" wrote:

("Jonathan Goodish" wrote)
I would be interested in any creative practical solutions, but I suspect
that there are no easy answers. The bottom line is that mice are a huge
pain, and are almost impossible to eliminate, especially in a T-hangar.


I've heard dryer sheets of Bounce work. Mice don't like the smell.


Montblack

Moth balls are also an excellent mouse/rat repellant. Put a few inside
the wheelwells and cowling -- they won't want to come in.

I have had a few mouse problems in the past, but not recently. I did,
however have a roof rat try to take up residence in my Shop Vac one
time. It chewed its way past the exit grid and made a nest inside the
rotor. When I turned it on, all kinds of shop towel stuff blew out. I
found the newly-dead rat pushed against the remains of the exit grid and
had to extricate it with a pair of needle-nosed pliers.

--
Remve "_" from email to reply to me personally.

Jonathan Goodish wrote:

By "de-cowl," I obviously mean to the extent possible on your aircraft
without drilling out any rivets.

Sorry, after reading "de-cowl," envious visions of a few Cessnas in the
maintenance hangar completely naked from the firewall forward filled my
head.


--
Peter

After landing today I noted that the smell was still just as putrid as it
was last Thursday night. How long does it take for a mouse body to
decompose past the point of the nasty odor?

I had a mouse make his nest in the starboard exhaust pipe on my Honda
Goldwing, one winter.

He apparently died in there, and when I started up the cycle in the spring I
was greeted with all sorts of stuff shooting out of that pipe -- including
the mostly-mummified body of the stupid rodent.

How in the HELL it climbed up into that hole is still a mystery. They can
get anywhere.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Orval Fairbairn" wrote in message
news Montblack

Moth balls are also an excellent mouse/rat repellant. Put a few inside
the wheelwells and cowling -- they won't want to come in.

But how do you get them from out between their little moth legs.