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#1
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Freakn' Birds!!
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 |
#2
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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 |
#3
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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... |
#4
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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... |
#5
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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 |
#6
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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 |
#7
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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 |
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