rat patrol

[GAHorn]

And if you use the duck, be certain you're float-equipped. (They tend to lead you to a break-out just above the pond.

[Robert Eilers]

Talking about things found in coffee pots - many years ago in what was called the "old jail" (since replaced) - essentially old wooden Army barracks surounded by a barbed wire fence - I stopped by a "guard shack" and found half a dozen Deputies sitting with their feet up on the oil stove drinking coffee from a tall electric multi-cup pot. After chewing some butt and kicking two thirds of them out to do their jobs I was offered a cup of coffee. Having been around awhile the first thing I asked was who made it? When I was told that the "Trustee" (name for an inmate worker) makes the coffee "around here", I declined and suggested they inspect the inside of their coffe pot. Most of you can guess what they found floating on the top.

[Green Bean]

Another proven method is to plug the hole with steel wool, when parked. Rodents do not like its texture for chewing, sort of like steel spinich. You could also add a string with "Remove Before Flight" flag. It will stop the critters from access to even the smallest holes. It also works well in the air vent intake on the leading edge of the wing, use the brass or cooper style as it will not rust.

[GAHorn]

I use the plastic pot-scrubbers (a trade name is "Tuffy" but I use generics) to plug into my cabin vents to keep mud daubers out. I also use them at cabin heater inlets at my cooling baffles and really large ones at the oil-sump cooler inlet below the prop-shaft. I stick appropriately sized "Dixie Cups" (wax paper drinking cups) upside down into my exhaust tailpipes. (Helps keep moist-air exchange reduced as a side benefit to keeping exhaust-flow-reducing mud nests out of tailpipes/mufflers.)

(I'd advise against any metal scrubbers to avoid electrolysis problems.)

[cessna170bdriver]

I like the Dixie cup idea; even if you forget them on preflight, they are automatically removed, and you're only guilty of littering.

Miles

[AGB]

I never had any rat problems but once during a preflight I found a big spider (at least 6 inches) sitting in the rear seat. I was glad that I found it on the ground, I don’t know what would happen if the thing started crawling in the windshield during flight. Turns out it probably got in trough the tail, made a nice spider web there, but since there wasn’t much happening in the tail cone decided to move forward. It was tricky to kill it inside the plane, used some bug spray to help. Does anyone use mothballs? I was told it can help with bugs, spiders, snakes,… Since that spider I thought about thowing a couple in the tail cone, but never did.
Donovan

[flat country pilot]

I'm sure a six inch spider could fill the plane with spider webs. But he would probably keep the mice out.

[Paul-WI]

I never had any rat problems but once during a preflight I found a big spider (at least 6 inches) sitting in the rear seat.

Man, I think I would have jumped out of the plane if I saw that crawling. That's why I am glad to live in the colder climates


Paul