I have been busy fixing up my RF4D for the last year more or less, recovering the fuselage, because the wings were in great shape still.

And I also bought a hanger, that I am in the process of assembling to keep the RF4D in, to further help protect it from the elements.

Right now my RF4D sits outside tied down with covers and wing covers.

I noticed that there are some ground squirrels around that live in burrows and of course like to use the cover of my wing for shade
and protection from the many winged predators around.

The burrow entrances always end up under my wing and I also noticed that the squirrel like sitting on top of my wing from time to time
while overlooking his domain.

Well I guess one day his luck ran out, as while he was overseeing his domain from my wing a Red Tailed Hawk came in for lunch and
dived on him while sitting on my wing.

Well my squirrel problem is gone and I was very amused and elated that a hawk took care of that problem until I noticed that it cost me two talon holes in my wing fabric!...arghhhhh!

I guess there is a price to pay for everything.

I better hurry up and get my hanger built.

Apparently wildlife IN the hanger can also be a problem as my neighbor who also recently erected a hanger found out that
Black Widow spiders like the hanger as well and he got bit by one as it crawled up his shorts and he felt the tickle, smacked it
and then got bit.

He felt sick for several days and his leg went numb. He still has numbness in his leg 7 weeks later.
There is nothing can be done about it as the body just has to naturally dissipate the poison from the bite.

Unwelcome critters have always been on my Preflight inspections, check for Black widow spiders and rattle snakes.

The snakes tend to take care of the mice, but guess where the mice hide when a snake is around. in the RF4D of course, so
guess where the snake will be going as well.

I pray I never find myself in the air with a panicked rattle snake looking for a way out of the plane.

I heard of a contest in the 70's, Marfa TX I think, where a glider pilot elected to bail out when a rattle snake was discovered.

Apparently the glider flew on quite nicely on its own level for 30 miles before landing/crashing in the desert.

I think a calm pilot could just fly on and land at the nearest airport.

[Edit by jb92563 on Wednesday, August 24, 2011 @ 03:28 PM]

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http://sbeaver.com/cgi-bin/fournier/cutecast.pl?session=CeOQsu0Q7dXKjNb1lHDdIopi3K&forum=18&thread=444

Sorry to hear about your wing fabric, but at least it was "accident at work" and not intentional. During the hanggliding Worlds in Australia a couple of the tasks crossed the domain of some nesting and very aggressive eagles that attacked several hanggliders, ripping their leading edge mylar to shreads with their talons. You have to admire the guts of those feathered parents, hurling themselves against an intruder five times their size!

Great story about that glider. I bet that gliderpilot was a bit discouraged that the glider managed 30 miles when there was no pilot to disturb the glide with various erratic control inputs. Or maybe the rattler took the controls?

May the 4's be with you/ Jörgen

Are you elevating the tail because mice can get in the rudder cable openings? I think the only other opening is under the elevator.

If I get rid of the game the predators will not hang out so that is half the problem solved.

And if I ever do find a snake or black widow on me in flight I know enough to just leave it be since they don't usually bite
until you threaten them, and although I would be nervous and distracted I don't panic over critters.

I spent my first 40 years in Canada in Ontario and know all too well about mice building nests with our seat cushions.

I left that climate since the 6 months of cold weather stunted my life style and hobbies. I like being out doors a lot and being active, but found the long cold periods too unpleasant.

I also noticed that a mouse had taken to a terry cloth seat cover and started into the seat belt next to it.

Fortunately he took only a very slight gnawing to the seat belt and did not compromise its integrity in any significant way.

I also found a dried up dead mouse under the seat at annual time so perhaps he got trapped in the plane and starved to death
with only seat cushions and belts for food, which apparently is not a sustainable diet for a mouse.

While I was reassembling the RF4D under the wheel well and trying to secure the stick casting to the torque tube for the ailerons, a mouse came out the end of that tube and took a look for a split second and bolted....I met my intruder face to face and he did not seem to approve of my disturbing his home.

I think I'll try a mouse trap if I see any further evidence of his presence. Once the hanger is built I'll use lots of Warfarin.

[Edit by jb92563 on Thursday, August 25, 2011 @ 10:27 AM]

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I reckon we can get a pretty comprehensive thread going here!

Redback spiders are legion in my Australian hangar, but they don't worry me if I don't worry them (their bite can be fatal). I spray around the place annually each spring when I get back, and then am always careful not to put my fingers anywhere dark or hidden, (like around the purlins or door frames). And I stamp on my heavy protective gloves before putting them on. Apparently these dark, damp places make ideal nests. Also the fuel funnel spout. Cling film helps there.

I once had a scorpion scuttle past me on the hangar floor. As always, I froze and it ignored me.

I did also once surprise a dugite snake (VERY poisonous) sunning itself against the hangar's outside wall, but it scuttled off into the bush after giving me a very good hissing (and making me jump quite high in the air). I have not yet seen one in the hangar, but I'm always cautious.

I nearly trod on a grass snake beside the hedge near my British hangar, but although they will bite, they're not very poisonous. It slithered away very quickly.

I have had mice or voles nest on the Champ's cockpit floor, and I have seen voles a few times running around the hangar. We have to be careful here, because some voles are rare and protected, and I don't know what type we have.

This year a robin built its nest behind the Champ's left rear cylinder.
Needless to say, after I spent an afternoon clearing out the mess, it did the same thing the next day.
I now block the intakes with chunks of foam, but of course that's another thing to forget before take-off!

Our biggest problem is bloody earwigs. Our British hangar is plagued with them, and they seem to like to hide in small, dark corners. Squeezing past the fuel gauge wires and into the tanks seems to be their favourite occupation, so every spring I siphon out the fuel through a filter to get out all the body bits and tiny eggs.

The other critters we can deal with, but does anobody know how to get rid of earwigs?

Yours, Bob

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