NEST PROBLEMS
Pigeons can construct their nests almost anywhere, including your gutters, drains, ledges, and under the corners of your roof. Pigeon nests can clog your drainage system and cause water damage to your roof and building when water cannot drain properly.
Pigeon nests in ventilation systems and chimneys can block airflow, increase wear-and-tear on an HVAC system, and spread disease-carrying feathers indoors. It’s even possible for pigeon nests to block exhaust systems, which can lead to carbon monoxide poisoning.
PIGEON DROPPINGS
The most serious threat from a pigeon infestation? Their droppings. Pigeon droppings can carry over 60 transmittable diseases and parasites. Inhaling the microorganisms in dried pigeon waste can even cause disease in humans.
Along with the threat of disease, pigeon droppings are highly acidic and may damage paint, wood, siding, and fabric. They can even short electrical equipment!
And that's not all. The highly acidic nature of pigeon droppings can etch brick, concrete, metal, and marble. When pigeons are not controlled, damage can easily reach thousands of dollars for repairs and cleanup. Read more at bird-removal.com
PIGEON REMOVAL SERVICE
When pigeons make your home or business their own, it’s time to contact the professionals. At All Star Animal Trapping, we employ a range of pigeon removal and control methods to get rid of the flying nuisance and make your property inhospitable.
Along with exclusion methods, we can also trap pigeons so they can be disposed of humanely. Unfortunately, pigeons cannot be relocated as they have strong homing instincts and can return to their nesting area, even from thousands of miles away!
HOW TO GET RID OF PIGEONS
Pigeons are the most common nuisance birds. Their acidic droppings are known to accelerate rust and cause great damage to roofs, air conditioning equipment, and industrial machinery, among many others.
These nuisance birds are also responsible for the worst public health concerns caused by birds - from E. coli to salmonella to histoplasmosis, a respiratory disease caused by fungi found in infected pigeon droppings.
Getting rid of pigeons can be challenging because they are attracted to properties for strange (and sometimes unknown) reasons. And because they tend to congregate in large flocks, they can wreak havoc on your rooftop, pool, chimney, fence, and garden in a short period of time.
At All Star Animal Trapping, we take care of pigeon infestations in both residential and industrial properties. And in this post, we explore some of our best tips for keeping these dirty birds at bay.
- Install anti-roosting spikes
If you want to prevent pigeons from staying on your ledges, anti-roosting spikes are a great option. These spikes can either be made of metal or plastic. They are fastened to whatever surface you want to prevent pigeons from perching or nesting. By minimizing areas where they can land, your house becomes less attractive to them.
- Install bird netting
Bird netting is used to prevent birds from reaching certain areas. They are usually flexible, UV resistant, and durable. Bird netting can be used to protect a gazebo, an often overlooked target. They can also be used to protect gables and eaves, and even plants in the garden.
- Strategically position fake predators
Certain predators scare the living daylights out of pigeons. Some examples include owls, snakes, hawks, and falcons. To scare pigeons away, you can strategically place plastic predators around your property.
However, note that pigeons are very intelligent and may eventually figure out it's only a scare tactic. That’s why it’s advisable to move these predators around from time to time to give the impression that they’re a real threat.
- Install a chimney cap
Believe it or not, pigeons sometimes take up residence in chimneys. And because of the warmth and safety they provide, chimneys are a great place for pigeons to lay eggs and raise their babies (squeakers). By installing a chimney cap, you make it impossible for pigeons to gain access.
- Use sound or reflected light repellents.
Sound and light repellents are some of the easiest ways to deter pigeons. Pigeons dislike the sound made by moving wind-chimes. Consider installing one in places they may frequent.
What’s more, you can use shiny materials like mirrors or aluminum foil to disorient pigeons and keep them at bay.
- Apply bird gels
A bird gel is made from chemicals that form a translucent and sticky barrier. If a pigeon lands on it, its legs stick to the gel and it struggles to break free. By irritating the bird’s feet, it learns to always stay away from that area in the future.
- Install wires
Wires can also be used to bird-proof areas of your home you want to protect from pigeons. Often attached with springs, the wiring system creates an unstable landing area, making it impossible for pigeons to land or nest there.
- Seal off entry holes
Pigeons like to nest in areas that offer protection from predators and the cold. That’s why they will set up their nest in your attic if they’re able to get in. To prevent that from happening, inspect your property to identify potential entry holes. Then, seal those holes with hardware cloth.
- Use live traps
Pigeons find it impossible to resist food. So, if you put some scraps of food in a live trap, this will usually do the trick for catching pigeons. Live traps come in different designs and sizes. Just make sure you stick with one that is effective and within your budget.
Once caught, the pigeons can then be relocated. However, note that this will only work if the pigeons have just settled on your property recently. Because they are very intelligent and have a strong homing instinct, pigeons that have stayed too long will always find their way back to their roost on your grounds, even after relocation.
WRAP UP
Because of their ability to fly, dealing with a pigeon infestation comes with a unique set of challenges. That’s why it’s prudent to employ the services of professionals like All Star Animal Trapping to bird-proof your house and property for good.
How to Keep Pigeons Away from Your Property
Pigeons can be a huge problem for LA homeowners and renters, band-tailed pigeons being one of the most common. These birds love urban areas and most of California fits that specification. While they’re generally not of too much annoyance, sometimes only leaving behind feces, pigeons can be quite a trouble. Diseases, acidic feces, noise, and debris are just a few things that pigeons can create, so they can get annoying quickly. Let’s take a look at how to keep pigeons away from your property.
Remove Any Attractants
As with most animals, there are a few things that attract pigeons virtually every time. "Human" food, birdseed, plants — they’re all pretty common for pigeons to scavenge. While many people end up bringing them into their yard by feeding them directly, there are a few other things that can attract pigeons indirectly.
Trash cans, gardens, and bird feeders are all common suspects. Unsecured trash cans, while not as tasty to pigeons as vegetables or seeds, can still provide a viable sustenance. Ensuring you close your trash cans, keeping everything within a container, or sealing a container, are all ways to quickly get rid of this option. However, a tougher food source to cross off is a garden, but this will be covered in the next tip. Bird feeders are the easiest to eliminate, as you literally just need to remove the seed or move the feeder.
Protect Your Garden
If you have a garden, it can be both a great way to grow people's food and pigeon food. Pigeons enjoy seeds, grains, corn, sunflowers, peas, and more, so gardens are perfect for their diets. Unlike the other two attractants in the above step, gardens are harder to secure. Even still, it’s not impossible to do.
The easiest way to protect a garden is to set up deterrents. Whether in the form of a scarecrow, mirror, or bird netting, these are likely your best shot to keep pigeons away. Scarecrows obviously scare off the pigeons, although you’ll need to adjust it often. Mirrors can help to temporarily blind and prevent them from seeing your garden. Bird netting, if the name wasn't obvious enough, prevents birds from physically accessing your garden.
Place Deterrents in High-Activity Spots
Pigeons are creatures of habit, returning to a roosting area or nesting spot often. As such, without enough deterrents, these feathered pests will continue to show up and try their hardest to get back to their familiar spot. This tends to be an easier way to keep pigeons away from your property, but it can prove expensive on occasion.
The first step towards keeping pigeons away is to determine what they’re doing on your property. If they’re roosting or socializing, then great. All you need to do is make their spot look unappealing, whether by placing spike strips, tying strings across the area, or installing sloping covers. You can also invest in automatic water sprinklers, which can detect motion and spray the pigeons when they come around. Likewise, you can spray the pigeons yourself.
Call the Professionals
The easiest method of all: call the pros. These experts have the ability, tools, and experience to take care of virtually any animal problem, including keeping pigeons away. The team at All Star Animal Trapping services homes within the Los Angeles area, so we’ll take care of your pigeon problem for you.
Whether in one of the aforementioned methods or through preventing entry, our team is prepared to get to work for you. Across LA, Orange, Riverside, and San Bernardino County, All Star Animal Trapping is ready to control nearby pigeons and clean up the aftermath. Remember, pigeons can be surprisingly dangerous, and our team of experts is ready to make it a bit less difficult, and dangerous, for you.
How to Get Birds Out of the Attic
Birds are virtually everywhere and that happens to include people’s homes – although it’s not the most common thing, it’s not rare to find a bird in your attic at some point or another. While that might be a pretty startling sight accompanied by some scratching or droppings, birds really aren’t in your attic to cause harm. Rather, it’s a place that provides covering and protection from the outdoors and predators.
Still, that doesn’t mean you should leave them in your attic; after all, birds can cause corrosive damage to your attic, attract other animals, and more. With that in mind, it’s pretty important to get birds out of an attic as soon as you can. So, here’s how to get birds out of the attic.
Find Out How They Enter
The first step is in finding out how the birds enter and exit your attic. There are countless ways that little birds can squeeze into places, even as out of the way they might be. Attics have many weak spots, like cracks, pipes, vents, and other coverings that can quickly provide access for birds to enter your attic without much effort.
When dealing with birds, it’s usually not too difficult to find these openings – birds fly, after all, so by simply looking at the different sides of your attic and its entrances, you’ll be able to see virtually every spot the little creatures enter and exit from. These are important to keep in mind as they’re helpful in finding spots to keep birds out of, moving forward.
Take Action
Once you’ve found all the entrances or exits that birds can possibly go through, then you’ll need to safely block off all but one. Whether that’s via a professional you’ve contacted or just some caulk and sealant, it doesn’t really matter. What does is that you leave just one space open, as that gives a place to push the birds out down the road.
After everything’s sealed off (but one entrance), then you can either use loud music or just set up a bird cage trap at the last entrance. Loud music scares off birds and can get them all to leave quickly, although it could be potentially damaging to their health. Cage traps are much safer alternatives, but it requires the birds to actively exit to be captured.
Cleaning Up and Prevention
Following the birds being pushed out of the attic, then it’s important to make sure that no baby birds or messes are left behind. Baby birds can die quickly without their parents, meaning that a little problem can quickly grow. As for droppings and any messes left behind, these can prove corrosive and dangerous for the rest of the people in your home.
Although it might be limited to the attic, bird droppings, hairs, and more can all cause more damage than expected. Birds can carry diseases and other harmful things for humans, and the messes they leave behind can hurt your attic and the structure of the area. Although getting birds out of an attic is the first step, one of the most important ones afterward is in making sure everything bird-related is gone.
No matter what step of the process you’ve gone through, however, it’s important to make sure that you’re keeping yourself safe. Don’t be afraid to call animal control or a local company for help, especially in sealing up entrances and the final steps after you’ve run any birds out of your attic. Animal control is difficult, and especially with flying animals.