Pigeon Control (Tucson: home, live, food)

[azdr0710]

I live in a small townhouse complex in midtown....we've been dealing with pigeons for a few years....we haven't lost, but we haven't won yet, either.....

they began nesting a few years ago and the UA Extension office told me that is not a good thing....

I go up there on the roof every month or so and throw away any new nests, eggs, chicks that I find....we have put up spikes, but don't have a mgmt company to listen to (we manage ourselves)...spikes are in strategic areas and do work, but are expensive and ugly....Ace Hardware has decent prices for them....but I've seen nests built right around and within spikes in the Catalina Theater parking garage!!.....fake owls DO NOT work....

they like shaded and protected areas, like our scuppers, areas under the rooftop heat pumps (we have flat roofs), and awnings we have......

I'm having VERY good luck with the sticky, anti-bird "glue" that you apply with a caulk gun...also a good price at Ace (I go to the one on Country Club just S of Grant)....it's just that we have several hundred feet of perches for the birds and it can get expensive......

we also have a few palms that they have nested in....at least they are there and not on our roofs so much....

all the neighbors now agree that we need to deal with it....the last tree-hugger holdouts in the complex have told me it's war now, so, I, as "manager" of our little compound continue to wage the war.....

would like to use a weapon, but, yeah, afraid of legal ramifications as we are deep within the city limits.....

the mess they leave is horrible and it stinks....possible health issues, too....fortunately, we don't have a lot of pooh dripping down the walls now.....

please let me know if anybody has ideas.....

thanks, 'rizo, for bringing this up

[Chorizo]

Thanks for your post azdr. Question for you - When removing the birds nests and stuff, I'll be wearing some pretty heavy duty rubber gloves (the kind a dishwasher at a restaurant would have), should I put on a dust mask or similar as well?

I know these things are dirty and a health concern. I don't want to hurt myself in the process you know.

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by Chorizo

I'd like to give the zombie rifle a go, but I think TPD would be knocking at my door soon after.

It also sounds like an anti-aircraft gun. Unbelievably loud for such a tiny little projectile.


Guess I'll have to go pick up some fishing line...

That's no biggee, Chorizo . . . 700 Yard Reel of 8 Pound Test was only a few bucks at Wal-Mart. Almost invisible.

[azdr0710]

I wear some latex gloves (I have a big box of them for stocking my first aid kit), and those cheapy nose-and-mouth masks from Home Depot that construction people sometimes wear.....I put it all right into a garbage can and straight to the city can it goes.....I sometimes sweep nesting material, eggs, chicks up with a broom and dustpan.....

yeah, breathing in the pooh stuff, etc. could be a health hazard.....but may not be as bad as some say (pest control people!)

please let us know if you hear of any tricks....latest trick I heard was WD-40 sprayed all over....tried it and a whole flock was there that night sleeping, but I will continue to try it......it may still work after a while

[observer53]

Originally Posted by Chorizo

My biggest problem is I can not drill into the stucco or otherwise permanently attach anything.

II think I noticed a nest this morning on my way out of the house so tonight when I get home, I will be promptly removing it.

If what you saw is a true bird's nest, it wasn't built by pigeons. They really don't build much of a nest at all, just a haphazard bunch of twigs, etc., if anything.

[Chorizo]

Originally Posted by observer53

If what you saw is a true bird's nest, it wasn't built by pigeons. They really don't build much of a nest at all, just a haphazard bunch of twigs, etc., if anything.

I just went home at lunch - there is indeed a pigeon "nest" there, just a pile of stuff. No one was home at the moment but I have seen a pigeon sitting in that niche within the last few days.

[Chorizo]

CDs are not working. They fly right into them on their way up to their roost.

Guess I am going to have to get creative.
http://pds14.egloos.com/pds/200902/06/89/b0074389_498b3db857e1d.jpg (broken link)
http://pds14.egloos.com/pds/200902/06/89/b0074389_498b3db857e1d.jpg (broken link)

[azdr0710]

Chorizo: have you noticed any decrease in pigeon activity lately (last several days)?....I have.....fewer pigeons walking across my skylight above my desk, less coo-ing heard, and a neighbor thinks so, too

going to go up on the roof later and see how it's all looking...the latest efforts have been additional "bird glue" (the caulk gun stuff) along parapets, actively throwing away nests, eggs, and chicks, and WD-40 (but only in one small area).....

it's been a multi-year battle...........

[Bummer]

Originally Posted by Chorizo

CDs are not working. They fly right into them on their way up to their roost.

That's weird, Chorizo . . . I noticed an immediate improvement with just 4 Spinning CDs.

[jaada]

the humane way i have heard is to use wd 40, spray it where you dont want them to be and they wont come there, they dont like it. also i heard about using a foil on the spot you dont want them to be in, its got a name i cant remember what its called though. pigeon tape or something look it up.