My street has a lot of pigeons and they cause a lot of problems. Most houses on the street are back-to-back design, built around 1900s when it was a popular way of cramming large numbers of people into an urban space, with slate roofs and flat roofs over dormer bedrooms. Every roof has large amounts of bird poo, showing where the birds try to hide from the wind. My house recently had a few slates missing and the pigeons got into the roof-space to nest. Since the slates were immediately above (and behind) the dormer bedroom, I couldn't see the hole until one day part of my ceiling fell in because of water damage, from said hole. After I got the roof fixed, some of the pigeons were trapped in the roof and came out through the only gap left - into my spare bedroom. Between getting the windows open and setting most of them free, a couple were so dazed by the experience that when I manhandled them out of the window, they fell like bricks, 30 feet to the ground and promptly expired. However, I still want to teach them a lesson. I guess that shooting an air rifle in a crowded urban location will get the attention of the police pretty quickly so I'm looking for another way to kill the b*stards. Oh and is it legal to kill wild pigeons?
It's probably best to ask your council, and get it in writing, or from the official council webpage - I wouldn't just trust what some phone desk person tells you. No need to go postal however what about some battery operated pest deterrents? There's plenty on ebay for example, whack a few up in your roof, and/or wherever else they are hanging around, and that should do it.
We've had seagulls (Herring Gulls) in the kitchen looking for cat food before. You don't realise how big they are until one walks into the house and starts freaking out. Basically, if it's an issue, contact a pest control professional. Taking matters into your own hands is not advisable.
I agree that it's not advisable but I'm a pretty hands-on type of guy, even when it comes to picking birds up and shoving them out the window. I did wear marigolds when cleaning up their crap though. Calling pest control professionals is what I should have done in the first place. It's too late for that now.
The birds have come to your area for a reason. Unless you can install a permanent Tesla Coil (a la RA2) on your roof that can exterminate every single pigeon in the immediate area and then continuously kill all the new pigeons that will come to the area to take the old one's places, then I'm afraid you're gonna just have to tough it out, mate. It could be worse. It could be Bears! Admittedly though, a roof-mounted Tesla Coil would be an AWESOME burglar deterrent...
someone might have fed them.. I like pigeons, but I'm a bird lover that link dxr posted looks like it'd do the trick
Can't you get automated water bird scarers? edit: yes you can no idea how it would coupe on a slope or if you will have much water pressure left after going to the roof though...
My dad told me a story once from when he was a kid that his dad had problems with pigeons at his house. So he put a wire mesh over the area that the pigeons landed on. not to keep them out. but so that they would land and walk on the wire. He then applied voltage. and lots of it. For some reason the pigeons never came back...
I like the Tesla Coil idea. I saw a domestic wind turbine in Maplins the other day, meant for motorhomes I think, which could work. If I set it to charge a large enough capacitor and then discharge either randomly or on demand, through the TV aerial, that might do the trick. Are there any flaws with this idea?
No such tech required. 1) Simply get some bi-carbonate of soda pellets/tablets and add sporadically to bread. 2) Chill out while birds eat food 3) ?????? 4) Profit. TSB
Air guns? Food that perforates their insides with bicarb? Owls? Meh - still think my idea is the best and by far the most PC Geek-y! A 10 foot, red, Tesla Coil on your roof, powered by a compact Fusion plant in your back garden, guarded by several SAM sites and Rhino tanks. And in case a flock of Pigeons descends at once, a Top Secret 'Iron Curtain' machine in the shed to cover the whole property!
Just relocate a wild one to your own garden, then. Owls are probably just at good at being pets as bobcats. Both look awesome, and do their "job" very good, but I'm not sure I would want to be nearby when they get angry.
I thought it was illegal to shoot any bird in a bulit up area. As said can you not see if your local council can do anything to help
The owl idea is not that far off. Many companies sell artificial owls that are designed to sit on top of a building and deter pigeons - or as I like to call them, flying rodents. Plastic owls are very popular in urban areas and near airport runways. It is worth pointing out that reviews of their effectiveness are pretty much split. Some people report great success, while others report that within a few days pigeons were seen sitting on the owl. Some people report that the pigeons eventually figure out that the owl isn't real because it never moves. Every couple of months you should move the owl to a different corner of your house. This may help prolong the life of the ruse.
