Damages Caused by Pigeons & How To Prevent Them
Ever wondered why pigeons love living in the city? The reasons are obvious; plenty of food and water is at their disposal, the predators are rare and oftentimes non-existent and there is a lot of free housing available for them in the form of window ledges, bridges, rooftops, warehouses and so on. The housing options in the city are the perfect substitutes for the natural ledges found in cliff sides that they have always used as their natural nesting, roosting and sheltering sites.
As much as city living might be perfect for the pigeons, they are also responsible for millions of pounds in costs of repairing damage that occurs every year on buildings, roofs, machinery, vehicles, ventilation systems and a lot more. The pigeon droppings and nesting materials accumulate and end up causing serious damage when nothing is done.
Damages Caused By Pigeons
Some of the most common damages caused by pigeons are as follows:-
Damage To The Roofs
Pigeon droppings as with most bird droppings naturally have high acid content. They effectively wear most roofing materials in buildings when left to accumulate, resulting to leaks. A roof’s life expectancy actually becomes shorter by a half when the pigeons keep depositing their droppings on it. There have been cases where roofs have collapsed as a result of droppings accumulation. Also, with most pigeons building their nests in rain gutters, roof corners or drains, blockage occurs causing accumulation of standing water; this has also been known to cause roof collapse.
Damage To Machinery
The acidic pigeon droppings have also been known to cause great damage to industrial machinery, air conditioning equipment, insulation, siding and so on. When such damage occurs in machinery, it poses a dangerous health-risk to any worker who works around it.
Damage To Ceilings
Pigeons love to roost in the attics of houses, restaurants, apartments and just any buildings that have exposed openings. After setting up homes in these sheltered areas, they build nests and accumulate droppings which eventually cause a ceiling to collapse when the weight becomes too much over time.
Damage By Nest Fire
The accumulation of nesting materials which often constitute twigs, straw and dried droppings make very flammable material. The flammable material will ignite when the pigeons build these nests inside electric signs or on any other machinery that is likely to ignite them. Electric sign companies have often been victims of sign fires caused by nesting materials from these birds.
Damage To Vehicle Finishes
Pigeon droppings have been known to cause fading to paint finishes on vehicles by simply wearing away the protective coating and the paint. When the droppings sit on the paint for long hours they cause even more damage to the vehicle.
Damage To Ventilation Systems
Pigeons have also been known to build nests in ventilation systems and chimneys too resulting to serious damage from the blockage. This can actually spread diseases via the system or block the flow of air, something that can actually have fatal consequences in case of very serious contamination of the air such as carbon monoxide contamination.
Damage To Food & Chemicals
In manufacturing plants, pigeon droppings and pigeons flying around have been known to contaminate the chemicals and liquids being used in the manufacturing process. Food that has been packaged could also be contaminated resulting to a loss of millions of pounds as a result of waste.
How To Prevent Pigeons From Causing Damage
Most people resort to extreme actions such as killing the birds as a way of managing the problem. However, killing doesn’t work effectively, instead there are better and non-lethal options that can effectively fix the pigeon issue. Some of them are as follows:-
Avoid Feeding The Pigeons
You could be feeding the pigeons intentionally or not. You might be leaving food lying around or disposing food remains in a way that pigeons get access to it. Clean up well after eating and dispose your food leftovers properly. Feeding pigeons will encourage them to reproduce and increase their numbers resulting to an even bigger problem. Cut off the food supply and with time the birds will move to other areas and settle elsewhere where there is food. If you have other birds that you are rearing like chicken for example, feed them at enclosed places where the pigeons can’t reach. This is one way of getting rid of them.
Discourage Roosting & Nesting
You can do this by sealing off any potential roosting places. Make the flat surfaces where pigeons are likely to roost as unavailable as possible. Where the situation is dire, consider using strips that will emit mild electric shocks to drive the pigeons away. You could also use bird wires to prevent the pigeons from making their homes at the ledges or rooftops. You could even prevent them from landing and leaving droppings at any place by simply attaching some metal or wood sheathing at 45 or 60 degree angles at those areas. This is another effective way of managing the problem.
Pigeon Birth Control
Pigeons nest throughout the year and the flock can grow rapidly. However, this can be prevented thanks to the availability of pigeon contraceptive. It is usually in the form of food which they will eat and then lay eggs which will not hatch. This will effectively reduce the hatching rate and result to significant reduction in the flock which will eventually dwindle. The use of pigeon contraceptive is actually a humane way of dealing with the problem just like the other two control measures.
Pigeons are actually a serious problem in most urban areas. Businesses have actually stopped operations and homes have been evacuated simply because of the pigeon menace. There are more ways of managing the pigeon problem but when all the above three are used, the results are usually more effective.
