Why you should be wary of the pigeons flying around your home?

New York City is truly the Capital of The World. The Big Apple attracts thousands of people and is really the land of opportunities. But for the last few years, a menace has over taken this city and has been causing a lot of discomfort to the people of this city.

I am talking about the pigeon menace in the city. Pigeons have always been an integral part of the city’s life and have been permanent fixture in city’s sky lines. But in the last few years, the pigeon population has increased to a level that the citizens are finding themselves helpless. If you live in the city, then you could not have escaped these cute, yet harmful birds.

There has been an unprecedented increase in pigeon population in big cities like New York City. The main reason behind this is believed to be the absence of their natural predators. Pigeons are not city birds by nature, but they have adapted themselves to live in the cities where their natural predators can’t survive. Plus, since they get food and shelter in cities easily, they can mate more often and produce more babies. The result of all this is a pigeon population that has created havoc in civic and health authorities in the cities.

When it comes to pigeon problem, most people are worried about the ugly droppings they leave behind and ruin the look of their homes, cars and even their clothes and hair (if it’s their unlucky day). But many of us aren’t aware that, pigeon droppings not only destroy the aesthetics, but they also pose huge health and safety risks also.

First of all, let’s discuss the safety risks posed by pigeons.

The studies conducted on pigeons have found out that pigeon droppings are corrosive in nature. Their droppings contains various acids with can corrode concrete and metal. The droppings can corrode even huge structures like the Minnesota Bridge where the corrosion had reached a point that the entire structure was threatening to collapse.

Pigeons are also very harmful for historic building and structures. The corrosive properties in their droppings are very bad for the delicate cement and sand-stone structures. They are also harmful of statues and fountains in the city and park benches and railings etc.

It sounds hard to believe, but pigeons can even cause fire. If their droppings, feathers and nest paraphernalia get stuck inside the vents and drain pipes of a building, the building might develop serious fire hazard. Many people slip on their droppings and get seriously injured in the city, every year. This has even caused several law-suits between business owners and customers who slipped on pigeon excreta on their premises.

Besides security, pigeons also pose a number of health risks for humans and animals.

Pigeon droppings can cause histoplasmosis which is a serious disease that affects our lungs. This condition is caused by the consumption of histoplasma capsulatum fungal spores by the pigeons. The fungal spores are then released in their excreta and inhaled by humans. This disorder is often confused with flu due to the symptoms similar to the latter. Pigeon droppings may also cause other fungal diseases like cryptococcosis, avian flu, encephalitis, West Nile Virus and toxoplasmosis. All these conditions can become deadly, if not detected at an early stage.

Besides these, the excreta of these birds may also carry bacteria which might cause dangerous diseases like meningitis, E. coli, salmonella etc. Pigeon droppings get mixed with ground water through rainwater drains and can also contaminate swimming pools and drinking water in the city. The dried off droppings can get accumulated in the air vents of building and make people sick. This is a very dangerous aspect of growing population of pigeons in urban settings.

There has been a tremendous effort to curtail the population of pigeons. Steps like birth control. Authorities are mixing birth control in the bird feed and feeding them to the birds. But this is not a very effective method of pigeon control because not all pigeons rely on the same source of bird feed.

Some cities are also using huge scary looking balls to scare the pigeons away from a particular area. But this method is only practical for the buildings where the balls can hang from a railing or a pole. But this is not effective in tall buildings or to protect window ledges.

But, the best way to control the pigeon menace is the pigeon spike. These spikes are installed at the edges of the outer part of the buildings and prevent landing and roosting of the birds. Some people think that it is not humane to use spike on the innocent birds, but there is nothing to worry. These spikes are not sharp enough to injure the bird.

The bird can also feel pain and it will fly away the second a spike hits him. The stainless steel pigeon spikes are the most convenient tool to control pigeons as all you need to do is to install them in your building. It is a very long lasting solution to the problem too, as the spikes don’t break or get rusted.

You may have to hire a professional and pay for the spikes to install them, but if you compare it with the cost of getting your structure cleaned and repainted every few months, then the spikes will definitely look like a better investment. Plus, you might be saving yourself and your loved ones a lot of discomfort that may have occurred due to pigeon dropping in or near your house.

So, if you want to fight this pigeon menace, then first of all, stop treating it as a simple aesthetic problem. Realize the seriousness of the problem and take necessary steps to counter it.

If you have any questions about bird mites or pigeon control check out the rest of our website or go to our blog at http://nypestpro.blogspot.com.

Beyond Pest Control.

Our pest control specialists service all NYC boroughs, including Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx, Manhattan, Long Island (both Nassau & Suffolk counties), Staten Island and even both Westchester & Rockland counties.