Wherever you go, it seems that you can see pigeons. Once a tourist attraction in the very centre of London, the money spent on clearing up after these pests made them so unwelcome that no matter how much Mary Poppins entreated us all to “Feed the birds”, their presence could no longer be tolerated.
Fighting the Cost
Pigeons are responsible for a massive cleaning cost for companies. One US firm, for example, was paying around $35,000 for the annual cleaning of their 500ft building frontage in labour costs alone. Add in the cost of water and energy and it’s an even bigger drain on resources. But instead of dealing with the aftermath of pigeon infestation, it’s far more cost effective – and cleaner – to deal with the issue beforehand. This means taking preventative measures and having a strategy for nuisance bird management, preventing pigeons from making your building their home. Nevertheless, there are still laws protecting nuisance birds, so be sure to seek professional advice rather than attempting to effect a DIY remedy.
Humane Control
There are plenty of ways of discouraging nuisance birds such as pigeons from making their home in your building. The simplest and most basic way in which to prevent your building becoming their home is to install netting to prevent access to perching sites. This is effective on overhangs and for covering nooks and crannies, but may not be of use on ledges. Such ledges are best protected by the means of spikes or a more high-tech electric track system that delivers small jolt to anything landing on it. A good pest company will be able to advise you on the latest innovations in pest control. It is important if you have measured attached to your building designed to help regulate the heat such as Brise Soleil from companies like alusystems.uk/brise-soleil-solar-shading/ or other mechanisms that create ledges directly outside of your windows that you consult with your installer if you have a persistent problem with pigeons and other birds as they will be able to add extra items in place to help prevent this.
Whatever action you decide to take to rid your building of this pest, you need to ensure that you comply with the law. It would be counter-productive to save money in your pest-control methods only to be faced with a large fine.
Deterring the pigeons from your building in the first instance is the way to keep your costs down, your building clean and your customers happy, so is well worth the investment.
