These chaps roost here every night, beginning their soiree in dribs and drabs at least 2 hours before sunset, then they're all settled in by half an hour before lights-out. Cute. Politely, they make a hell of a mess, and we can't use that gate. I call them London or Common Pigeons, but others call them rats-of-the-sky.
I've wracked the internet looking for an acceptable solution, but can't find one. To cut long story short, the obvious solution of air-driven projectiles, and anything more extreme are no-go. However sending them to a higher (or lower) place by some other PC, OHSE approved method may be ok.
Anyone know of a solution, preferably a simple non-invasive one like dressing up (once) in a pink body-suit and standing on one leg?
Record a few shotgun blasts.?ÿ Use the equivalent of an electronic megaphone to scare the bejeebers out of them often enough that they decide this is an unsafe location for roosting.
Do they have any natural predators in your area that fear? A mockup of an eagle or such to scare them?
Noises or predator sounds?
There are feral cats here. And peregrine falcons. Occasionally they cruise though and I'm fairly sure the falcon puts them into flight. That was one solution I was thinking of, i.e a falcon scare-crow.
We had Diwali here a few months ago. And that gate area was the launchpad for all sorts fireworks over 2 hours, plus the stuff from the neighbours. Multiple hits, and I would have thought the Roman candles would have been hot, but not one of them left.
BTW, we also can't get rid of that grass in the concrete cracks, including use of some cold-war era type weedkiller that fried it overnight (and I suspect glowed in the dark) but it grew back even stronger. Salt-water/dishwash same result.
During certain times of the season I would get thousands of starlings that would roost of an evening in couple of my pecan trees.?ÿ The noise and mess was unacceptable. Nothing would get rid of them.?ÿ I tried shotgun blasts (from a real shotgun).?ÿ Although they would flee from the blast, it only took 15 minutes or so for them to return.?ÿ I was also surprised at how few birds I actually killed by shooting up into a tree full of birds.
A friend gave me some fake owls to put up in tree.?ÿ The birds laughed.?ÿ I tied old CD disks on fish line to sway and sparkle in the breeze.?ÿ The birds were not phased.?ÿ I resorted to some clandestine strychnine pellets in a bird feeder.?ÿ Although they gobbled it up, I never had any dead birds under the tree.?ÿ I probably killed every species of bird in my neighborhood.?ÿ
All I can tell you is if you kill a bird, 5 more friends come to his funeral.?ÿ It would probably be easier to move than get rid of the bastards. I finally cut down the trees.?ÿ The birds eventually took up residence in the tall sycamores in the park a block away.
They must by psychic or computer savvy as there's double the amount out there now. There's some thought there though - I can't chop down the pole but maybe the Power Co can get rid of them, as they are in the Power Co lines.
Buy several military grade smoke grenades (the phosphorus pentoxide kind) and ignite 'em underneath the roosting herd. Might not work but would be fun anyway. ?????ÿ
Can kill one crow and hang it from a nearby highly visible location and crows will stay away.
Find a high wire cat.
The naturally recorded predator cries and distress calls mimic a noisy, physical and terrifying intrusion.
Yeah. Right. Just let PETA hear about this. Pretty soon, there will be pigeon psychiatrists, surveying the emotional damage done to these birds. Then, they will be feeding pot seeds to them, (with prescription of course) to save them from emotional damage. My insurance won't want to pay off. Um hmmmm.
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One courthouse I visit frequently has a very tall communication tower on one corner of the block.?ÿ The kind with a square base about 15 feet on each side with tons of cross bracing all the way to the top.?ÿ It can accommodate a huge number of birds.?ÿ The birds have a definite habit of taking off and immediately dumping any excess baggage they have, you might say.?ÿ During certain times of the year no one parks on that side of the building for obvious reasons.
Maybe an opportunity for a profitable side gig: https://www.click2houston.com/news/2019/09/11/350-pigeons-found-in-crates-in-downtown-houston-constable-says/
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