Pigeons on Porch

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

Pigeons have been roosting on our front, exposed porch (but not the covered back porch). There's no roof, so putting up netting is not an option. Does anyone know of some sort of home-made pigeon repellent I can make? If not, what's the best commercial product? I was thinking of buying one of those owl scarecrows. Does anyone have experience with those?

Comments

[kpht.livejournal.com]

Does anyone know of some sort of home-made pigeon repellent I can make?

slingshot?

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

Haha, tempting... but I'd worry about the people walking on the street below. We're on the third floor.

[mud-puppy.livejournal.com]

How about a red tailed hawk *grin* Ok, not helpful, but they're really efficient predators.

OH! I just had a brainwave though. Maybe you could get one of those owl statues to put out on the porch railing? I've read that the silhouette of a bird of prey (or animal of prey) help to keep smaller birds & other critters away. The catch is, you need to move the statue every once in a while, otherwise they become accustomed to it and know it isn't a threat. I imagine you could get one of those at Tags?

I still think raising hawks would be more fun though! *grin*

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Check out the PT-80 from Gamo airguns. It took care of our rat problem.

[two-stabs.livejournal.com]

Oh, nm. Ignore my response below.

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

Could you get some pinwheels to put in strategic positions?

Varieties

[tomstarling.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of options here for you. If they are only roosting on areas where people don't walk, you can get some BirdProof(http://www.bird-x.com/products/bproof.html). It's a sticky substance (non-toxic, don't worry) that birds hate to stand on. If you need to affect a wider area, though, I highly suggest a visual scare device like the TerrorEyes (http://www.bird-x.com/products/terror.html). It's a balloon with holographic eyes that follow the birds wherever they go and, well, terrifies them. Visit http://www.bird-x.com for more information or call (800)860-0473 for a free, expert consultation.

[evilbunnymayhem.livejournal.com]

supposedly my grandfather had an ongoing "war" with pigeons on his roof...
I'd suggest an owl scarecrow.. and some rubber snakes. It seems rubber snakes may do it... but those flying rats are tricky to trick. Good luck!

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

Seriously? Does that work?

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

I am skeptical about the plastic owls. I moved into an apartment last year that had pigeons nesting in the eaves of the porch roof, and on top of the roof. And there was at least one plastic owl on the roof, too. I suspect that those plastic owls might work for a few days, but pigeons aren't complete fools; they figure out, eventually, that's not a real threat.

One thing I've seen recommended is to spray the pigeons with a hose in the evening when they start settling down for the night. After a few evenings (sorry, I don't know exactly how many - 3? 10?) of this, they will decide "This is not a safe place to roost," and they will stop roosting there.

[ronhaha108.livejournal.com]

one site -- bugspray.com (http://www.bugspray.com/articles98/birds.html)

This site is run by people who used to be exterminators and they post articles and sell products on every type of pest...

I was just up there looking to find something to deter dogs from laying their mines in my yard and placed an order...

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the tip. A watergun might be a good idea!

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

It's fun for the whole family!

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

A lot of buildings in New York have these strips of spiky things installed on ledges and other potential pigeon congregating spots. I don't know if they are available commercially, but if you don't mind the way they look, that could be an option.

[katespace.livejournal.com]

They actually make plastic hawks that make hawk noises. It worked for my uncle in California. Tad bit annoying with all the "Awwwwwwk!" sounds though. :)

[wonkywheels.livejournal.com]

Haha, yeah, that might be annoying when I'm sitting out on the porch.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

My neighbor has used the plastic owls, the plastic snakes and the pinwheels. None seemed to be effective. One thing is to make sure noone in your neighborhood is feeding the birds by putting birdseed (or bread, etc) on the ground. This attracts them, and they then will stay in the area. Even if someone is using an elevated bird feeder, enough will spill onto the ground to attract and keep pigeons lurking!