No, I don't want no pigeons...

[leelu66]

Hi all, would be grateful for some advice.

Who is responsible for pigeon poo on the balcony. Is it me or the landlord?

The letting agent arranged for the cleaning of the mess that pigeons made before we moved in a couple of years ago (after much haranguing), but the pigeons are back with a vengeance.

I am going to buy a windchime and mylar balloon (whatever that is) to ward off the pidges, but I'm not sure whether I need to just get scrubbing on the poo (wearing a mask and gloves of course) or shall I ask the letting agency to deal with it again?

p.s. Neither I nor the landlord are pigeons, btw.

[wowfudge]

I'd say it is you if the balcony is part of the property unless the tenancy agreement states otherwise.

[carlajean]

Funnily enough we've just let a flat and the tenant so requested that we put up a barrier before they moved in. It only cost £120 and was money well spent as pigeon shooting are such a pest. I'm not sure how you stand legally (I would do it to keep a tenant happy). Perhaps you could get a quote in and discuss it with your landlord. I wouldn't bother with windchill.

[carlajean]

WINDCHIMES!

[carlajean]

Sorry, I hope you can make sense of that. Pigeons NOT pigeon shooting ffs

[leelu66]

Thanks Wow and Carla.

Carla, that's a good idea about a barrier. Can you send me a link to a picture of the sort of thing you put up on your balcony?

[cressetmama]

We shoot pigeons!

[specialsubject]

windchimes are anti-social in a flat.

what are the pigeons sitting on above you? Or if they are on the balcony, some netting would be good.

[lamiashiro]

I wouldn't get wind chimes because they will annoy the fuck out of everyone. We have pigeon spikes to stop them roosting -it's basically a length of plastic spikes on a strip. Lots of balconies around here also use netting.

[leelu66]

Didn"t even think about the neighbours being disturbed by the windchimes!

It's funny, when we shoo away the pigeons, they fly into the balcony of the flat above.

The pigeons on metal joist-things/ RSJ beams that support the balcony above us. Nice wide smooth things.

I think plastic spikes may be the way forward. Is it reasonable to ask the letting agent to do it?

[lamiashiro]

You can ask. I'd frame it in a way that makes it an improvement to the flat rather than 'can you do this because I want it'. It is a health risk as well as being just unpleasant. If they say no you might have to stump up yourself though fortunately they aren't expensive:

www.birdspikesonline.co.uk/Bird-Spikes/Defender8-Pigeon-Spikes-Plastic

www.pestfix.co.uk/complete-netting-kits.asp