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Original poster

To hate pigeons with every bone in my body?

157 replies

MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 10:29

I live in a flat and we have outdoor space and the pigeons have moved in and I cannot get rid of them. I made a huge mistake in lockdown of letting two pigeons rear a baby pigeon on the deck. I hadn't realised that they'd laid an egg and when I found it, it had hatched and I couldn't bring myself to lob it over the balcony.

Oh what a price I have paid for my kindness / weakness. I now have a colony of the fuckers living on my decking. I am constantly on pigeon patrol collecting up their sad twig nests and endlessly lobbing their bloody eggs over the balcony. I have pigeon shit everywhere and on days I WFH, I listen to their endless mating noises.

I have tried everything (bar shooting them). I have vile sticky stuff all over the edges of things, which is supposed to deter them but doesn't. I had a bird startler noise thing, which they got used to after about 2 days. I have festooned the place in bird scarers and silvery things, all of which they completely ignore.

I am so fed up with them. Does anyone know a way of getting rid of these bastard birds?

OP posts:
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Original poster
MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 11:29

I'd love a cat @OrlandointheWilderness but I'd be worried it would jump off the balcony or onto the roof up above. Hard to describe the slightly weird flat and deck that I have, but I think it wouldn't be cat friendly.

@Janiie I have such a weird outdoor space. I think it would be very challenging to net it, if not entirely impossible. I'm fairly calm and reasonable with a long fuse. Brought up two kids on my own, one with autism and held down a full-time job (as you seem to want a bit of background), but 4 years of pigeon shit is starting to get to me. It is particularly bad at the moment as it is breeding season and there are so many of them trying to breed on my deck. I'd always rather not get to the lobbing egg stage, so I'm like a demented woman chasing them away and re-situating spikes etc etc etc. It is a large garden around the flat, so there isn't any mess that is worse than what the foxes, rats, dogs and cats are doing.

OP posts:
BigBarm · 25/04/2024 11:25

We had a similar issue. We’d always had a few pigeons around, which was fine, but it rapidly increased after a neighbour found a nest on her roof terrace… suddenly there were 150+ roosting, making mess and waking us up with their incessant noise at 5am every day. 😬 We tried all the usual methods, noise machines, fake birds of prey etc, but they just got used to them. The silver holographic tape worked for some pigeons, but can look a bit tatty/tacky. At one point I ended up making a spray from vinegar and chilli which stopped them sitting in certain places - this worked a bit, but only until it rains!
Two things that made a difference for us:

  1. going out with a black bin liner and waving it in the air to make a ‘crack’ sound - they seem to be very startled by this sound and also the sight of a ‘big black thing’. You need to do this regularly, every time you see a group of them, to make them feel uncomfortable and fly away.
  2. Coincidentally, (luckily!) we also started to get more crows and magpies around - the pigeons seem a bit scared of them so some moved on. I fed the crows to encourage them to stay and act as ‘bouncers’.
We still get some pigeons, but not many these days and we now have a much wider variety of birds.
OrlandointheWilderness · 25/04/2024 11:19

Wood pigeons are one of the tastiest meats you can get. Blooming lovely.
Wouldn't suggest you eat their towny cousins though...!
Cat?!?

ringoffiire · 25/04/2024 11:17

MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 11:02

@MargaretThursday dear god, really? How do pest control deal with the problem then?

Netting, spikes, gel repellents - there are loads of ways they can do it. Just google it and contact someone.

Janiie · 25/04/2024 11:16

Tophelleborine · 25/04/2024 10:36

Pest control would deal with them. You're not a horrible person for wanting rid, it's no different to having rats.

Surely not, birds in an outdoor area isn't really a pest issue is it?

Op, stop lobbing eggs over the balcony, if nothing else think of the mess left on the ground below.

Try a bit of netting over your balcony to deter them, they'll go elsewhere and then you can remove the netting. Do many other things bother you like this?

fatphalange · 25/04/2024 11:03

I'm sorry you have this problem, I would be freaking out. Sinister, flappy, red-eyed things they are. I'm shit scared of them 😂Are they not classed as a pest or vermin if they're encroaching on your property? Hope you find a way to get rid

Original poster
MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 11:02

@MargaretThursday dear god, really? How do pest control deal with the problem then?

OP posts:
MargaretThursday · 25/04/2024 10:59

It's illegal to disturb a wild nesting bird or take their eggs.

Precipice · 25/04/2024 10:56

Urban pigeons are the descendants of domestic pigeons abandoned or escaped. Humans used to keep more pigeons as pets, for food, and for carrying messages. Then these birds got abandoned or escaped. Now some people, no longer seeing the use for pigeons as their ancestors did, have a vile attitude towards pigeons. If it's a 'problem', it's one that humans have created.

Original poster
MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 10:55

I'm definitely hardcore disgusting @ReallyUAreAnElegantChap as I have been known to kill a mosquito.

I jest, although I genuinely try not to be a disgusting human. However, I need to live somewhere that isn't constantly covered in bird shit.

OP posts:
LauderSyme · 25/04/2024 10:55

My dad calls pigeons flying vermin. Sometimes you see pics of tourists in London letting them sit on their heads and arms and I find that horrifying.

I would leave them alone if they are not invading my space, but in OP's position I would also take action. Pigeons and their mess are menaces.

Unfortunately OP you will probably find that councils will charge for the service, due to austerity. These days usually the only free pest control they carry out is their statutory duty to get rid of rats.

paxman · 25/04/2024 10:53

I’m with you, OP. They are a nuisance in my area too. They seem to be constantly mating and building crappy twig nests in silly places which means they collapse and their eggs smash. They seem a feckless kind of bird, so unlike the others nesting nearby.

VolvoFan · 25/04/2024 10:50

YANBU. Rats with wings. Don't get me started on seagulls....

ReallyUAreAnElegantChap · 25/04/2024 10:49

Do people realise that the vermin are only in 'our' spaces because A we have destryed their habitats and B they dont have a clue about the notion that humans have of owning a particular space...

Human shit is toxic too, as is cats etc etc. Truly disgusting attitude to have towards a living being

wellnobut · 25/04/2024 10:48

Awful things and can't stand the noise they make.

Would have to take the eggs downstairs - I know they probably wouldn't survive, but I just couldn't lob them. I'm also an egg eater - so a massive hypocrite! Maybe something about 'knowing' the parents would put me off! :)

Original poster
MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 10:45

I did not know that they were classed as vermin, or that there shit was toxic @Mrsjayy . Definitely going to look into pest control now.

OP posts:
Mrsjayy · 25/04/2024 10:45

Mrsjayy · 25/04/2024 10:43

Yes they are classed as .vermin. their shit is also toxic.

Show quote history

Contact the council environmental health though they will help you get rid, I think lobbing eggs over the balcony will just encourage them to rebreed

AngryBird6122 · 25/04/2024 10:45

Yanbu

i don’t think I could bring myself to do that with the eggs 🥺 (dh would without a doubt though)

MrsApplepants · 25/04/2024 10:44

Get a cat

IsadoraQuagmire · 25/04/2024 10:44

I love pigeons, and think you're extremely unreasonable.

Mrsjayy · 25/04/2024 10:43

MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 10:38

@Tophelleborine I didn't know you could get pest control for pigeons. I will have to look into that. Thank you.

Yes they are classed as .vermin. their shit is also toxic.

Original poster
MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 10:42

Yup @FadedRed those are the owl statues that I have. They are impervious to them and sometimes land on the one with the less wobbly head.

OP posts:
Original poster
MargoLivebetter · 25/04/2024 10:41

I have several owl statues @Ponoka7 !!!!!! They sometimes sit on one of them 😩

OP posts:
Ponoka7 · 25/04/2024 10:40

FadedRed · 25/04/2024 10:37

We’ve had success with one of these to deter pigeons from shitting on our bins.
https://nidfashions.com/product/360-swivel-head-owl-to-scare-birds-pigeon/?gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIo7m3i4jdhQMVCphQBh2uhweVEAQYByABEgLyC_D_BwE

Edited

These really work. You'll see then on Asda, especially were the wagons go in. As well as warehouses etc.

flippingflips · 25/04/2024 10:40

We had a pair nesting on an outside ledge in a block of flats. Every time we passed them we threw water over them. Took 2-3 weeks for them to disappear and never return.