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Original poster

Humane ways to minimise pigeons in my garden?

157 replies

SpainToday · 14/04/2025 12:37

Next door have a bird feeder in their garden, their choice, but obviously we get more birds (particularly pigeons) in our garden as a result, and I hate them. They leave such a mess and spoil my enjoyment of the garden. We have a cat who is too elderly to provide much help!

Any suggestions? Short of hiring a sniper I’m not sure what we can do?

Posting here for traffic

Thread title edited by MNHQ on OP's request, to make it clear she was referring to pigeons specifically

OP posts:
IPM · 14/04/2025 12:47

Your garden is situated in their 'house'.

Anything you do to deter them whether humane or not, will be spoiling their enjoyment too.

TheDandyLion · 14/04/2025 12:46

Scarecrows, windchimes, reflective spinny things, big plastic models of birds of prey.

BurntBroccoli · 14/04/2025 12:46

We are one of the most nature deprived countries in the planet! You should be encouraging birds as they have been in massive decline since the 1970s 😞.

OccasionalHope · 14/04/2025 12:44

Get a second, younger cat.

SingWithMeJustForToday · 14/04/2025 12:44

Chat to next door? Although if they go to the effort of having and refilling a bird feeder, they probably quite enjoy it...

You're going to find it difficult to stop birds if there's food next door.

Our next door neighbour on one side has 8 cats that spend a lot of time across both of our gardens, and we still get loads of birds. I quite like them, though, they're nice to look at and they entertain the toddler, so I'm not too bothered. A cat (or 8) might not actually help deter them, though, unless it's a hunter, and then you'll have dead bird bodies everywhere to deal with instead...

Reallybadidea · 14/04/2025 12:43

I would say the best thing you could do would be to stay inside with a sun lamp and leave the garden to the birds.

I honestly despair of the human race sometimes.

ExtraOnions · 14/04/2025 12:40

Nothing … much like cats (that most owners allow to roam around unchecked), birds have every right to go where they like.

We should be encouraging our garden birds.

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