To hate pigeons with every bone in my body?

[MargoLivebetter]

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?

@cerisepanther73 I phoned the RSPB when the pigeons first nested and reared a chick and they wouldn't do anything. I'd been in touch with them before as I had a wounded goose stranded on my deck once and they were really helpful. However, I was told that they didn't really deal with urban or feral pigeons.

Awww op I know they can be a bit of a pest for some but I had the most wonderful experience with one recently and I was so sad to have to let him go to someone who kept them. I had a thread on here about him!

They are such gentle and sweet birds 😔 ive learned a lot about them recently. the reason they tend to stay near humans is because they were bred to do so much for us, and we used to treat them with kindness, so they instinctively stick near us for food and shelter etc.

If you're destroying their eggs 😡 they will be so distressed, racing pigeons are trained by having their babies taken away, so they 'race' to get back to them.

Pigeon crap can be washed away.

Please think twice about 'lobbing' their eggs that is such a cruel thing to do. Maybe try and see if there is a pigeon rehabber near you that can help with some tips etc?

Honestly, I wish everyone who hates pigeons could have had the experience I had with my little pal recently. He was beautiful and so so sweet and friendly and was an absolute joy to have around even if it was short lived.

You need to make it less attractive for them. Pigeons arent that fussy but their needs and wants are simple. They want a flat, sheltered surface to lay their eggs, they want a food source nearby and they want an environment free of predators. If these needs are not being met, they will move on.

Therefore, install a shit-ton of spikes and make sure you are being extremely hygienic and not leaving any food residue about whatsoever. It might also be a good idea to borrow a friend's dog for a few days. It will do a great job of scaring the pigeons away but isn't as climby as cats so hopefully won't be as likely to fall off the balcony, especially if you tie it on a long lead.

Poor pigeons. I have them nesting in our garden. I think they are cute how dedicated they are to their ugly off-spring. We look forward to them nesting every spring.

Pest control for sure. We had a colony on pigeons under our solar panels and they were a total nightmare. We got a pest control company to evict them and it's been 100% better ever since.

We looked this up when we had our pigeon problem - the cost was in the region of £13k! It was for more than one visit (maybe 3?), but it was far too much for us and our resident committee was never going to agree, given all the other shit they argue about.
Spikes, as others have mentioned, can work well. I used them in a previous home, but they don’t fit all ledges/gutters, so we couldn’t use them here.

What a horrible thread. Poor babies.

I feed them!

@Periperipissoff the first pair seemed sweet and it was lockdown and I was bored and it all seemed so lovely and innocent and cute. I used to send photos to my equally bored friends and my children and it felt lovely and wholesome.

I have a flock of them now and it isn't cute or lovely at all. I can't keep up with the shit that I have to wash off our tables, chairs, outdoor storage boxes, decking. I can't tell you how difficult it is to get dried shit out of the decking crevices or runnels or whatever they are called. I've had to wire fence what areas I can around the big shed to keep them from getting around the back, so it looks like a prison, we are covered in spikes, weird sticky crap and bits of shiny tinsel stuff and still they shit everywhere and constantly try to find tucked away corners to nest. I have random bobble headed owls dotted about and weird shiny spiral dangling things. The place looks a mess and is still covered in shit.

The RSPB don't care and if there are pigeon re-homers around west London then I can't find them!

Thanks @Yellowhammer09 and that's worth knowing @BigBarm . I don't think I can afford a Harris Hawk!

Flying rats. I don't like them.

www.mentalfloss.com/article/535506/facts-about-pigeons

Admire any animals that live in our concrete wasteland tbh. And as a previous poster said, we dumped them when we no longer needed them for messengers.

But OK OP it is annoying to have your outdoor space spoiled. I'm sure Google has many solutions you might not have tried.

Err, yes it is:

You’re breaking the law if you:

• intentionally kill, injure or take wild birds
• intentionally take, damage or destroy a wild bird’s nest while it’s being used or built
• intentionally take or destroy a wild bird’s egg
• possess, control or transport live or dead wild birds, or parts of them, or their eggs
• sell wild birds or put them on display for sale
• use prohibited methods to kill or take wild birds

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/wild-birds-protection-surveys-and-licences

There's a lot of pigeon info pages on Facebook that should be able to help. There will be lots of rehabbers in London, there are groups that go out to destring their little feet etc.

It's weird that you seem to have so many causing such chaos. Maybe 'lobbing' their eggs is just encouraging them to lay more and keep returning?

If you Google you'll see its rare for pigeons to pass disease on to humans, so that's something at least!

The other day I cut the grass but it started to rain and I stopped, putting the mower away but I left the box under the apple tree. It's now deeply covered with pigeon droppings, when we had decking and a pergola they sat there and covered the decking. No conscience whatsoever about getting rid of them when I can, flying rats.

@MargoLivebetter I understand your frustrations. We had them shagging, moaning and shitting just outside our bedroom window every day at 5am for months on end. So many of them it felt like we lived in Trafalgar Square.
I was menopausal and not sleeping, with bereavements etc going on in the background, so this wasn’t helpful! I’ve been veggie for 40 years and never harm animals… but if you’d given me a gun at that point I’d have shot every one of the fuckers.

Edited to add:
my bin liner method got rid of the ‘hangers on’ and then luckily, the crows helped move on the hardcore remainders. If it happened again I would get pest control in from the start.

Brilliant thread here - an oldie but a goodie - if anyone wants to revisit it: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1793809-To-long-for-a-world-free-from-cunting-pigeons?reply=40058763

I still howl at the gin drinking neighbour with the shotgun: slurp, bang, chortle

Can you not just pigeon net your veranda?

I remember that thread!

Out house had caught fire. And we were in a hotel. And cunting pigeons on the windowsill started up their racket at 5.00 am. We got no sleep.

I've been banned from here for less. Wow.

I like pigeons. I always have a few building nests in our fir trees. They are clumsy, clumpy things but they have have a lot of charm. I love watching their mating dance on DC's wooden swing post.

They are also determined to get seed from the feeders and some of their yogic poses to reach it, is genius!

I can understand them nesting on a roof might be annoying but I would actually find it fascinating living amongst them.

The poo is annoying, so get professional help to remove them.

Please don't throw their eggs.

@MargoLivebetter as others have already said under the Wildlife and Countryside Act from 1981, the law confirms that individuals and organizations are not allowed to kill, injure or hold captive wild birds, damage and destroy their nests and destroy their eggs. Taking such actions is considered an offence.

The only exception can be found in the General Licenses, issued by Natural England and good luck getting one. A General License allows individuals to kill certain birds, this is only the case when the birds present threat to the health and security of the general public. The protection of a fabric of any building is not a reason to kill any bird or to destroy their nests.

Also under The Animal Welfare Act 2006 deals with issues relating to cruelty and unnecessary suffering, deliberate or unintended, to animals and birds.

An example might be where birds have become trapped behind nylon bird netting installed on a building and subsequently died of starvation as a result. If the property owner was challenged and faced prosecution on the grounds of cruelty and unnecessary suffering, the above law would most probably be applied and not the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Anyone found guilty of an offence could be given a maximum penalty of six months' imprisonment and an unlimited fine, which can be imposed in respect of each bird, nest or egg affected.

If you were my neighbour or I knew who you were i would be reporting you. Also to reiterate pidgeons are not classed as vermine to be destoryed.

@VolvoFan I'll be lobbing myself off the balcony soon! I must have missed the cunting pigeon thread back in 2013!!! It is very funny. I'm sitting here watching two of the fuckers shagging in front of me putting me off my lunch.

Given i can't get the police to investigate the attempted theft and vandalism of my motorbike @orchiddottyback , I doubt they are going to come and investigate my pigeon issue. Although if they did, I might get a rest from the shitting fuckers in prison.

This is a hoax surely? Unless you have been living under a rock all your life, how can you not understand that tampering, harming or destroying, wild bird eggs, is a criminal offence?

Do you rent or own? I rented a new build flat where the balcony became home for pigeons and I still regret not making the lettings agency sort it. It was my first time renting and I didn't know I had the right to enjoy my outdoor space without it being covered in bird shit.

I don't hate pigeons though, I feel sorry for them.