DP wants to shoot pigeons nesting under our solar panels

[supersop60]

We have pigeons nesting under our solar panels. They are noisy and make a mess. DP will not listen to me about trying humane methods to get rid of them eg I bought a fake hawk, but he just rolled his eyes and cast it aside.
I saw him this morning putting his air rifle in the car and said he was taking it to have the sight aligned. He wants to shoot the pigeons!
My question is - what do I do now? Im not sure I’m tough enough to call the police on him.
He knows my feelings and opinions on the matter, but he just wants the pigeons gone.
WWYD?

We had homing pigeons roosting under our solar panels. They were complete arses. I had to get pest controllers in, who managed to get them out and fit tough, bird proof netting in around the panels. This solved the problem and saved the panels and the roof from permanent damage. We did have some rather annoyed pigeons in the garden and hopping around on the roof for a while, but rather that than the damage they could have done underneath the solar panels.

Your panels are very expensive and are glass. You won't be able to just shoo the pigeons away. They will return, especially if they are homing pigeons, which are a bit more sleek than wood pigeons but just as much of a nuisance. Your panels are wired into electrical plant in your loft. The pigeons could get in there and do a huge amount of damage. So you do need to cough up and get the job done. Yes, it is expensive and (depending the height of your house) might involve scaffolding, but it is the only long term solution.

Shooting them isn't a solution and is the action of a pillock.

You ask that like it's surprising, I'm sitting in my garden looking at the solar panels on neighbouring houses and I can't see any of them with any kind of netting or spikes

Should there be?

I'm not the dense one honey. No idea where you live, but in the UK, someone's garden will be on their property.

A street is where cars are driven...

‘Catch that pigeon…’

Your front garden, as in your own property, as long as there is a safe backdrop, and it's safe, in terms of range and surroundings, then it's ok to shoot something that is legally allowed where you live. I was replying to the poster who seems to think your DH will be wondering the streets with his air rifle.

Thats a road babe.

Anyway, youre making yourself look a bit silly wanging on about me saying I'd report him shooting in the street, like theyd go "oh but madam, are you sure he's not in his garden?" 😂 have the evening you deserve 👍

All birds including pigeons are protected during nesting season. I've never forgotten my BF who threw pigeon eggs off his flat balcony and how sad I felt for the parents returning to an empty nest. Sickened me then and sickens me now.

We had the same issue. Once the nests were empty we paid for the net. The pigeons still
come back every bloody year.

So even if he manages to displace this group, chances are they will be back at some point. Paying for the netting once the nests are empty is the resolution.

^This.

I'd definitely hide the gun and certainly wouldn't want to live with a man who owned one. Killing things that aren't going to be eaten as food is disgusting.

Can't you call a humane company to clear out the pigeons?

I have pigeon problems in my garden but would never think of killing them. Like all creatures all they are trying to do is survive.

I wish I had hidden it when he first started talking about it last year. Or broken it.

ring the police and tell them he’s planning on shooting pigeons on your house with an air rifle and they will turn up and rip him a new arsehole! Only way to deal with arseholes like this! Why are you still living with someone like this? What an awful person he is!

If it isn air rifle he doesn’t need a license for, it only be a max of 12 ft lb. That is not powerful enough to humanely dispatch a pigeon. It will injure them and case unnecessary suffering

They should have fitted some. There are specific products. I don't know what it is called and how visible they are but there was a dad who used to pick up from DS scouts who did fittings and was explaining it to some other parents a few years back.

Pigeons make a wonderful pie or curry.

🙁

He needs a licence to shoot the pigeons though, doesn’t he? Which presumably wouldn’t be granted for a weapon which couldn’t do the job.

I don't know anything about guns but this sounds dangerous to me. Suppose there is a ricochet off a part of the panels and it hits someone in the street ?

It’s gonna cost ££ if he puts a hole in the panel, water will get in and it will be buggered

😆

The only way to deal with a moron like this is to match their level of aggression with a firm response. If I was married to him I would have already phoned the police and reported him. Same as if he was drink driving.

I checked this out -

It is strictly illegal to fire or use an air rifle in a public place, and doing so carries severe criminal penalties. Under UK law, a public place includes roads, streets, public footpaths, parks, and play areas.

The Law on Possession vs. Use

• Firing is strictly prohibited: You cannot fire an air rifle in, into, or across any public space.
• Possession requires a "reasonable excuse": You can only carry an air rifle in public if you have a legitimate reason, such as travelling directly to an approved gun club, an airgun shop, or private land where you have shooting permission.
• The "Loaded" rule: Having a loaded air rifle in public without lawful authority is an offence. Even carrying an unloaded gun without a valid reason is illegal.

Looks like the pigeons are safe....

Best £350 I ever spent getting netting around my panels.

Can’t recommend the nets highly enough OP.

There is a lot of misinformation on here...

A licence is needed, but it comes under the general licence which doesn't need registration and is there by default, so we all have that licence, it only exists as a legal quirk to allow people to have it removed if found to be doing illegal things.

It is not illegal to shoot a pigeon per se but as others have said, there are only certain types of pigeon (basically feral / wood-pigeon) - so look for one with balaclavas over their heads and they are fair game...

you can also only do so for a limited set of reasons, which is basically around protection of crops - a flock of pigeons will strip a field of peas very rapidly, so a lot of farms will have arrangements with folks to shoot them... protecting your solar panels is probably not a likely reason - but it might be if you can show that every other method has failed, but the onus of proof then rests on you...

shooting a gun on your own property is not illegal, but there are boundaries to how you do so... an air rifle has a low range and can be happily shot in a large garden without issue - however, even the compressed air ones and with telescopic sights do not have the power to take out a pigeon - for that you would traditionally use a shotgun.

A more powerful air rifle requires a firearms licence and comes under the same category as a normal rifle - and is less likely to be suitable for a garden

Shotguns come under a shotgun licence - are suitable for pigeons (though still needs a clean shot) but are unlikely to be suitable for shooting on your own land unless you own a number of acres / a farm / an estate.

calling the police on legal use of an air-rifle would be inappropriate - if some of the suggestions above are used it will end up with a firearms response team and the person calling being held responsible for wasting police time...

so - much of what the OP's husband is talking about is not technically illegal - however it is very likely a complete waste of time - and to make it successful make take it out of the realms of being legal...

the suggestion of putting the gun away and finding a company to put up nets is probably the best route...

having said that - a plump pigeon waddling around is a meal on legs - pigeon does taste very nice indeed...

Why didn't he pay for the bird proofing when he had them installed or had it done after purchasing the house if they were already there? 🤷‍♀️

@supersop60 He sounds like a nasty cunt with a very low IQ. If anything gets culled it should be him.