Good morning gentlemen,
My location is SW London and pigeons foul everywhere, their excreta
seems especially corrosive to aluminium. Back in 1979, I enquired of our
Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, seeking an approved method of
controlling them, and I learned some interesting details.
Pigeons are creatures of habit.
Having selected a nest site, they will return time and time again.
Each pair produces an average of five eggs per "clutch" and in good
times, will produce five "clutches" per year, if all the eggs hatch, then
all the offspring will also return to the home nest site, at the end of a
year, you have your own flock of 25 juniors and two parent pigeons fouling
up your garden or street.
However, pigeons do have natural enemies in the form of flying
predators, such as the Peregrine Falcon, and there are several of those
nesting in tall structures around London, and privately owned falcons are
often used on a "one off" basis, to frighten off large numbers of pigeons.
It would appear that pigeons are "tuned" really low frequency sounds, such
as the predator wing beats, and this "defence mechanism" is used to deter
the pigeon presence.
Some farmers are using a helium filled kites above their crops, to
simulate the constant movement of a "big" predator, and the noise of the
kite "wings" the wing beat. Another product is called "Hum Line" and this
looks like quarter inch audio tape, strung above the crops, when the wind
blows, the taut tape emits a low frequency hum. However, if hum line is too
high above the crops and the wind gets up, the taut line then howls like a
banshee, as the wind speed varies, the xyl plus the neighbours begin to
complain.
I have tried both the above, with questionable results, but I have
found that "breaking the habit" of the pigeon in setting up a home has been
my most effective solution.
I make use of an old fashioned rubber bulb motor horn, keeping it
among my gardening kit, and whenever I am in the garden, and see a pigeon
land in a fir tree, a good potential nest site, I give the motor horn rubber
bulb a sharp squeeze and a loud low frequency "raspberry" is "radiated",
immediately the pigeon exits the tree and flaps into the distance. This
method also works very well if you are sitting enjoying the garden, and a
pigeon comes in from behind and sets up the "cooing" routine" in an adjacent
tree, a single blast on the horn clears pigeons, xyls and everything else
within audible distance, leaving you to enjoy your beer in peace.
I would say that I have had more success, over the years, in
deterring pigeons taking up residence in my trees, and on my aerials, by
using the low frequency motor horn, than any other method suggested.
Sincerely, John G3JVC/GM3JVC.
-----Original Message-----
From: towertalk-bounces@contesting.com
[mailto:towertalk-bounces@contesting.com] On Behalf Of K8RI
Sent: 17 March 2012 21:58
To: towertalk@contesting.com
Subject: Re: [TowerTalk] snakes and owls vs pigeons
On 3/17/2012 3:27 PM, Jim Spears wrote:
> Rubber snakes and plastic owls work fine to fend off pigeons BUT after a
> short time, if the object never moves or grabs a bird then the birds
become
> accustomed to it and ignore it.
>
>
>
> I worked for a time at a place that had an outdoor cafeteria seating area,
> this in San Diego on top of Point Loma. They had a lot of trouble with
> scrub jays. So they put out a bunch of rubber snakes. For a few days you
> would see the jays way back in the bushes but they finally decided that
the
> snakes were just decorative objects and returned to raiding unattended
> plates.
Just keep a few hungry cats. They would certainly keep the birds
away...while they did the eating instead.
Of course the bird lovers would decry the use of predators, the cat
lovers would decry the "mistreatment" of the cats, and the city would
want to regulate the cats, AFTER you licensed them. Of course they
would also insist you keep them on a leash. Then there is the lawsuit
after one (or all) the cats bit and scratched some one or those allergic
to them took offense at them just being there.
We just had to raise the bird feeders up to about 7 feet so we could
stop calling them cat feeders.
73
Roger (K8RI)
>
>
> Jim/N1NK
>
> X AB6R
>
> _______________________________________________
>
>
>
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