While we have plenty of pest problems here in San Diego (like most other cities in the world), birds are one of the biggest “stealth” issues home and business owners can face in our area. Since area residents and property owners typically focus on more obvious pests like roaches, rodents, and bed bugs, birds are often left to their own devices. However, allowing birds to run rampant on your property is a huge mistake, as these pest animals can destroy property and spread disease same as any roach or rodent infestation. Let’s talk about the worst offenders.
Gulls
Seagulls are infamous for their often irritating and aggressive behavior on beaches. They mob beachgoers, torment picnickers, and might even swoop down to pluck the sandwich right out of your hand. Their behavior doesn’t improve a lot when they’re on private property instead of the beach. Homeowners and restaurant proprietors who live near the coast know all too well how miserable gulls can make their lives.
However, did you know gulls can do a lot more than ruin your patio dining experience? In fact, these aerial rats spread a plethora of diseases and pathogens in their droppings, including:
E. Coli
Encephalitis
Histoplasmosis
Meningitis
Salmonella
Toxoplasmosis
Many of these illnesses have serious, sometimes life-threatening, symptoms, so it’s vital to keep seagulls away from anywhere you eat.
Pigeons
While pigeons aren’t as infamous as gulls for their aggressive and obnoxious behavior towards people, they can be just as destructive. Not only do their droppings contain diseases like histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, and psittacosis, but they also have such a high uric acid content that they can actually cause erosion in buildings and other property. Pigeon droppings can peel the paint off your car, eat the tar off your roof, and they can even wreck solar panels if you have them on your home's exterior.
What’s even worse about pigeon droppings is that the smell of them attracts other pigeons. That means if you have one pigeon pooping on your roof, it could balloon into dozens or hundreds as its droppings start to accumulate. That’s part of the reason why you typically see pigeons living and moving in large clusters instead of on their own.
Pest Bird Prevention Techniques
With all the dangers birds present, it’s safe to say you don’t want these disease-ridden pests on your property any more than you want bugs or rodents. But how to keep them away? The bad news is since birds can fly and generally go where they want, it’s tougher to prevent them than many other pests. The good news is there are still some things you can do such as:
Reduce food sources by covering all garbage cans, harvesting garden fruits, and vegetables as soon as they’re ripe, avoiding leaving pet foods out in the open, and cleaning up right away after eating outdoors. Restaurant owners should also discourage patrons from feeding birds.
Reduce nesting spots by trimming trees and keeping landscaping clipped as short as possible. Also consider installing bird spikes on flat roofs, under awnings, and anywhere else birds might consider attractive.
If you’re still having problems with birds, the good news is you don’t just have to live with them. Here at HomeShield Pest Control, we’ve been busting birds’ bubbles for over a decade! In fact, pest birds are one of our many specialties, and we offer a range of bird control services to deal with them, including exclusion, trapping, and cleanup. We also provide professional commercial pest management services. So give us a call at (916) 802-1234 or visit our contact page to schedule your free quote today!