[Nhcoll-l] Pigeon mess

[Pedro A. Viegas]

Good day Heidi

  There are numerous ways to solve this - some more effective than others,
it depends on how much are they really an issue, and/or how much you can
invest into this well-known problem.

  - Window spikes come in many varieties. Old/historic buildings used to
have large window spikes, more for an anti-burglary purpose, and these are
actually attractive to large birds since they provide a "cosy" nesting
area.
For pigeons, and if you do have wide window sills, you need specific spikes
and not just one row but perhaps double rows - or instead of spikes you can
have wire-springs.
If these are not correctly installed AND maintained (periodical cleaning of
debris) then birds will find them attractive and start nesting on them.

  - Sound> there are numerous pest deterrents that use sonic devices to
keep pests, such as birds away - as per above you need the right device for
whatever animal you are targeting.

       these are the "humane" prevention measures you can take, however,
others exist

  - Pigeons have predators, especially other birds such as the Peregrine
Falcon, which, since you also have a mice+rat problem, could definitely
come in handy. They are used extensively in several cities and monuments in
Europe - they naturally capture what we see as vermins and they are amazing
birds to look at.

 - Finally, you have Pests/Vermin control, companies and individuals
(depends on where you are) that will periodically visit your institution
and a)remove nests and eggs b)actively hunt existing pigeons removing the
problem immediately.


Depending on your case you may apply one or more measures; preventative,
active or a mix.


   Hope this helps
   Cheers
   P


Pedro A Viegas
Natural History Curator & Conservator

paleomail at gmail.com
+61 0 435 637 474

Follow me on Twitter <https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__twitter.com_PedroAViegas&d=DwIBaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=Lg59gx7a5Yk1den1WSmbwP-7xizO7pCuaP186Z1-27Y&s=78Qc0UAbKUp4Ff1x7EOVZh3wsywGXlNaDqFB91oVojk&e= > - @PedroAViegas

On Fri, Aug 18, 2017 at 11:01 AM, Heidi Fourie <hfourie at ditsong.org.za>
wrote:

> Dear everyone,
>
>
>
> The Ditsong: National Museum of Natural History is an old building with
> wide window ledges. Recently we have noticed that the pigeons will nest,
> roost and sit on the ledges making a huge mess. Some of the ledges have
> spikes, but this is an even bigger attraction for the pigeons. The mess has
> become a problem as the pigeons now flock to this specific building. Our
> resident cats we think have enough mice and rats to contend with and the
> pigeons mostly stay up on the fourth floor roof or window ledges.
>
>
>
> Is there a solution for this problem, please any advice will do.
>
> Regards,
>
> Heidi
>
>
>
> Dr H. Fourie (Curator)
>
> Karoo Section
>
> Vertebrate Department
>
> Ditsong: NMNH
>
> P.O. Box 413, Pta, 0001
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Nhcoll-l mailing list
> Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
> http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l
>
> _______________________________________________
> NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
> Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
> mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
> natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
> society. See https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.spnhc.org&d=DwIBaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=Lg59gx7a5Yk1den1WSmbwP-7xizO7pCuaP186Z1-27Y&s=gk9ggolDZ2z6byHsnZRqtoEkcMXNiG0lLo6qbVXfjaI&e=  for membership information.
> Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20170818/191fa4c7/attachment.html