If you get right down to it, pigeons are absolutely horrible. They are the rats of the air, scavenging around for everything that they can eat, while also leaving vast amounts of waste behind them. They are absolutely disgusting creatures.
The problem with them is that they are everywhere. Like rats, pigeons can be found in basically anywhere on the globe, especially around areas where humans are found in large numbers.
Over the thousands of years, rats have succeeded by living off of the innovations of man. The more food that people created, the more food there was for rats. As people traveled across the globe, rats went with them. As people build structures like homes, apartments, and businesses, rats set up residence in them as well. They have truly prospered because of what mankind has done. We can say the same thing for bed bugs as well and there are many ways and home remedies for bed bugs available right now.
The same situation can be said of pigeons as well. They have followed people wherever they have gone, and this is why you can find larger numbers of pigeons in urban settings than in the suburbs and country combined. They are loving the fact that people are leaving food for them everywhere they go, and that they can find shelter in the attics of houses, under the eaves of homes and buildings, or in other structures built by man.
These animals are prospering because of people, but that doesn’t mean that you want them around your home or business. You wish that you could find ways to get them to go away and to stay away, and you should know that there are ways to do so. If you want to know how to do this, here are the 15 best ways to get rid of pigeons.
1. Predators
Let’s start with one that is not as radical as you may think. If you think about it for a moment, there are natural predators to pigeons that would do an effective job at keeping them away. If they are an issue around your home, you may find that simply having a large dog can do wonders in keeping away pigeons from your house. The pigeons flock around your lawn, trees, or other areas around your property, but are scared off by a large barking dog barreling down on them.
You may find that something like an owl or a hawk can be just as effective as well. These kinds of birds are natural predators to pigeons, and can be very effective at scaring them off. You should keep in mind that these predators do pose risks to other kinds of animals, including if you have a small dog. However, they don’t really endanger you or your family in any way, and can be an effective tool it keeping birds like pigeons away.
2. Noise
Noise can be one of the best ways to get these animals to leave, and it doesn’t take very much noise to do so. One of the most effective techniques that you can use is to take some pie pans and hook them through some string. When they rattle against each other, the noise is a disturbance to the pigeons and will generally scare them away. This can be done with virtually anything that will make a sort of racket that could be scary to these birds.
3. The Pie Pan Returns
One of the other benefits of attaching pie pans in this way is that they also reflect the sun in such a way as to be startling to the pigeons. You can do this with basically any kind of metal object. When the sun reflects off of the pie pan or other metal, it then reflects the sun around your yard which can be startling to the pigeons. This is especially true because the pan is not stationary, dangling from a string so that the light moves around the yard in a manner that can be disturbing to these birds. This can make it so that they will be scared by the reflected light and swoop away as quickly as possible.
4. Deny Them Food
A common reason why pigeons come around a person’s home is because they are able to find food and water there. A person may have a birdfeeder, have nuts that fall from trees, or leave their pet dish outside. What you need to keep in mind is that pigeons are very much like rats in the fact that they will eat just about anything. If you have birdseed out, cat or dog food, or some other kind of food available to them then they are going to come around.
5. Keep Your Cans Closed
Another common reason why pigeons will come around your business or home is because they can get food out of your garbage cans or dumpster. You need to keep these securely fastened at all times denying the birds the availability to be able to get into them to get whatever they find to eat. Keep in mind that eating anything means anything! What you think as disgusting garbage they may find to be a tasty morsel. Don’t give them access.
6. Clean Your Eaves
Underneath the eaves of your home is a place where pigeons will likely find a place to build a nest. You need to deny them the ability to do so, and there are structures that you can buy that make it difficult for this bird to be able to start building its nest there. You should also go through on occasion and dust out any kind of nest that you start to see being built. Using a broom can be the ideal tool, just make sure that you wear a mask, gloves, and cover your skin before doing so, as pigeons carry a large number of diseases you want to avoid.
7. Don’t Let Them Land
Pigeons like to roost on the roof of your home or on the railing of the balcony. There are spike products, known as anti-roosting spikes, that you can buy that are specifically designed to deter birds from landing on these areas of your house. All you have to do is attach them around the outer portion of your roof or along your balcony and you will find that this can be a great deterrent to keep these birds away.
8. Motion Sensors
A more sophisticated means that is being used these days is the motion sensor attached to a sprinkler. You may find that pigeons will congregate on your lawn looking to get at such things as seeds, worms, and other bugs. The way that the motion sensor works is quite simple. When the bird lands, it activates the sensor, which activates your sprinkler system. Water sprays out, startling the pigeons, and they flee as quickly as possible. This is a very effective tool.
9. Repellents
Repellents are very effective, and you can find commercial brands and many home improvement stores. These can be sprayed using your garden hose and weed sprayer, or some are even painted on two areas like your balcony or underneath the eaves of your home.
You should know that while these commercial repellents can be effective, they are usually not the end-all in terms of keeping pigeons away. Usually, you will want to use this in conjunction with something else, like anti-roosting spikes.
10. Home Remedies
While you can buy commercial repellents, there are homemade options that are available to you as well that you can use. These are ideal in being able to help you to keep these birds away, and can actually be more effective than the commercial options that you would buy at a store.
One of the best remedies that has been found is to take jalapeno peppers and hot sauce and cook them together. This makes a very hot and spicy repellent, that can be sprayed over your yard, roof, or underneath the eaves of your home. The pigeons find them to be an incredible irritant and will do all that they can to stay away from them.
Like the commercial repellents mentioned before, you should understand that these products should be used in conjunction with something else. You may have some short-term success in deterring the pigeons away, but unless you are going to spray on a regular basis, they will return, and so using other means can really help you.
11. Look for What They Like
You will need to be a Sherlock Holmes of sorts, looking around your home to find areas where a pigeon may want to roost or look for food. This can mean that they may look to get into your chimney, work their way into the fence in your attic, or find some area underneath your home where they can build their own nest.
You need to take action to ensure that these areas are not accessible to them. Put an anti-birds screen over your chimney, and ensure that there are no cracks, holes, gaps, or other areas where a pigeon can gain access into the attic or walls of your home. Look for areas where a pigeon ticket underneath your home or underneath your shed and block those areas up. Don’t allow it a place to set up a nest.
12. Statues and Ornaments
This may sound like an absolutely stupid suggestion, but the truth is that having ornaments and statues up around your house, including on the roof, can be an effective deterrent in keeping pigeons away. Think about it for a moment. This is the same technique that is used to keep crows away from the field. Scarecrows have long been effective at this, and so statues can do the same thing for you.
As an odd note, if you move around the statues on a frequent basis, you will find that they can be even more effective at keeping the pigeons away. Yes, pigeons are pretty stupid.
13. High-Tech Options
The new idea that is gaining traction is the use of ultrasonic devices. These send out ultrasonic sound waves that are intended to not only disrupt the bird’s ability to sense its flight pattern, but also become an irritant to its sense of hearing.
These can have some effect, but the truth is that you need to have the pulse sent out from all around your home and if you have a large property its effectiveness diminishes with each foot the soundwave has to travel. This can be an effective technique, but it can also be a very costly one as well.
14. Give Them a Better Option
The truth is, pigeons are simply looking for an area where they can find food and shelter. They are no different than any other animal in this respect. If you have a means to direct them to another area, then you may want to look into this.
For example, if you live in an area where there is a large empty field in close proximity to your home, then do things that will encourage the pigeons to go over there. You could even set up a birdfeeder or throw seed around them so that the pigeons are more likely to go to that location than to come around your property.
Of course, you should make sure that you were not doing this to somebody’s home or doing it on land that may get you into trouble. Be smart about it, but know this can be an effective technique.
15. Clean Up
The biggest thing that can be suggested to you is to keep your yard and property clean. If you spill food while taking it out to the garbage can, wash that away as quickly as possible. Mow your lawn, trim your bushes, and don’t leave dead vegetation sitting around. The cleaner that you keep your land, the less likely it is that a pigeon will find your home to be the ideal location for it to build a nest. Take the extra time to do all that you can to remove out any kind of enticement and you will likely find that your pigeon problem can decrease in no time.