Twenty-six pounds of poop! That’s the amount of waste one pigeon produces in a year. Sounds about right. If Hector doesn’t clean up his act, I’m thinking of evicting him.

Hector spends his winters on a small ledge at the top of my porch pillar. He was one of a cadre of noisy pigeons born a few years back in the eave of my roof. I’ve since repaired the eave, but Hector believes in the old saying about pigeons coming home to roost. He’s returned to my porch every fall for the past three years, and every spring I find myself hosing and scrubbing.

Pigeon poop is like trying to scrape concrete off brick. When it dries and falls on the porch, it produces a fine, caustic dust that can aggravate allergies and asthma. Droppings can ruin buildings and automobiles. Pigeons carry more diseases that are harmful to humans than rats, including encephalitis, histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis and toxoplasmosis. Add in fleas, ticks and mites and it’s time to roll up the welcome mat.

Unfortunately, once they pick your ledge, pigeons are hard to get rid of and the help of a wildlife control specialist may be necessary. Some cities are experimenting with a new product, Ovocontrol. It’s a birth control food pellet for birds designed to prevent egg fertilization. It doesn’t harm the birds, but it keeps them from multiplying. Since 5 pigeon pairs can produce up to 400 pigeons in just 2 years, that’s a good thing.

It’s like a scene for the Alfred Hitchcock’s classic horror film Birds. Only this time, the people are attacking the birds. Pigeon poachers have been rounding up birds in NYC parks and high-tailing it off to parts unknown with truckloads of the urban pests. City Health Department Commissioner Thomas Frieden said some rustlers are selling the birds for $5 to $10 each to out-of-state pigeon shoots. The pigeon shoots may be legal, but absconding with the city’s ubiquitous park dwellers and transporting them across state lines without a permit isn’t.

In the early-morning hours, men spread seed on city park pavements and uninhabited streets to lure the pigeons. As dozens come to feed, the men throw large nets over the cooing throng, toss the whole flailing mass into the back of a truck and screech off. The Health Department, in concert with several state and local agencies, has been trying to head the rustlers off at the pass, so far without success.

Birders and the New York Bird Club are upset, and some have formed their own posse to track down the bird-nappers. “We’ve followed the netters to a warehouse in Queens that sells poultry,” said one bird advocate. “We’re still trying to pull together evidence.” Commissioner Frieden urges any citizen observing the illegal netting of pigeons to report details by calling 311.

There is nothing like a few unwelcome guests invading your home to make life miserable. Occasionally insects or wildlife may decide to come calling and, charmed by your gracious hospitality, decide to stay awhile. Stern Environmental Group provides expert residential pest control and pest management services guaranteed to send such unwelcome guests packing in a hurry.

Your home is one of the single largest investments you’ll make in your lifetime. Protecting it from the destruction and health hazards caused by invading insects or wildlife is a job for the experts at Stern Environmental Group. Utilizing the most effective products and methods available, our highly trained and experienced professionals will ensure that your family and home are safe and secure from unwanted pests.

Stern Environmental Group provides bed bug extermination, carpenter bee control, nuisance wildlife control, capture and removal of squirrels, raccoons, skunks, feral cats, and many other insects and nuisance urban wildlife. If it creeps, crawls, skitters, scampers or slinks, we can get rid of it for you. We are a member of the New Jersey and New York Pest Control Associations and provide insect and wildlife control and management services in most of New Jersey, all of New York City, most of Long Island, and parts of New York State and Connecticut.

Visit our website for complete information on the services we offer. Click the post title to learn more about our residential services. We also provide commercial pest control and pest management services. You’ll sleep well tonight when you get “Stern” with your pests!