by Fran Prisco
Pigeons can be found in just about every city and suburb in North America. They were first introduced to the United States as domesticated birds that soon escaped and formed wild pigeon populations. Ancestors of the Rock Dove, city pigeons like to roost and nest high atop buildings where there is safety from predators. They cause thousands of dollars every year to buildings and homes across the country. The droppings of pigeons are acidic and will accelerate the deterioration of building materials. Pigeon droppings also can carry any of 60 plus transmitted diseases. The best way to keep pest pigeons off of buildings is to install some sort of bird barrier.
Sanitation
It is important that all debris and droppings left behind by the pigeons is removed before installing any type of bird barrier. Inhaling the dust from pigeon droppings has been known to cause histoplasmosis, cryptococcus and psittaicosis. If you use some simple protective methods while cleaning up pigeon droppings, you can eliminate the danger of catching any of the above-mentioned diseases. Be sure to wear some sort of protective gear such as a facemask and rubber gloves. Wet pigeon droppings with water so that they do not emit any dry dust, use a scraper to scrape the wet droppings into a dustpan and dispose of them in trash bags.
