Pigeons are a problem throughout many metropolitan areas, including Las Vegas where they plague homeowners throughout the city. If these nuisance birds are constantly around your house, here’s how to get rid of them. There are steps you can take, and you can also call professionals for help with pigeon control in Las Vegas.
What Attracts Pigeons to Urban Areas?
If you understand why pigeons are attracted to urban areas, you’ll know how to make your home less attractive to them.
Pigeons (unlike most other birds) can survive on human food, such as crumbs and leftovers. They’ll eat your cold-cut sandwich, potato chips, or leftover crumbs that you leave behind. They’ll eat these foods if you feed them, if you drop them, and sometimes even while you’re holding them. They’ll certainly eat the foods if they can get at them in your garbage or backyard.
Pigeons also need water and shelter, but it’s their love for human food that really attracts them to urban areas.
What Are Pigeons Around Your Home Bad?
Most birds are considered desirable, and you may have feeders out for other species. Pigeons congregate in such numbers that they become a nuisance, though. They may be negatively impacting you, your family, and/or your home in several ways:
- Pigeon droppings can cover landscaping, gardens, driveways, and roofs with unsightly white spots
- Droppings can corrode car paint, metal fences, metal roofs, gutters, and other metal if they aren’t cleaned off
- Droppings also can transmit histoplasmosis, which is a lung disease, through airborne germs
- Flocks of pigeons are loud and obnoxious, and they also simply aren’t as pretty as songbirds
How Can Homeowners Get Rid of Pigeons Around Their House?
You can take several steps to make your home less attractive to pigeons. If they’re constantly around your house, try the following:
- Restrict Food Access: Restricting food access is the most effective way to make your home less attractive. Use garbage cans with lids so that the birds can’t get at your food waste, and certainly deal with any raccoon or rat issues (if you have any). These rodents could knock over garbage cans, thus giving pigeons access even if there were lids on the cans.
If you regularly eat outside and see pigeons congregate there afterward, clean up any crumbs that fell. You might let a dog out (if you have one), sweep up a deck, or even run the sprinkler after so that crumbs become more entangled in the grass and dirt.
- Prevent Roosting: Roosting pigeons can be particularly problematic, as droppings collect in one area and can cause extensive damage. If you’ve had roosting pigeons at any point in time, place objects where they prefer to build nests. Decorative objects that nests can’t be built on are an excellent solution.
- Pester the Birds: Install reflective surfaces and/or motion-activated sprinklers to make your home unusable. Pigeons don’t like bright lights or reflections, as the flashes interfere with their sight. They also don’t like getting “rained on” every time they try to land. Be aware that these tactics will also deter other birds. They should thus be only used after trying the other strategies.
When Should Homeowners Call for Professional Pigeon Control in Las Vegas
If restricting food and preventing roosting haven’t been sufficient, contact Progressive Pest Control for further help. We’ve helped many homeowners who needed professional pigeon control in Las Vegas, and we have the expertise needed to remove them from your property. One of our team members can evaluate your home’s problem and recommend a strategy that’ll be highly effective.