The Nuisance of Pigeon Droppings in High Rise Societies and Ways to Deal with Them!

The most commonly found bird today is the Columba livia or the pigeon! A pigeon is most widely found on high-rise buildings and is a pesky addition to your otherwise beautiful, serene surroundings. Apart from being a nuisance, the droppings of pigeons can also be a health hazard. The faeces and droppings are the carriers of various diseases and often can be the harbinger of illness in your home and your body.

Below are a few more reasons why it is essential not to let excessive pigeon droppings accumulate anywhere in your home and why it is vital to have a good pigeon repellent readily available:

1. Hazardous in Nature: The bird droppings are said to be infected with extreme pathogens that can cause up to 60 different diseases that can broadly be classified into bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic. These birds’ droppings can introduce parasites, ticks, and fleas into the environment. There can be far-ranging ill-effects of the pathogens in the pigeon droppings on humans, so one must be careful not to step on them and clean them regularly with a pigeon repellent. The excreta of a pigeon is uricotelic in nature, and it excretes nitrogenous waste from the bloodstream as uric acid instead of urea and ammonia. An increase in pigeon droppings also leads to the growth of fungi and faecal ammonia, which can cause irritation and respiratory disorders.
2. Damage to Roof and External Facades: A pigeon’s droppings can be very acidic and, if collected in one space for a long time, can be pretty damaging to the location. They can eat away at the building construction material, lead to unhygienic conditions, cause leaks, and eat into the roof’s materials. Continuous accumulation of pigeon droppings in one place can lead to health hazards and be cataclysmic. Not only does it spoil the façade, but it can also weaken the structure and ultimately reduce its livability.
3. Harm the Paint of your Vehicles: Not only are your homes, but even your cars are not safe from the impact of pigeon droppings. Pigeon droppings on your vehicles can be expected if parked under a tree or elsewhere in the open. These droppings can permanently impact your automobile’s paint and can be a disaster in waiting. Since pigeon droppings are highly acidic in nature, they can permanently damage your vehicle’s paint. If you do not clean the stain immediately, these droppings can cause the colour to erode on your car, costing you a fortune to get your car re-painted. If you leave the pigeon droppings on your car’s surface for a longer time, it will cause more damage to your vehicle.
4. Bad for Solar Panels: Even if the solar panels are installed on sloped roofs, pigeon droppings can still be disastrous if collected and not washed for a long time. You cannot rely on rain showers to be enough to wash off the impact these droppings can have on them. If not cleaned, these pigeon droppings can block sunlight from reaching specific spots on the solar panels, reducing their efficacy and not helping cut down on your energy costs. Pigeon droppings can also be permanently damaging to your solar panels. If not cleaned for an extended time, these droppings can lead to reduced performance and undesired outcomes.

If a human comes into contact with these droppings or inhales the aerosols, these droppings can cause various diseases that affect the spleen and liver. The symptoms can range from minor influenza to high fever, blood abnormalities, and pneumonia. These pathogens can also cause diseases like dysentery, typhoid, bacterial gastroenteritis, and hepatitis.

There are various ways you can keep safe from the harmful effects of pigeon droppings. Listing a few down below:

1. While cleaning the pigeon droppings, always use gloves and masks so that you do not inhale the aerosols from the droppings. You can also moisten the droppings with water to prevent them from becoming airborne. To dispose of the scraped droppings, keep them in a sealed bag with the outside of the bag clean. Keep the bag only at the designated places, and always touch the bag with gloves on your hands.
2. There are various ways to ensure that the pigeons do not sit on your apartment balconies, eliminating the need for you to scrape the droppings and reducing the risk of catching the diseases. A few of these are:
   1. Pigeon Nets: You can secure the at-risk open areas of your house with a pigeon net made of nylon string and securely tied around the balconies. This eliminates the need to deal with pigeons or their excreta.
   2. Spikes: In your open areas, where the frequency of the pigeons sitting is higher, you can install spikes to ensure that the pigeons do not sit in your house. However, this is not a permanent solution since it will only lead to them sitting in the next available open space.
   3. Reflective Disks or Plastic Owls: These can be installed in your open areas and are a comparatively inexpensive method to deal with the nuisance of pigeons. You can install these in a small open area like pools or a garden, and when the disks reflect the sunlight, it blinds the pigeons, thus making them fly away and keeping your site secure. The same is the case with plastic owls. A pigeon is scared of owls, so it will not come near your open space. Though inexpensive, these are not 100% foolproof methods. The strong winds can damage the reflective disks, resulting in the birds returning. The same is the case with plastic owls. After a certain period, the birds acclimate to the owl and will stop getting affected by it.

Usually, pigeons are attracted to the smell of their droppings, which makes them return to the same spot. You can eliminate this problem from the root to ensure the pigeons don’t return to the same place. You can use Clensta’s Pigeon Repellent Spray and see the difference in 21 days to ensure that pigeons do not return. It is completely harmless for the birds and does the work effectively to give you relief from the pigeons. 

Here’s how you can use it:

Day 1:

1. Scrape the droppings
2. Clean the area with water
3. Drizzle the pigeon repellent spray on the area

Day 2 - Day 21:

1. Clean the area and scrape the droppings, if any
2. Do not wash the area for the next 21 days
3. Spray the solution without soaking the area

Use it consistently for 21 days, and you will see a difference. Wet the entire area with the solution to eliminate pigeon droppings, leading to a pigeon-free open space for you! Check out our website for more information on our entire catalogue and how we can help you live better with conscious choices!