Jackson Heights Life

I have a super-soaker and I'm not afraid to use it  (he he)

I had an ongoing war with the pigeons on my fire escape (just outside my bedroom) for about two years. And then I solved it.

First off, I don't care that they were there. What I cared about was the incessant cooing -- and then the screaming of the baby birds once they hatched. It always sounded like children screaming to me, which was disturbing. And the cooing began waking me up in the morning.

So I bought a super soaker. But they're not idiots -- the pigeons learned to fly away when I opened my window and always came back later -- and I accidentally even sprayed someone passing by on the sidewalk once, so after going though two of them I decided to think of something else.

I went out and tossed away two non-egged nests. They still came back and built more, faster.

And then I remembered something my mom did. She hates birds of all kinds and didn't want even sparrows making a nest in the bird house she hung outside (as decoration only!) So she hung up a sock with mothballs in it, and that worked. Why it took me so long to think of this myself I have no idea. But I went out with two socks filled with stinky mothballs, tied them together looped under one of the grates on the fire escape, and have not had a pigeon problem since.

They have moved one fire escape down, but I can't hear them now at least.

So there you go: Mothballs + socks = no pigeons.

The Pets and Animals board is subtitled "What to do with your furry, feathery, and scaly friends."

If we changed it to "friends and enemies" we could move this thread over there.  What do you think? 




modified after the fact to add a wink!

We have lizard problems?

Furry and feathered enemies - and scaly friends.

No, do what you think best. I bought a whole bunch of really spiky plastic spikes but the pigeons are staying away without me using them. So are the squirrels who used to gnaw on my air conditioning side pieces and build nests beside it.

A friend put two flags on her fire escape. Seems the flapping keeps them away.

I actually did tell a woman to stop dropping feed on 77th STreet and she yelled back at me "they are all gods creatures!" for someone all about god, she was sure an angry woman.

This made me laugh.   :2funny:

After hearing about her for a long time, another resident and I who work in the gardens of our building on 75th finally saw the "pigeon lady" a few weeks ago throwing birdseed among the plants. We politely told her we respected her love of animals but would really appreciate it if she would stop throwing bread and seeds into our gardens. She said she never spread anything other than birdseed. We pointed out that uneaten seeds mean more weeding for us. She said she'd stop, and I think she has (in our gardens).

We've also got residents who daily put out food and water for stray cats, which I would think would attract vermin. But rational discussion of the issue doesn't deter them.

Buddy--I think taking hungry or otherwise needy strays under your wing (speaking of animals) as you describe--in your apartment--is entirely admirable. My concern is with putting food outside willy-nilly, potentially creating more problems with rodents.

I'm also curious now if the neighborhood seeder is just one person. I've been told by others that she's regularly seen throughout the neighborhood. A passerby who lives in her building and knows her slightly told us she puts out 30-40 lbs of birdseed a day! That sounds a bit hard to believe, but you never know. The cart she pushes would handle it, and it might also explain why she was wearing a support belt for her back--like weightlifters use.