Pest Bird Control by Rid-A-Critter

Athens-Clarke County, Georgia Regional Office

RAC Bird Control Special Ops Team on a Pigeon Control Mission

Most people don't think about birds when they think about pest control. But birds can be serious pests.

Birds can cause serious health and safety risks, deface property, endanger air traffic, and just generally create a nuisance if they're living, nesting, or roosting in sensitive areas. For example, birds in illuminated store signs can deface the sign, create a fire hazard, and drop poop on people as they enter and leave the store. That's not good for business.

Birds also deface cars when they're nesting overhead in parking garages; interfere with air traffic at airports; clog cooling vents at industrial buildings; spread pathogens throughout entire buildings when they nest in or near HVAC equipment; clog and overheat power plant generators and transformers; and cause many, many other problems.

In addition, birds also carry diseases and serve as reservoirs for pathogens that are spread by mosquitoes and other parasites. Some of these, like West Nile virus and avian influenza, can be very serious. Bird droppings also harbor pathogens, including the serious fungal disease histoplasmosis.

Clearly, birds can be a big problem when they're in the wrong place.

Pest Bird Species

There are three species of birds that are specifically classified as pests: pigeons, sparrows, and starlings. These three species actually have pesticides labeled for their control, and they can be controlled using lethal means, if necessary. In practice, we rarely use lethal bird control methods because we believe that they're rarely necessary and even more rarely effective. We exclude birds permanently using non-chemical methods.

Other than the three species mentioned above, birds that are being troublesome are considered nuisance animals and must be controlled using non-lethal methods. In some cases, there also are regulations regarding when certain birds can be controlled to avoid disrupting their mating and migration seasons. Rid-A-Critter understands, respects, and complies with these laws.

The Rid-A-Critter Approach to Bird Control

Rid-A-Critters was proud to be chosen to solve the bird problems at Hartfield-Jackson International Airport.

Rid-A-Critter is the region's leader in pest bird control. There is no other company in our area that has our combination of experience, equipment, and know-how. We've successfully completed very complex bird control jobs in some of the biggest facilities in the South. That's why were chosen to solve the bird problem at a radar tower at Hartfield-Jackson International Airport, the world's busiest airport.

Our bird control philosophy is based on a firm belief in non-chemical control. Anyone can set avicides out to kill or sicken birds, but that's neither the most environmentally-friendly nor the most permanent way to do it. Poisoning birds does nothing to prevent new birds from becoming a problem. Once in a while it's necessary to rapidly reduce populations, but it's something we almost never do.

Another problem with chemical bird control is that most avicides don't actually kill the birds. They make they sick (actually, some avicides make them high, as if they were on drugs), and they become afraid and confused and fly away. In theory, they eventually will recover, but will not return to the place that they believe made them sick. This may sound humane, but in reality, these sickened birds often the birds fly into moving vehicles or into the walls of large buildings and die anyway. It's cruel and almost always unnecessary.

There's also no reliable way to make sure that non-target birds don't consume the poisons and get sick or die, nor to prevent the carcasses of poisoned birds from being eaten by non-target birds or animals and secondarily poisoning them.

The long and short of it is that we rarely use avicides because we're not "bird exterminators." We're bird management professionals. We use non-chemical methods to keep birds out of areas where they would be a problem. This is better for the birds because they're not harmed, and it's better for our customers because it's a more permanent solution.

Once we're done with the bird-removal and bird-proofing work, we clean up the mess that the birds made. This includes removing and carting away feathers, droppings, nesting materials, egg shells and broken eggs, and any other mess the birds created. If needed, we also apply insecticides to kill any displaced parasites.

Dry Under Decks Installation

Before and after picture of a Dry Under Decks installation

We also offer another service called Dry Under Decks. This is a popular product that many customers ask about even if they don't have problems with birds or animals. It's a rain-management system that channels away water to make the space under an exterior deck usable.

The Dry Under Decks system is basically an outdoor ceiling that's also waterproof and animal-resistant. It's installed under the deck and catches and channels rainwater and condensation away to the gutter. It also makes the space under the deck brighter.

Dry Under Decks can be installed in both residential and commercial buildings. It works under decks, marquees, balconies, and overhead walkways. We usually install it as part of a comprehensive bird-control or animal-exclusion job, but it's also available as a free-standing service.

The Dry Under Decks system comes with a limited lifetime warranty. Please contact us if you'd like more information.