Flooding causes more problems than just water
Water damage and bad traffic isn't the only worry when it comes to flooding. Birds can become a serious problem, too. (source: livescience.com)
This winter has been an eventful one. And flooding has become as normal in certain parts of the country as double-digit inches of snow and sub-zero temperatures. From sunny southern California to the coastal northeast, flooding has become more of an issue in recent years.
The thing about floods is that they affect everything: water damage, driving, basements, etc. Not many people realize beforehand that birds become an issue once waters start rising. In a recent Associated Press article published in the Los Angeles Times, a 31-year resident of a coastal Maine town complains of the unusually severe floods this winter.
Birds aren’t that different from us; they will only invest in real estate if it has most or all of the required amenities. Ledges for roosting and resting; trees or bushes for nesting and food; and water for cleaning and food. When flooding happens in urban areas, dry land is all-of-a-sudden incredibly attractive to the feathered fliers.
Birds are always looking for a comfortable place to call home. Flooding brings waters to urban paradises, providing plenty of water and places to roost, nest, perch and an all-birds-can-eat buffet. And more birds equals more bird droppings. (source: www.calgarywildlifecontrol.ca)
More birds means more bird droppings. And birds carry over 60 diseases, some fatal, that are passed on through their fecal matter. Aesthetically, bird droppings are an eyesore. Water damage is a given in any flood situation, but acidic bird droppings can cause rusting on steel and metal.
So what can you do to stop bird damage while dealing with a flood? Bird-X carries a host of products designed to get rid of birds without driving you insane, including the Ultrason X. It emits ultrasonic sound that is inaudible to humans but loud and clear to birds. The four speakers provide a coverage of up to 3,600 square feet and it targets pigeons, seagulls, vultures and many more pest birds and small animals. The Ultrason X is perfect for outdoor use becaues of it’s power and four-speaker system.
The Ultrason X is commonly used outdoors in and near boathouses, docks and warehouses. Purchasing one of these will eliminate a bird problem during a flood. (source: www.bird-x.com)
With coastal America continuously dealing with rising waters, Bird-X sells products that stop birds from becoming an issue. Check out www.bird-x.com for other effective bird control methods.
Repel Geese From your Property
By Elana Moriarty
(Previously Published)
Winter is on its way. Along with colder temperatures, this season also brings an overwhelming number of migrating Canada Geese. As a passerby these birds can be innocuous or even charming. However, when it is your land that the geese have claimed as their winter vacation getaway, they suddenly stop seeming so harmless. Not only are geese irritating—they can be dangerous as well. Part of the difficulty with solving the issue of goose infestations is that once a cycle of migration nests on your property, the new generation of geese have already been ingrained to return with each season. When a layperson attempts to deal with a goose infestation on his or her own, without any knowledge of goose behavior, it becomes clear where the saying “a wild goose chase” originates.
Just like the saying hints at, chasing a goose is futile. The key is to be proactive rather than reactive. To be clear, the origin of your problem is not the geese. The problem is that your property is attractive to geese. Take away the geese that are on your land right now and another flock will take its place. This is why solutions like the use of a border collie trained in chasing the geese away only last as long as the border collie.
Likewise, while you might be tempted to do something unsafe and ridiculous like shooting the geese that land on your property this is unnecessary and unhelpful. In addition to the fact that you will possibly be breaking laws and endangering your neighbors by taking this sort of action, you will also find that it has a very minimal, if any, effect on your goose infestation in the long-term. Instead, you will find that you’ve gained a new pest in addition to your goose problem: people protesting outside your property. Temporary solutions will only prolong your frustration. These types of situations trap you in a never-ending cycle and force you to keep shelling out cash. Products that focus on the environment that you provide rather than the geese who respond favorable to it will be much more effective for a lasting solution.
One thing to keep in mind is that the sooner your take action, the easier it will be to get a quick result. Ideally, you should prep your land before the geese arrive so that they know to travel elsewhere before laying down roots and starting the nesting process. If a full-fledged infestation is already in progress, start strategizing and execute your strategies as soon as possible. The longer the geese stay on your property, the more comfortable they will get. Once a goose realizes what a nice home he has found on your land, it will be much harder to convince him that there are better homes elsewhere.
If you have already let your goose problem go on for a long time it is not too late to solve it.
Environmental and Health Hazards of Goose Infestation
When geese come to your land they bring their appetite with them. They eat everything in their path. When they come in large numbers, as they often do, they can completely strip the land of plant growth. In one report published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service , the population of Canada Geese at the Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge started at 350 in 1989 and jumped to 5,000 by 2007. This population required approximately one half-pound of food per adult goose each day. The geese at said refuge ravaged the tender roots of aquatic plants, over-browsed the ground vegetation and contributed to a 40% loss at the refuge’s cornfields this past year. This problem was made worse when compounded with the fact that this ravenous eating leads to copious waste.
In the case of Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge, bird fecal waste leached into the water and degraded the water quality. Build up on the local driveways and parking areas of the visitor center was actually deemed a safety hazard due to the possibility of a slip-and-fall accident. Still, the most disturbing aspect of the waste from geese is that a plethora of avian diseases are passable to humans and fecal matter is rife with the possibility for transmission. While you may not have a population of geese as large as the wildlife refuge, you probably also do not have the resources that it is able to provide the existing geese. It is clear from this example that geese will populate an area until its resources are used up.
Solutions to Goose Infestation:
The first step to dealing with an infestation of geese is to get as much information on the population as possible. When do they arrive? What direction do they come from? Where are they settling? What are the environmental factors that make your land appealing to the geese? It will be easier to strategize ways to combat the problem if you have a full understanding of what the problem consists of. Start with a clean slate and get rid of all evidence: nests, fledglings, droppings, dead birds, and the residual scent – adult birds will return to protect their young, or to a familiar, “marked” scent. Also remove food spillage, garbage, nesting material and other items that make eating and nest-building easy.
You must consider that, like you, birds are multi-sensory. Just like you can put up with an irritation if an environment is appealing overall, geese will also stick around if you only approach the problem from one direction. Be prepared to take a synergistic approach that challenges all the senses:
Sight: Sight aversions are designed to look like predators. While some sight scare aversions are virtually useless due to the fact that geese become accustomed to their presence, others have been modified for maximum effectiveness. Rather than the traditional statue of an owl, try a balloon with mylar eyes. These are designed so that the eyes appear to follow any goose within a given area. Rather than sitting on the ground, they can be hung in trees so that they blow in the wind and move as a real predator would. For even more impact, they can be moved periodically to keep the geese from getting used to them. Also, holographic tape can be useful as the geese will feel ill-at-ease as the reflection changes with the light. Sight scare tactics are an economical and easy approach to dealing with bird troubles. They are very effective especially if you have a smaller property.
Smell: Geese utilize something called the trigeminal system which is similar to our sense of smell. A constituent of concord grapes has been found to be so unappealing to Canada geese that it actually seems to overwhelm them to the point that they are driven away from the treated environment. Despite its dramatic effect on bird infestation it has been used by the food and drug industry for over 40 years to flavor candy, sodas, gums, and drugs, is listed by the US FDA as “Generally Recognized As Safe” (GRAS), and is classified by the US EPA as “reduced risk”.
Touch: For specific areas that you would like to protect, netting can be used to block an area off from geese.
Taste: Products that utilize the same part of concord grapes that were mentioned in the
“smell” section also act upon the sense of taste. Geese will not want to graze on your property when the overwhelming sensation of these products hits them.
Sound: There are goose-specific sound devices that project the sound of distress calls into an area. While many companies carry sonic bird control devices they are not all created equal. In fact, all but one of these sonic devices uses distress calls that were recorded in a laboratory environment. As a result, the calls obtained by the researchers are not the same calls a flock would use to signify real, immediate danger in the wilderness and are, therefore, less effective. Bird-X manufactures and distributes the first and only sonic goose repeller with varied recordings obtained from the wild has been developed by Dr. Philip Whitford after 23 years of research in Canada goose behavior and vocal communications. This includes the very rare “alarm call” which is elicited for only the most dire emergencies.
These devices are especially useful if you have a large property or farm which is otherwise difficult to monitor. One unit covers 5-7 acres of land and adding another unit extends the coverage to 15-21 acres. After a couple scares geese will remember you’re your area is considered unsafe and find another, safer environment for when they are molting and nesting—times when they are most vulnerable.
Mega Blaster Pro Keeps Birds Out of Vineyard
We just received a new testimonial from a customer who utilized the Mega Blaster Pro wide area bird repeller in his bird control operation. The mission was to keep birds out of their vineyard. There wasn’t enough time to install bird netting, so the Mega Blaster was mounted on a trailer and provided instant reduction in bird damage. In this application, the Mega Blaster proved effective over approximately 20.5 hectacres.
24 April 2009
Hello all,
We have finished using the Mega Blaster in our vineyards now and are very pleased with the results. The unit was mounted on a trailer and shifted every couple of days to confuse the birds. It was mostly used in areas we hadn’t had time to cover with nets. The 4 extra speakers and amplifier gave us maximum sound penetration. There was very little bird damage within a 200 metre radius (12 hectares) and it was significantly reduced over a 250 metre radius (20.5 hectares).
We have used electronic bird repellers for many years with various degrees of success but they had micro chips with harassment sounds which were annoying for neighbours. The customized micro chips programmed to suit our bird species, were much more pleasant and successful. Iwould have no hesitation in recommending this electronic equipment as an important tool in bird control.
Regards,
Herman S———
S——– Estate
View the Bird-X Mega Blaster Pro wide area bird control system
8 Ways That Birds and Bird Droppings Cost Your Company Money
8 Ways That Bird Droppings Cost Your Company Money
Birds and their droppings can cause a lot of damage. Here’s a short list of ways that birds and bird droppings can effect the bottom line in businesses.
- Wasted Personnel Time
- Time spent cleaning is a huge direct and opportunity cost
- Poor Quality/Negative Company Image
- Unsightly, bird-dropping-laden premises are bad for employees and customers
- Risk of Inspection
- OHSA, and other inspection agencies can cite, fine, or shut down operations for bird mess problems
- Risk of Disease
- Employees and Customers – over 60 diseases are associated with birds and their droppings
- Financial Liability
- Droppings from geese, pigeons can also create slip and fall hazards
- Machinery Downtime and False Alarms
- Birds and/or bird droppings can get into machinery and cause failures or false alarms
- Depreciation of Assets
- Acidic droppings shorten the life of valuable investments
- Product Waste
- Bird Droppings make products unsalable, eating into profits.
Wondering what’s best for your bird control problem? Visit the Bird-X website to view our current line of products to find a suitable solution to any bird problem.