11–20 of 71 posts
Seems it worked because the balcony was spotless. I’ve seen similar on European churches.
Our solution: feed the pigeons in a separate place where they congregate in wait. And it works.
A loud bang works and you don't have to aim
A loud bang works and you don't have to aim
As always there’s someone on the internet a step beyond. Meet the pussy wetter: https://pussywetter.com/
In my experience, crows seem to be quite an effective natural deterrent.
They seem to really like peanuts and, if you offer them shell included, it's a somewhat selective package tailored to them (although great tits try, you may bribe them with sunflower seeds in selective feeders). I read reports of people sometimes receiving gifts from befriended crows in return, too, so it's possible to form complex relationships. Anyway, the downside is their beautiful singing voice... Magpies are a little less noisy, but they are very shy. Crows also seem to attack birds of prey, so you may not get blessed by the occasional falcon or hawk sighting anymore, if a murder of crows protects your balcony.
A loud bang works and you don't have to aim
They are adapted to city noise, honking, construction sites... Unless you use flash powder charges (like they do at airports), noise won't scare them reliably. And your neighbors, dogs and the cool birds won't be happy about frequent reality shattering explosions. The stuff they use at airports got enough power to blow off hands.
The only thing that seemed to work for me was putting a thread across the railing where they used to land. I glued some cheap hooks to the wall either side of the railing and ran a thread over and back. I’m not sure why it worked. They either can see the thread and get put off, or they don’t see it and freak out when they land on it. I’ve tried both black and white thread and both seem effective. It did snap once pro…