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Daily Archives: February 18, 2014

House and Home

When Birds Invade Your Home

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I’m the first to admit it: I love animals. I have three dogs, two cats, and a tank filled with tropical fish. I also love birds. They’re beautiful, wondrous, and fun to watch from a distance. A recent bird infestation at my place of business has caused me to think long and hard about my love of birds. Luckily, a wildlife removal specialist was able to come out and take care of our problem, although the memory of it will probably haunt me for some time to come.

The old saying “birds of a feather flock together” has been around for a long time for a reason. Birds really do flock together, and when birds find a good place to flock to, they usually tell their friends. You can see where this might be a problem, especially if the place they’re flocking to is your place.

The wildlife specialist who dealt with our bird problem had a wealth of information about birds and bird problems in general, including the fact that most native birds are protected by the U.S. government, a little fact that anyone with a bird problem would do well to keep in mind.

The bird removal specialist working our case applied for and received the necessary permit for getting rid of the birds. This permit is called a depredation permit, and it is necessary for the legal removal of most birds in North Carolina. To find a qualified specialist just do a few searches on the web for wildlife removal in your area and you will be presented with sever choices like:

The specialist was adept at getting this type of permit, since he obviously had been through this type of situation before. I was glad, since I had no idea how to go about getting the situation under control on my own, and certainly had no clue about how to navigate the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the agency that issues this type of permit.

In our case, the source of our bird issue was starlings, a species that is quite problematic in North Carolina and surrounding states. They had flocked together in mass numbers in the roof of our business, and this posed a special problem for us.

Not only was it an annoyance and nuisance, but it can also become a public health hazard due to the bird droppings left behind. Moreover, those droppings can be considered dangerous to human health, since they can carry ectoparasites and diseases like cryptococcosis and histoplasmosis.

In our particular case, the bird control specialist who came out to help used a combination of roost site removal and trapping to get rid of the birds that were calling our roof home. He also cleaned up the mess that the birds had made, leaving behind a sanitized area that was free from disease and odor. Much much easier than doing it ourselves, and we had the peace of mind that the job was done right the first time.