Are pigeons taking over your neighborhood? You could be helping these nuisance birds breed without you knowing.
Teena Slingluff has been living with pigeons for months. If you saw her home a few weeks ago, she says, "It was just wall to wall pigeon poop. We had to buy a pressure washer and use it every other day."
She didn't know it at the time. But now, Teena blames her solar panels.
"It's like opening a free hotel for pigeons," she says.
Experts tell 13 Action News solar panels are the perfect nesting ground for pigeons. It protects them from the sun and predators. So call a professional to install pigeon barriers on your solar panels if you have birds that live and poop on your roof.
Kevin Rast of JS Pest Control says, "The waste builds up and as your roof tries to drain the water can't drain. And then it damages your roof, and it can cause leaks."
Pigeons can damage your home which can cost you a couple of hundred bucks to a tens of thousands of dollars. But not only that, pigeons and their droppings also carry several diseases, so you don't want them anywhere near you or your family.
Don't have solar panels? Well, you can still attract pigeons. Rast says avoid unintentionally feeding them.
"Olive trees are a huge benefit to pigeons. They love olive trees. They feed on that. If you're feeding your animals outside, they will eat dog food," says Rast.
As for Teena Slingluff, she had an expert pigeon-proof her solar panels. Finally, problem solved.
"It's like heaven. We have our house back," she says.
