by R.W. Delaney, Business Writer
A government contracting firm in Arizona was snuffing out an infestation of birds. Steinhoff & Sadler, Inc., a national company that specializes in performing contract maintenance and construction repair work for government facilities, had a big mess on its hands.
John Hawker, planner/estimator for Steinhoff & Sadler's office in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, explains. His company had a five-year contract to maintain a large two-story Federal administrative office building. Fort Huachuca, he says, is located just 20 miles north of the Mexican border, on the migratory pathway of mud swallows. "During the migratory season, the swallows built mud nests under the eaves," Hawker says. "This created a problem with excrement on the windows and down the side of the masonry. It looked unsightly," he summarizes.
Drastic methods of getting rid of the birds were out of the question. "The government is sensitive to the environment and to animals and birds," Hawker says. In this case, the government Wildlife Management Officer was interested in the well-being of the swallows and asked Hawker to count the nests, which numbered as many as 178. "We had to find a humane way to discourage the birds," without doing violence to them.
"We looked into having the sheet-metal shop fabricate semi-circular metal aprons to be installed at a certain angle so the birds couldn't penetrate the eaves, and we'd
treat the eaves with special resistant paint," Hawker says.
But, when he estimated the cost of materials, labor to make the metal retrofittings, and the equipment and skilled labor to put up the metal guards, it was prohibitively expensive. That's when Hawker turned to Bird-X QB-4 units, which, he heard, had been used successfully elsewhere on government property.
After the mud swallows had raised their young and vacated the premises, Hawker's crew removed the nests by hand and cleaned the eaves with high-pressure hoses. Then they installed a QB-4 unit on one corner of the building, about 30 feet up. This discouraged all of the birds from nesting, except for one spot that was around a corner where the ultrasonic waves could not reach. So Hawker placed a second unit in the opposite corner. After six months of continual use, he reports, "we've had no problems."
Best of all, he notes, are the resulting cosmetic improvement in the look of the building and the elimination of the serious sanitation issue raised formerly by excessive bird droppings in an area frequented by public employees. Also, Hawker says, the unobtrusive unit has a "low profile" that does not detract aesthetically from buildings. And he notes the significant decrease in maintenance expense. Hawker is pleased with the performance of the QB-4. "I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it," he says." It is well worth the investment, since most other conventional means are more costly." And, oftentimes, less humane.
Apparently, the "sonic solution" is good for people and harmless to our feathered friends and fellow critters on planet earth.