Pest birds and animals crop up everywhere in the news, locally, nationally and internationally. Check below for articles that pertain to your pest problems. These articles cover: West Nile Virus, birds to human transmittable diseases, pigeon control, the effects of bird droppings, lawsuits, accidents, property devaluation, etc.
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Bird-X on the Airwaves
Oct, 2008 - WBBM's Lisa Fielding profiles Chicago's Bird X for WBBM's "Made In Chicago" radio broadcast and podcast series.
Oct, 2008 “It’s made by a company called Bird-X, Inc.,” said Police Chief Larry Cox. “It’s set to cycle through pigeon distress calls and predator bird calls every ...
An Alaskan utility invested in equipment marketed by Bird-X, Inc. of Chicago to reduce conflicts at some of its most raven-riddled substations. Included in the package were spike strips to discourage birds from perching on cross-bars, insulated coverings to protect energized power components, and a "squawker" to scare away ravens...
When choosing a school or university most people do a little research on specific programs: the location, the academic curriculum or the school’s extracurricular activities – though the repeated infestations of birds and other pests give potential students two other areas to think about – their health and how safe they are in these new living and academic environments.
Take me out to the ball game take me out to the birds... Baseball season doesn't just bring fans and food to our ball parks; birds have earned their right in being a main attraction or rather distraction when you hit the stands at most sports arenas.
Birds are habitual species. They continue to come back to an area until an environment sparks danger or becomes undesirable. To rid their facilities of pests, many golf courses and parks acknowledge have taken on a green mentality, using dogs instead of poisons to scare pests away.
Recorded screeches keep birds away from Bartle Hall
The piercing chirps sickened Nancy Groetken as she walked by Bartle Hall. “It sounds like birds or animals in distress,” she writes. “I certainly hope that small animals are not getting trapped in the (heating and cooling vents) and dying a slow death…” What’s that awful noise?
When flocks of starlings began infiltrating the Kansas City Convention and Entertainment Centers in Kansas City, MO, manager Dean Barrett searched for a humane solution to an unsanitary problem.
Tim Birch uses a GooseBuster to chase Canada geese away from Heritage Port — now, he wants to use additional “No Parking” signs to chase vehicles away from Market Street Plaza.
When Something Honks in the Neighborhood, Who Ya Gonna Call?
Of the many potential solutions to Fairfax County’s nagging goose problem, county staff has apparently reached a favorite: Goosebuster, a system of loudspeakers that mimic quacks of warning and send the birds into a panicked retreat.
My neighbor and I live in homes with cedar plywood exteriors. Each day our houses are attacked by an unknown variety of woodpecker. This woodpecker has put lines of small holes and a larger hole the size of a 50-cent piece in our siding. Our problem is how to discourage this negative behavior without harming the birds.
No Harm, No Fowl - Geese gone after falling for cardboard-coyote ruse in Hingham.
In a fauna popularity contest, they’re not taking home any prizes in these parts. Heck, they don’t even like each other. And that’s precisely what Tom Hastings was counting on. The Hingham developer had just finished building new youth athletic fields on Beal Street, and just as the grass started to sprout, a hungry, honking flock of Canada geese moved in to make a meal of it. And the birds left a multitude of messes behind.
A few teeth-baring, life-size coyote replicas almost certainly would improve matters. I know what you're thinking: Of course they would. What situation wouldn't be markedly better with the addition of some menacing models of snarling prairie wolves?
Persistence pays when trying to rid ballparks of avian invasions. During several Detroit Tigers home games earlier this season, the scene at Comerica Park conjured up Hitchcockian images of Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor fighting for their lives amid swarms of bloodthirsty birds. As many as 60 herring gulls descended on the field during the peak of their five-day infestation, distracting players and fans alike.
Bartlett has new tools for bird abatement: coyotes on sticks and alligator heads. Not real coyotes or alligators, mind you, but fake ones that look mean enough to scare flocks of wildfowl from parks and ponds.
Town officials plan to use a high-tech system to deter flocks of pigeons that have taken up residence and leave daily messes on sidewalks and anything else outdoors.
California Regional Water Quality Control Board Los Angeles Region Researches Enviromental Quality of Beaches
The California Regional Water Quality Control Board, Los Angeles Region (Regional Board) is the lead agency for evaluating the environmental impacts of the proposed Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL) for bacteria at Kiddie and Hobie Beaches, and Harbor Cove Beach located at Channel Islands Harbor and Ventura Harbor, respectively.
First, there were Ghostbusters to rid homes of unwanted spooks. Now, there's goose busters -- for urban fowl just too foul.Canada geese in Simcoe parks have become so annoying that civic officials are thinking of blasting the downtown area with loud sounds of barking coyotes, gunshots and even geese warning calls.
Grain farmers in Rwanda and East Africa have cause to smile with an agricultural spray that repels predator birds.Bird shield, manufactured by Impec of the United States is a bird repellent made from the chemical, methyl anthranilate.
The Escanaba Municipal Harbor is using coyotes to help control its geese problem. Throughout the harbor, coyotes can be seen keeping watch over the geese. They're only cardboard cut-outs, but they're doing the job.
Several months ago, metal detectors were installed at the Metro Justice Building to keep out armed intruders. Now the Dade County Courthouse is getting new technology for protection against a different kind of assailant - pigeons.
Hughes Aircraft was encountering problems with dive-bombing pigeons at its plant in El Segundo, so the company developed an exotic defense system. A series of fake owls stationed on ledges. But the bogus predators were only marginally effective.
For The Birds - A Wide-Eyed Hughes Solves Pigeon Puzzle
You'd think that Hughes Aircraft Co., which has helped put Americans in space an built missiles that shoot down nuclear bombs, could easily handle the problem of pigeons. But when a large flock of the annoying birds roosted above the company's outdoor cafeteria in El Segundo last year, even the most highly trained engineers wrung their hands with worry.
Q. Our church is having the same problem the Dade County Courthouse did - pigeons. They are making our entrance an unsightly mess. IT has to be pressure-cleaned every few months. The church men's club would like to solve the problem the same way the county did. What's the name of the high-frequency device the county used to convince the pigeons to move? - George Fraga, Miami A. It's the Ultrason ET Bird Repellent made by Bird-X, Inc.
Pigeons have for years laid out a welcome mat at the door to the county courthouse. The lawyers, judges and bureaucrats who entered stepped lightly. Andy Andrade, building manager of the courthouse, inventive problem solver, met the pigeon challenge head-on. This week, he conquered it.
Hines had purchased and installed a "Goose Buster," which has helped tremendously to control the goose problem. The Goose Buster sends out a sound of a goose in distress, which deters other geese from coming close.
If your carwash is beginning to look like a scene out of one of Alfred Hitchcock's most famous suspense thrillers, it's time to look into bird control.
Change is in the air at the Mary Duncan Public Library in Benson. An outdoor programmable decoy has been installed to deter pigeons from roosting on the library's roof. Head Librarian Linda Hayes said pigeons have been a problem at the library for years. "It's the mess they make that's so awful," Mrs. Hayes said. "You could not walk in front of the library for the pigeon poop. Until recently I used to have to sweep every morning."
Women face fine, possible jail time for cutting down tree
Three sisters who own a downtown Branson establishment are in a flock of trouble after cutting down a Bradford pear tree - a tree that was a roost for several birds that wreaked havoc on the restaurateurs. Christina "Chris" Olson, Teresa Olson and Jo Anne Lund who own Jimmy Jet's Grill were each issued citations Tuesday, Aug. 31 by the Branson Police Department for cutting down and removing a tree that was planted in front of the restaurant by merchants approximately five years ago.
Those beautiful peaches on your tree are almost ripe. Tomorrow, you'll pick them. But when you go out with your peach basket, devastation awaits: Each golden-rose fruit has been devoured, leaving little but the pit. Netting may be the best way to keep birds from eating ripe peaches off trees.
Birds and associated diseases are hot news right now. People worry and wonder about bird flu jumping species -- but in fact there are already over 60 different human diseases associated with birds and their droppings, some of which can be fatal.
How to keep birds and other pesky pests away from your home
The promise of warmer weather, flowers and green grass aren't the only things that come with spring. An increase in raccoon, possum, pigeon and rodent nuisances is something that many homeowners dread as the summer months near.
When woodpeckers come calling, here is how to answer
-Q: My wood-sided house is being attacked by woodpeckers, which have made several sizable holes in the siding. Is there a way to keep them away without harming them? -A: Woodpeckers are attracted to houses, and especially wood-sided houses, for several reasons. They hunt for insects in the wood, bang on metal or wood surfaces in a ritual called drumming and sometimes make large holes intended for nests. Your birds appear to have nests in mind.
...Seagulls are also a thing of the past in the Bird Lake and Pink Lake area, after the introduction of bird expeller units, which keep the nuisance birds away by sending out distress calls to deter the seagulls from returning to the area.
GEESE CONTROL GooseChase is a foodgrade, biodegradable taste aversion agent made from a constituent of concord grapes (methyl anthranilate) that renders treated food sources unpalatable and inedible.
Coyotes not talking turkey at Johnson's Glass House
When it was built in 1949, the iconic Glass House was called an architectural breakthrough. But in recent years, breakthroughs of a different kind threatened the house: wild turkeys.
For the birds. A high-frequency sound system at the Accenture Tower does what other bird-repelling methods couldn't -keep most pigeons away
A high-frequency sound system at the Accenture Tower does what other bird-repelling methods couldn't — keep most pigeons away. A few years ago, the pigeon problem at Accenture Tower in downtown Minneapolis was sometimes so bad that anybody standing on the building’s Third Avenue side was, ahem, “vulnerable” to what birds leave behind.
Coyotes not talking turkey at Johnson's Glass House
NEW CANAAN, Conn-When it was built in 1949, the iconic Glass House was called an architectural breakthrough. But in recent years, breakthroughs of a different kind threatened the house: wild turkeys.
Birds of a feather flock together — and then do what birds do. After receiving many complaints about bird noise and droppings, the Ithaca Downtown Partnership approached the City of Ithaca about ways to discourage the birds from roosting in trees on the Commons.
For most people, bird poop is annoying, gross and sometimes funny if they're not the one it landed on, but for the 25 employees at Bird-X, Inc., 300 N. Elizabeth St., it's cash in the bank. Since its founding in Chicago in 1964, the company has developed 25 bird repellent products, from perching spikes to a machine that creates ultrasonic sounds that send Canada Geese, pigeons and other birds flapping away.
More than 15 years after Albert Rich planted his first high bush blueberries at Merry Brook Farm in Tamworth, the business of growing and selling organic blueberries is still growing strong. Blueberries are considered a very healthy food, with many antioxidants. Those lookding for this healthy treat are often happy to find organically grown berries like the ones Rich sells.
Tulsa Community College's Southeast Campus at 81st and US Highway 169 has a geese problem. Actually, they like the geese; it is what the geese leave behind on grass and sidewalks that's the real problem.
Dear Action Line: I want to know how to get rid of pigeons. Across the street they have more than 100 pigeons and they feed them. Then the birds sit on my house and do their business. I can't even go out in my yard. What can I do? -- J.G.M., Tulsa. Netting: The critter-control company Bird-X -- www.bird-x.com/ -- has many products for the control of pigeons.
They peck away at houses and mess up windowsills. Common in most cities, pigeons can be constant annoyances, but some Buckeye residents have had enough. The dirty tiles and sidewalks, the health risk and the threat to home values have proved too unbearable to live with.
Some see them as uninvited guests. Others call them the dove's ugly cousin. Still others view them as little more than "flying rats," carrying with them disease and fleas. Ahwatukee Foothills residents, like many homeowners across the Valley, have been dealing with the pigeon problem for years.
Dear Help!: Lately, small birds have decided to use the top of my mailbox post for their restroom. It gets very messy. I drove some small nails into the top of the post to thwart their landing, but they put one foot on the post and the other on top of a nail head and then do their business. Short of using my air pistol, which seems a little extreme, I'm open to just about any ideas for discouraging them. George Kozlow, Melbourne Outsmarting nature's feathered friends is the full-time business of Bird-X Inc.
Usually pigeons love few things more than...station opened in June, the pigeons have steered clear, thanks...successful have the devices been at pigeon-proofing the Revere Beach and Beachmont...in the battle to shoo the pigeons and their disease-causing...
They prey on the weak and unsuspecting at boardwalks and fast-food joints all along the coast. While many seashore residents simply look the other way as they steal what they can, the management of Burger King restaurants in Atlantic and Cape May counties is fighting back. Not with bullets or prison bars. No, this menace calls for something far more punishing: bird sounds. And it seems to be working.
First she stopped the seagulls from scaring the horses -- now Leone Scobie is protecting wine grapes from birds. It's saving the harvest from ruin, the birds from gunshot and the producer from buying expensive netting.
...Over the past few weeks, I've had a large woodpecker drilling holes in the side of my house! I believe it's a pileated woodpecker. What can I do to deter this bird?... You might also want to check into the bird control products manufactured by a company called Bird-X....
For pigeons, Chicago is a pretty nice place. Downtown workers share bits of lunch with them, the buildings provide shade and there are all those statues - more than 500, from Abraham Lincoln to Harry Caray. While the city's exterminators zealously hunt rats in the alleys, they lay off the pigeons, knowing they risk a public backlash if they poison the birds that fans call rock doves.
City Rues The Roost. Pigeons Are Up, Down, All Around - And Not Going Away
After 20 years of generally good pigeon news in Chicago — fewer and fewer of them — two inconclusive but noteworthy bird counts spotted an alarming trend: more of the fat little feathered freeloaders.
Hitchcock In Chicago? Beware The Seagulls Got A Bird Problem? Then Call This Company
For many years, birds taunted and harassed Navy Pier visitors like a group of rowdy teenagers. Seagulls crashed parties on the terrace, helping themselves to food intended for guests. Sparrows flew through open doors and loading docks to take up residence in the heated halls. And red-winged blackbirds, concerned about protecting nearby nests, dive-bombed children who waited in line for a turn at the Ferris wheel.
County tries scare tactics to control geese 'scary eye balloons' placed in park
Local parks staff hope beach ball-like balloons floating in the water in Simcoe’s parks will help scare off Canada geese. With the geese overwhelming the parks system with droppings and overpopulation, this is just one of the inexpensive temporary measures staff will try to quell the problem, says Steve Scheers, manager of forestry and cemeteries with Norfolk County. The balloons have a “scary eye” design on them that apparently frightens geese.
My Problem Is Not With My Lawn Or Garden, But With A House Pest
Q: My problem is not with my lawn or garden, but with a house pest. I have woodpeckers pecking holes in the siding on my house, and I can’t figure out how to stop them. I have repaired the holes for the third time in less than a year. My house has painted masonite siding on it. It must be something they like. Do you have any ideas on how to stop them? They are a small black-and-white-variety woodpecker. I would appreciate your advice. — Name withheld A: Woodpeckers are hard to stop.
Oshkosh parks officials’ battle with unwanted geese in Menominee Park is over – at least for now. Just before the start of the city’s annual Sawdust Days festival, which began June 30, the city’s parks and forestry departments rounded up and shipped out 275 of the birds with the help of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Birds Steer Clear Of Pacificorp Dave Johnston Plant
Is that a bird? Or is it Memorex? If it's any number of squawks, caws and other birdly noises you hear at Dave Johnston Plant, it's most likely a recording. Few - if any - birds dare fly near the blant these days.
How many college professors does it take to shoo a flock of geese? One, if the professor is "Dr. Goose," also known as Philip Whitford of Capital University. Whitford, 54, is the brain behind the battles waged against the giant Canada goose at golf courses, corporate parks, shopping centers and anywhere else the winged pooping machine decides to live. His Buick bears "Dr. Goose" license plates, and his head is filled with goose statistics
BroadBand PRO from Bird-X targets pest birds with a combination of four different sound types: distress cries, predator cries, general harassments and ultrasonic waves. Its development is based on the use of sonic repellers. State-of-the-art technology provides sound variety and eliminates the need to use multiple machines, according to the company.
What's up with the year round squawking bird noises at the Howard El stop on the Red Line?
Q:What's Up with the year-round squawing at the Howard El stop on the Red line? A: Even in the midst of a Chicago blizzard and with no birds in sight, an almost eerie din of squeals and screeches hovers over the Howard El track. The noise comes form the Super BirdXPeller PRO, a machine that imitates the calls of birds in distress and their predators.
BroadBand PRO targets pest birds with an unrelenting combination of four different sound types: 1) distress cries to indicate danger to pigeons, starlings, gulls and more, 2) predator cries, like falcons and hawks, to add realism, 3) general harassments for an all-bird defense, and 4) ultrasonic waves to guard day and night.
Bird-X's BroadBand PRO targets pest birds with an unrelenting combination of four different sound types.Its development is based on 40 years of success with sonic repellers that featured one of the four types, but this is the first machine to combine them all.
This state-of-the-art technology eliminates the need to use multiple machines while providing sound variety. BroadBand PRO sound waves move from speaker to speaker for a constant, menacing defense. This powerful sound attack forces birds to leave for good, yet it’s harmless to the birds and the environment.
GooseBuster uses actual alert and alarm calls of Canadian geese. Alert signifies nervousness or concern about potential danger. Alarm signifies immediate danger requiring instant evacuation. Sound combinations and sequences change randomly, causing geese to perceive multiple birds in motion in several locations.
Ronald Schwarcz has a message for those who want to raise tariffs and erect new trade barriers to protect American industries. It would be disastrous for his company. Schwarcz, president of Chicago-based Bird-X Inc., a 32-year-old manufacturer of devices designed to repel birds and animals from places like airports and buildings, is just beginning to move aggressively into new foreign markets.
Feathered 'Friends' Help West Side Company Build Nest Egg
Birds are the enemy. Descendants of the dinosaurs? Perhaps. Soaring seraphs of nature? Certainly. But many people who own property or run a business step into a bird problem, especially when spring comes.
There haven't been any recent incidents reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds." So Chicago-based Bird-X Inc. has developed its own strategies to propel international sales of a product line that repels pest birds.
The city has a new weapon in its arsenal against pesky, poop-dropping Canada geese: a bird repellant spray that smells like grape bubble gum. The chemical spray, called "bird repellants concentrate" and marketed under the name Bird Shield, contains methylanthranilate, the active ingredient in Conccord grapes.
Alligator heads are popping up in the pond at the University of Alabama at Huntsville, but don't worry. Officials say it's just ducky. The life-size, urethane-foam alligator heads were being put in the pond Wednesday to scare away ducks and geese so the growing bird population will not become a health hazard.
The "Gator Guard" from Bird-X Inc. costs $69 and has reflective orange-yellow eyes that resemble one of the birds' natural predators."Our fear is that we'll put them out and the ducks will figure out they're not a threat," said Marcia Green, director of the UAH office of environmental health and safety.
