by Alex A. Kecskes
Dozens of filthy pigeons recently invaded the Food Court above the Roma Street Railway Station, creating a health hazard just outside KFC, McDonald's and Donut King.
At the Delta Airlines terminal at JFK Airport, pigeons seemed to be everywhere in the food court area, snatching up food and leaving their disease-carrying droppings.
A food court patron in another city accidentally spilled some taco meat on a table and was besieged by a dozen or so pigeons. The filthy birds pulled out all the stops to steal his food. They came out of nowhere, jumping on the table, flying and hovering around him in a panicked effort to devour the precious bits of ground beef. Customers nearby urged him to swat the persistent birds, which he did while trying to hold on to the remains of his taco. The pigeons were extremely aggressive, jumping on and hovering around his hand, pecking at and trying to snatch the taco from his grasp. The determined birds even tried to peck at the taco he was still in the process of chewing. Fortunately, a few solid backhands sent the birds fleeing to another table.
If you’re a food court manager or owner, you can’t afford to have pigeons and other flying pests harassing your customers. Especially in these tough economic times when consumers are cutting back on going out to eat. Pigeons snatching up food from tables and chairs and leaving droppings after they’re done can be a costly health violation. Pest birds, as most health inspectors will tell you, can carry any of 60 known diseases.
To keep pigeons and other pest birds out of food court areas, you must implement an effective bird control strategy. This may involve the use of several bird deterrents to keep persistent birds like pigeons away.
Some of the more proven effective bird control measures include:
Pigeon Spikes. These can be placed immediately outside of food court areas to deny pigeons a place to land. If they can’t land, they can’t perch and observe, which is what all pest birds do before they “move in for the kill.” Bird spikes come in rigid U.V.-resistant unbreakable polycarbonate spikes or high-strength, durable stainless steel. You can even order them in different colors--including white, tan, gray, black, brown, brick red and crystal clear to match the décor of your food court. One manufacturer offers a stainless steel spike with a patented “bend-and-crush” design. The best pigeon spikes feature a unique “no-nest” design with no-gap spacing to deter birds from roosting or landing. If your food court has rain gutters outside, these may be infested with pigeon nests. To keep pest birds out of these areas, you’ll need a special kind of bird spike called a Gutter Bird Spike, which is specially designed to fit onto gutters.
No-Knot Bird Netting. Here, again, you want to deny pest birds like pigeons from entering food courts and other areas where food is being prepared or served. This particular netting is low profile, lightweight and easy to handle and install. It comes in several stock sizes and custom cuts. No-Knot bird netting is also tough and resilient with a 10-year guarantee. It’s non-conductive and made of flame resistant, multi-strand polypropylene fiber. (Polypropylene is chemically inert and will resist the influence of many chemicals at ordinary temperatures.) The best bird netting is ISO 1806 Protocol mesh tested. It won’t rot, absorb water, or mildew, and it should have built-in U.V. inhibitors to hold up under years of tough weather.
