Most Pest Control Companies = Shoot to Kill Policy

A happy ending in a London household…….  A lady called a pest control company following the discovery of pigeons nesting in her loft.  Her roof had broken with missing tiles which provided access for the birds to take residence.

The pest control company’s response was simple; yes of course we can clear the pigeons from your loft.  How?  We shoot them.

The lady was alarmed with their response.  She was looking for an ethical way to release the birds free, not to kill them!   This was a very similar attitude to the Dirty Britain program featured on ITV a few weeks ago.  The lady then googled for companies that would clear her loft of the birds ethically.  This is when she came across London Wildlife Protection.  This is a company run by many volunteers.

I attended this loft clearing event as a volunteer.  I was amazed at how easy and non-violent it was to remove these beautiful birds from the loft, together with their baby chicks and eggs.  No birds nor eggs were killed.  Each pigeon was easily caught unharmed.  If you wanted to do a job properly, carrying the right equipment together with the knowledge on how to catch them helps, rather than taking the gun-ho cowardly attitude of a rifle.

I learnt if a pigeon has a mate, they stay together for life, so the birds were released outside two by two.  They searched the loft strip by strip and even found a couple of chicks camouflaged in the loft on top of the insulation.  It took just over an hour but the loft was cleared with all precious lives intact.

The roof holes where then temporarily sealed to prevent any more from coming in. The lady was very happy with the result and would definitely recommend London Wildlife Protection for any wildlife concerns in the future.

This simply showed how many good-natured people are out there. Pest Control Companies are not the answer.  For them, money is more important than perhaps a little more effort for the life of an innocent animal.  Their approach is how quickly can we get rid of the pest so they can get onto the next money-making job.

Clearing the pigeons was a simple process.  If one takes time to understand how they manoeuvre and how to catch them, it takes patience but the rewards are highly satisfying.

A job well done.