Should I ever poison a pigeon?

There are very few situations in which poison is effective for nuisance animal control, and dealing with pigeons is not one of those situations. While it may seem relatively easy to poison a pigeon, from a humanity standpoint, this is a terrible way for any animal to die. Poisons are notoriously slow-acting, and even if "speedy" by some standards, they usually cause the body to break down internally, and this can be a horrific process. From a common sense standpoint, poisoning birds is a bad idea. Pigeons have the ability to fly miles, and the last thing anyone wants is a flock of poisoned birds spreading out over a county, crawling into tight spaces and eventually dying. If you really need to handle a pigeon problem, it is far easier to install some exclusion barriers. Bird netting, bird spikes, electric strips and the like all provide reasonable means to keep pigeons away. Remember, if the pigeons can't land on your buildings, they won't stick around.



Go back to the Washington DC Bird Control home page.