[Jim Lyding]

Earlier tonight, I discovered that the local pigeons have been hanging out on top of my Weber kettle grill, and strategically depositing what they deposit right through the vent holes onto the cooking surface. Luckily I had a backup cooking surface.
However, I'm looking for a very-lethal method of convincing those rats-with-wings that they don't want to hang out in my yard. It must be quiet so as to not arouse my neighbor's ire if they are the types to become upset, and I doubt that they would. Blowgun? Pellet gun? Trained bobcat? I've culled pigeons with a blowgun back in college @ the U of A, but the local police didn't like it. Actually, they had no problem with it, but the crazy lady who lived across-the-street from our fraternity house did have a problem.
Any suggestions?

[fairweather8588]

bb gun of any kind... pidgeon poop all over a patio is very unsanitary so after awhile we took action, and didnt have any problems after a little bit. You can pick one up from wally world for dirt cheap

[Darth Stiller]

Don't they sell the spikes that you can put on top of the grill to prevent them from sitting there (or where ever they sit)? BB guns can rile neighbors very easily. and if you miss, you might have to answer questions to law enforcement about broken windows, or worse. Just a thought.

[coanbru]

Owl/Hawk Decoy.....or....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twRAM7cykIU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67NJWrFnqns
last ditch effort, Avitrol

[Jim Lyding]

Thanks fellow HAZ users.
Stiller, I can't use the plastic spikes like what I've installed at my mom's house because my grill seems to be the problem. Plastic spikes + top of a Weber kettle grill = a lot of melted plastic. I like the hawk/owl decoy idea, but I think I've settled on the more-permanent solution of a pellet gun. My 20-gauge shotgun would arouse too much problems with the resulting pellet-holes in the cinderblock wall (sorry, landlord), and even my pigeon-hating neighbors might have a problem w/ the noise and a deadly firearm being discharged next door.
The good thing is that the law-enforcement personnel down here have much more pressing things to worry about like homies shooting homies. I'll let y'all know how it works out WITHOUT photographic evidence that can be used against me in a court of law. It will be purely for hypothetical purposes.

[Jim Lyding]

Can we train BerkForbe's goats to hunt down pigeons?

[Jim Lyding]

Anyone have any idea about how effective it is to feed them Rol-Aids?

[azbackpackr]

Rolaids are for heartburn, dude, not diarrhea. I think you have the best solution, or a blowgun. Some pellet guns are slightly noisy, I guess it depends on how noisy your neighborhood is if anyone can hear it. I think getting rid of them is more neighborly than sending them off to bother someone else!

[PLC92084]

Anyone have any idea about how effective it is to feed them Rol-Aids

I believe you may be thinking of alka-seltzer tablets... very detrimental effect on seagulls (aquatic rats-with-wings...)

[berkforbes]

In response to Jim Lyding:
I doubt it, but i could come by with my scoped pellet gun and pluck a few of those rats off..

[Darth Stiller]

Can't you take the spikes off when you start the grill? there ought to be some way to do that. I'm just thinking also that trying to kill them can be sort of futile. It's like trying to kill all the mosquitoes when you're getting bit as a way to not get bit. sooner or later, you gotta move to the repellant.

[jeffmacewen]

Spray them with a hose. It will take a couple of days but they will go away. We have TONS of them here in town and they avoid my house like the plague ever since my water campaign started.

Pellet guns...yea. Bad idea. Go ask the kids in the mini-dorm down the road from me how well shooting pigeons with a pellet rifle went for them. One was arrested for unlawful discharge of a firearm within city limits (He's looking at ninety days in jail) and both were cited and fined for creating a public menace. They were out there shooting at the Cox Communications junction box one afternoon trying to hit pigeons and one of their pellets ricocheted off my guest house. I calmly walked over and explained to them that the next time one of those landed in my yard I would be less patient with them and if they are ever out shooting that thing while my kid is in our yard they would get some real lead back, in return. The next day the neighbors beat me to it and called the cops. I doubt your mileage would be any different in Phoenix so it's a course of action I would not suggest...

[coanbru]

I second jeffmacewen's response.. as for Rolaids, which PLC92084 pointed out should have read alka-seltzer per the myth. It's just that...a myth. The thought was that the flying rat woud eat the alka-seltzer and because they could not, um..er...ahh.... let's say pass gas, they would explode. http://www.skepticfiles.org/urban/alka-sel.htm.

I had problems with ducks landing in and using my pool as a bathroom. I sent the dogs out there, and they'd just swim to the other end of the pool. It became a game with the dogs and the ducks. So out came my son's paintball gun. There is a duck flying around out there with a big orange spot on it's side. I have never had a problem with ducks since.

[chumley]

I used my pellet gun for years to pick them off the powerline behind my house. It was effective, but as Stiller said, its like trying to kill mosquitos ... there's always more. Then there's the humane problem I ran into. See, they don't always die immediately if you don't get a solid hit. Even though its a flying rat, I still couldn't handle seeing a lame pigeon flopping around my backyard unable to fly after I hit its wing. In that case, a sledgehammer makes very quick work of things.

I do ultimately think that making your yard an inhospitable spot for them is the best solution. Whether that includes spikes, water, alka-seltzer, double-sized carpet tape, fake predators, or REAL predators (you've always wanted a pet hawk, right?)....

[coanbru]

You could always hire Randy Johnson to come in and take care of the problem....

[PLC92084]

Train the Attack Goats!

[writelots]

My husband spent hours in our back yard, picking off the pigeons with his pellet gun - he's a crack shot, and since he was shooting up, there was little chance of collateral damage. There are power poles running over our property (the price of a historic home), and the lady behind us puts cat food out. Attracts pigeons like cream does cats. We park in the back, and needless to say, it was impossible to keep the cars clean of bird mess. He probably killed 40-50 of those things in the first 5 years we lived there. Didn't even make a dent. It did, however, bring him a perverse pleasure to get back at those nasty animals.

The ones that dropped into our yard were easy enough to dispose of. The ones that dropped into the alley...well, lets just say that the spicy and tame cats in the 'hood learned that pellet gun noises meant easy dinner. Usually the bird carcass was gone before we even got the gate open to retrieve it.

Except the last one he shot - the one that made him quit. He took aim, shot, hit the bird square on the head. It plumeted to the pavement below in a mess of feathers. The little girl who was walking through the alley with her mom (we couldn't see them from our angle) let out a scream that'd curl your hair. Her mom's scream was less piercing, but just as scared. They turned around and ran out of the alley. Gary thought that it was a sign that perhaps bird killing just wasn't a good idea in an inner-city neighborhood...

[joe bartels]

Beware of BBs as they rust in pools. Back in the 80's my buddy was taking out birds in his back yard. About a week later the neighbors had him diving to clean their pool. Also keep in mind that an uncommon number of dead birds lying around attracts all sorts of other unwanted issues. One guy would also have a better chance of taking out the entire army in China than all the pigeons in the world.

Commercial spikes are metal, not plastic. Spikes and netting are widely used because they work. It's a done deal, no need to maintain or restock chemicals.

Avitrol and that mineral oil paste video look promising. The sound device one is questionable. The birds moved with his presence as much as the sound. Looked like they slowly moved further and further. Guess if you want to listen to that cackalling 24/7 it's an option.

[Rob del Desierto]

GAMO Whisper. Less that 200 bucks some places. Take care of them without the noise.

[te-wa]

a pellet gun is a firearm and cannot be discharged in city limits, within 1/4 mile of a residence, or road..etc.
a toddler was recently killed by a bb gun that fired into a home. strangely rare, but possible.

so, go to the Dollar Tree and buy a $1 plastic snake. Get a bright yellow one with red stripes. It kept the woodpeckers off my back porch, so should work for Columba Livia.