Dealing with Odd Pests

[Lynxe]

Interesting situations here... I think my response to the attacking birds probably would be to carry a tennis racket around. Water sound like it worked well though.

Not an unusual pest, but my dad says spraying Listerine in the garage keeps mosquitoes out, I haven't seen a single one in there.

[Daistallia 2104]

Oh, and here's one for insect infestations. When I lived in SE Texas, everybody had problems w/ big old wood roaches. A spray bottle filled w/ rubbing alcohol does wonders.

[The Scandinvans]

Well, we've had a massive increase in the number of blackbirds in the area this year. Normally we don't mind them, they aren't a problem. This year, however, there must be a ton nesting somewhere on my street, and they've started attacking my dog when she's out in the backyard. She's an old dog, 14 years old and pretty hard of hearing; it's not like she can hear them coming and do anything to evade. They've even gotten ballsy enough to try and attack my mom and other humans in the backyard. Clearly, this is a problem.

Of course, dealing with the problem isn't easy. We don't necessarily want to kill these birds, and there's little practical way to do so anyway. (Firearms are not a viable solution, period. So no whipping out a pistol and opening fire!) In a discussion on how to perhaps drive the birds out of our yard, the suggestion jokingly came up that "Well, there's Steph's big Super Soaker in the garage..."

Shortly followed by, "... That's actually not a bad idea."

And then followed by my mother and I standing out in the backyard, me with the aforementioned water cannon, Mom with the hose with the jet nozzle with the water-conservation cut-off, setting up an anti-air crossfire. The idea being that the water doesn't hurt them, but it annoys the crap out of them and chases them away. They land on the backyard fence, one of us sprays them. They fly up into the big pine tree in the yard to get away from it, one of us sprays them up there, too. They fly up onto the chimney or the roof; they get sprayed there. So far it's working pretty well, they've already reduced how often they're in the yard; and it's surprisingly a great deal of fun. It's like real-life Duck Hunt, only without ducks or that annoying dog that laughs when you miss

Releasing a couple dozen alley cats usually will fix such a problem.

[SoWiBi]

My parents do the "water spray birds with humonguous water pistols" trick, too. Was I surprised to find that huge water cannon influorescent colors in the house of my peace-loving, no-military-style-toys parents.. 'till it was explained to me, and I spent a lovely day out water-shooting birds. I hate birds, they scare the living shit out of me, and it was quite wonderful to do this.

[Molested Sock]

I would call an exterminator or buy some insect poison.

Beware, insect poison is also people poison
I learned this the hard way.

Iguana's are not insects...

[SoWiBi]

Iguana's are not insects...

And the plural of iguana is most definitely not iguana's.

[Molested Sock]

Iguana's are not insects...

And the plural of iguana is most definitely not iguana's.

Iguana or Iguani or something else?

[The Tofu Islands]

Around the only pests we really get are mice (for which there are traps).
Although when the ants start breeding it can get a little irritating.

Iguana or Iguani or something else?

"Iguanas" -- no apostrophe before the "s".

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

Animals and insects, mind you! Well, do you have somewhat of a pest problem and if you do, how do you deal with it? In our neighborhood, we have an iguana problem. I chase them into corners and promptly hack off their heads with a machete. And hey, I'm not cruel, they eat our flowers! Besides, quickly chopping their heads off is better than not doing anything and letting my dog get at them. Well, are there any odd pest encounters, plus tips and tricks that the NS community would like to share?

Also, those green things have endangered in more than one occasion, the natural habitat of the Puerto Rican parrot. They spread salmonella and are an overall pest. I don't understand why the Island didn't banned them sooner. Are they still sold at pet stores?

[SaintB]

Well, we've had a massive increase in the number of blackbirds in the area this year. Normally we don't mind them, they aren't a problem. This year, however, there must be a ton nesting somewhere on my street, and they've started attacking my dog when she's out in the backyard. She's an old dog, 14 years old and pretty hard of hearing; it's not like she can hear them coming and do anything to evade. They've even gotten ballsy enough to try and attack my mom and other humans in the backyard. Clearly, this is a problem.

Of course, dealing with the problem isn't easy. We don't necessarily want to kill these birds, and there's little practical way to do so anyway. D

You can actually kill small birds with a pellet gun legal to own in most countries and legal to fire within most city limits.

but your not wanting to kill them.
When I was stationed at Fort Detrick earth Terminal we had a bird problem. Namely so many birds would roost on the antenna(50 foot satellite antenna) that the bird poop would become a health hazard. Originally (before I was there) they would take pellet guns and pop the birds, only one pump so not enough to kill 9 out of 10 times, and more importantly not put holes in the Antenna, and it would get them to leave. Well the City of Frederick's Mayor didn't like this and whined about it. So we got humane traps which didn't work very well.
Finally one guy took a bird out of a trap and slightly electrocuted it and recorded the sounds it made. then every evening we would play the sounds near the Antenna and the birds would go roost somewhere else like magic.

Hethrow Airport uses Tina Turner music.

[Buffett and Colbert]

Animals and insects, mind you! Well, do you have somewhat of a pest problem and if you do, how do you deal with it? In our neighborhood, we have an iguana problem. I chase them into corners and promptly hack off their heads with a machete. And hey, I'm not cruel, they eat our flowers! Besides, quickly chopping their heads off is better than not doing anything and letting my dog get at them. Well, are there any odd pest encounters, plus tips and tricks that the NS community would like to share?

Also, those green things have endangered in more than one occasion, the natural habitat of the Puerto Rican parrot. They spread salmonella and are an overall pest. I don't understand why the Island didn't banned them sooner. Are they still sold at pet stores?

I havn't seen them. I've seen other lizards though... XD I just remembered a video a friend of mine posted on Youtube of her parents trying to catch an iguana. It's hilarious!

[Nanatsu no Tsuki]

Animals and insects, mind you! Well, do you have somewhat of a pest problem and if you do, how do you deal with it? In our neighborhood, we have an iguana problem. I chase them into corners and promptly hack off their heads with a machete. And hey, I'm not cruel, they eat our flowers! Besides, quickly chopping their heads off is better than not doing anything and letting my dog get at them. Well, are there any odd pest encounters, plus tips and tricks that the NS community would like to share?

Also, those green things have endangered in more than one occasion, the natural habitat of the Puerto Rican parrot. They spread salmonella and are an overall pest. I don't understand why the Island didn't banned them sooner. Are they still sold at pet stores?

I havn't seen them. I've seen other lizards though... XD I just remembered a video a friend of mine posted on Youtube of her parents trying to catch an iguana. It's hilarious!

Like... TG me the link.

[Secruss]

I got a cat, dog, and baby problem. Should I use poison on them?

[Molested Sock]

Iguana or Iguani or something else?

"Iguanas" -- no apostrophe before the "s".

Wow, retarded.

[SoWiBi]

Iguana or Iguani or something else?

"Iguanas" -- no apostrophe before the "s".

This.

"Iguanas" -- no apostrophe before the "s".

Wow, retarded.

Indeed. That's why I pointed it out, so that you spare yourself the embarassment of looking this "retarded" next time around.

[Luporum]

As far as cats keeping away birds... my neighbor has lost three cats to Falcons in the last five years. :|

[Reploid Productions]

Well, I am happy to report the "spray the birds with water" method seems to have worked wonderfully; the blackbirds are still landing in our neighbors' trees, but they've stopped divebombing people/pets in our backyard. In fact, they've pretty much stopped coming into our yard.

[Phenia]

I got a cat, dog, and baby problem. Should I use poison on them?

...is there a rowboat involved too?