Got a pigeon problem? Time to break out the LASER!!!

[Crossy]

WARNING Lasers of the type indicated here can cause permanent eye damage. Common sense is required and no pointing at aircraft (they are not big silver birds), people or pets. Use the regular red pointers to amuse/annoy the cat.

 

Anyway.

A few weeks back Madam was moaning to the builder's merchant that pigeons roosting on our gable-end are, er, depositing on the patio roof which now has solar panels which really don't like pigeon poop.

 

He told her to use a laser pointer! Hmm.

 

A bit of research showed that laser bird scarers really are a thing. Apparently, the birds perceive the beam as a solid object and avoid it, no actual contact with the creatures and certainly not in their eyes, that would be unethical (even with pigeons). Green is the colour of choice for birds.

 

Commercial units are not exactly low-cost of course so it was time to do some shopping.

 

I ordered the most powerful, green "laser pointer" I spotted on Lazada. "3W" it says unlike your normal pointer of about 3mW!!

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i265013902-s411903063.html

 

The beast that arrived would not look out of place in the hands of Luke Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi or Yoda!! Apparently green lightsabers are wielded by Jedi warriors.

 

It does come with diffusers to make pretty patterns, these are still in their plastic bag

 

Charged the supplied 18640 Li-Ion battery on the supplied charger, time to test.

I checked the input power and I reckon the laser is nearer to 2W but so what!

 

It works like a charm, the birds see the beam coming and scatter, no need to actually hit them so no smell of barbecued pigeon. Walk around the house aiming towards the beasts a couple of times and they don't come back.

 

After a week of use at dusk when they are seeking somewhere to roost, we are now down to one or two each evening, Madam encourages them to leave (she's evidently got an evil streak).

 

It works at long range (commercial units of similar power claim several km), aimed at the next house over (100m or so) and their pigeons scattered too.

 

[CharlieH]

Totally agree, I posted about this sometime back, its quiet and very efficient.

 

Highly recommended.

[john donson]

wow if that is the laser pointer you use, you can burn a hole in them, saw some demos before, things catching fire from it

[sometimewoodworker]

33 minutes ago, Crossy said:

I ordered the most powerful, green "laser pointer" I spotted on Lazada. "3W" it says unlike your normal pointer of about 3mW!!

Also available on AliExpress, possibly drop shipped from them,

and available with a charger if you don’t have one

[carlyai]

Just ordered one. Thanks.

I bought one in Bali years ago but had to disassemble it and put in different suitcases to take back to Aus as is illegal. 

[SAFETY FIRST]

1 hour ago, Crossy said:

WARNING

Got a pigeon problem? Time to break out the LASER!!!

A co-worker of mine from Brazil swears by this contraption.

 

 

[Tropicalevo]

Presumably they work on mynah birds as well?

Those little 'darlings' walk into my house when I am not at my desk.

Looking for crumbs and krappping everywhere.

[Ralf001]

1 hour ago, john donson said:

wow if that is the laser pointer you use, you can burn a hole in them, saw some demos before, things catching fire from it

 

I have a 10w laser, set it up on a spare 3D printer so I can do laser engraving... Mmmmm burning wood smell !

[Korat Kiwi]

There are some very powerful laser pointers on Lazada.  Ones that can even light a cigarette. 

 

I bought a 30mW Superfire one about 2 weeks ago. Thought I'd take it back to NZ with me... But NO. 

 

Completely illegal unless you are a member of an astrology group/company or part of the Defence Force or Police. 

 

Even having one on your person is a chargeable offence.  You also cannot give, sell or buy one unless you are as above. 

 

When I was working in the Middle East, I took several lasers back to NZ.  But times have changed. 

 

I'll keep my 30mW one here to scare away the birds. Even our oldest dog doesn't like the laser.  Young pup doesn't care. 

[daveAustin]

Nice one. In previous years, have used the fishing line trick suspended couple inches above railing on a balcony that they would always roost on. Bird crap everywhere. Not a one landed afterward and we could go away for weeks on end and return to no droppings.

[billd766]

4 hours ago, Crossy said:

WARNING Lasers of the type indicated here can cause permanent eye damage. Common sense is required and no pointing at aircraft (they are not big silver birds), people or pets. Use the regular red pointers to amuse/annoy the cat.

 

Anyway.

A few weeks back Madam was moaning to the builder's merchant that pigeons roosting on our gable-end are, er, depositing on the patio roof which now has solar panels which really don't like pigeon poop.

 

He told her to use a laser pointer! Hmm.

 

A bit of research showed that laser bird scarers really are a thing. Apparently, the birds perceive the beam as a solid object and avoid it, no actual contact with the creatures and certainly not in their eyes, that would be unethical (even with pigeons). Green is the colour of choice for birds.

 

Commercial units are not exactly low-cost of course so it was time to do some shopping.

 

I ordered the most powerful, green "laser pointer" I spotted on Lazada. "3W" it says unlike your normal pointer of about 3mW!!

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i265013902-s411903063.html

 

The beast that arrived would not look out of place in the hands of Luke Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi or Yoda!! Apparently green lightsabers are wielded by Jedi warriors.

 

It does come with diffusers to make pretty patterns, these are still in their plastic bag

 

Charged the supplied 18640 Li-Ion battery on the supplied charger, time to test.

I checked the input power and I reckon the laser is nearer to 2W but so what!

 

It works like a charm, the birds see the beam coming and scatter, no need to actually hit them so no smell of barbecued pigeon. Walk around the house aiming towards the beasts a couple of times and they don't come back.

 

After a week of use at dusk when they are seeking somewhere to roost, we are now down to one or two each evening, Madam encourages them to leave (she's evidently got an evil streak).

 

It works at long range (commercial units of similar power claim several km), aimed at the next house over (100m or so) and their pigeons scattered too.

 

I wonder if that will work for me.

 

A few of the rats with wings seem to live above the ceiling of my MIL old house and they are certainly not scared of the cats we had.

[Crossy]

6 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I wonder if that will work for me.

 

A few of the rats with wings seem to live above the ceiling of my MIL old house and they are certainly not scared of the cats we had.

 

If you can point the beam at their roost, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

 

We are owned by a cat but the beasties are well out of her reach, actual rats however are a different kettle of fish 🙂 

[CallumWK]

I have a battery powered BB gun, and shoot at them when I hear them roosting.

 

In the past 2 year they built 4 houses behind mine, and one opposite my house as well.

 

Their roofs are full of pigeons, sometimes up to 20 on just one roof. I rarely see any on my roof

[ravip]

14 minutes ago, billd766 said:

I wonder if that will work for me.

 

A few of the rats with wings seem to live above the ceiling of my MIL old house and they are certainly not scared of the cats we had.

I've noticed female cats are better hunters.

[RocketDog]

29 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

If you can point the beam at their roost, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

 

We are owned by a cat but the beasties are well out of her reach, actual rats however are a different kettle of fish 🙂 

Meaning they are a kettle of rats? Oh my.

That's disgusting!

[billd766]

58 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

If you can point the beam at their roost, I see no reason why it wouldn't work.

 

We are owned by a cat but the beasties are well out of her reach, actual rats however are a different kettle of fish 🙂 

I should be able to get them as they fly out of my MIL old place onto the roof of our house.

[billd766]

55 minutes ago, ravip said:

I've noticed female cats are better hunters.

Our cat is a female stray that turned up one evening and adopted us.

 

My wife started feeding it and she has never moved out.

 

Absolutely useless at hunting anything though.

 

A social cat when she wants to be, or when she is hungry.

[ravip]

1 minute ago, billd766 said:

Our cat is a female stray that turned up one evening and adopted us.

 

My wife started feeding it and she has never moved out.

 

Absolutely useless at hunting anything though.

 

A social cat when she wants to be, or when she is hungry.

Absolutely useless at hunting anything though - Your Wife is feeding her too much!

 

A social cat when she wants to be, or when she is hungry -Well, I guess most cats are that.

I had a male cat (a stray) who enjoyed petting. After about an year, the fellow disappeared in to thin air!

[Dexxter]

2 hours ago, Korat Kiwi said:

Completely illegal unless you are a member of an astrology group

 

I think I should be OK because I'm a Sagittarius.

[billd766]

Just now, ravip said:

Absolutely useless at hunting anything though - Your Wife is feeding her too much!

 

A social cat when she wants to be, or when she is hungry -Well, I guess most cats are that.

I had a male cat (a stray) who enjoyed petting. After about an year, the fellow disappeared in to thin air!

Actually, as I get up before my wife, I have ended up feeding the cat in the morning.

[Crossy]

3 minutes ago, billd766 said:

Actually, as I get up before my wife, I have ended up feeding the cat in the morning.

 

She has her slave then 🙂 

 

We feed "ours" in the evening, fresh water and a couple of tablespoons of dry cat food. She also has somewhere sheltered to sleep. Not really a social cat but she does sometimes hang out under my desk crunching up a nice juicy rat 🙂

[tandor]

would a low powered Laser pointer or a Dog-deterer-torch work against Geckos?

[Crossy]

6 minutes ago, tandor said:

would a low powered Laser pointer or a Dog-deterer-torch work against Geckos?

 

Possibly not, our jinjoks will go after the red dot thinking it's edible.

[Eric Loh]

Seriously I got rid of the pigeon nestling on my balcony with colourful windmill toy. I don't stay often in the condo and the pigeon decided to made a nest behind the air compressors and even laid eggs. Tried the scarecrow and fluttering plastic bags. Didn't work. Tied few colourful windmills and it has been a month, the pigeons didn;t return. Keeping my fingers crossed that this will work. 

[LittleBear57]

Bb guns cheaper and more fun.

[flexomike]

9 hours ago, Crossy said:

WARNING Lasers of the type indicated here can cause permanent eye damage. Common sense is required and no pointing at aircraft (they are not big silver birds), people or pets. Use the regular red pointers to amuse/annoy the cat.

 

Anyway.

A few weeks back Madam was moaning to the builder's merchant that pigeons roosting on our gable-end are, er, depositing on the patio roof which now has solar panels which really don't like pigeon poop.

 

He told her to use a laser pointer! Hmm.

 

A bit of research showed that laser bird scarers really are a thing. Apparently, the birds perceive the beam as a solid object and avoid it, no actual contact with the creatures and certainly not in their eyes, that would be unethical (even with pigeons). Green is the colour of choice for birds.

 

Commercial units are not exactly low-cost of course so it was time to do some shopping.

 

I ordered the most powerful, green "laser pointer" I spotted on Lazada. "3W" it says unlike your normal pointer of about 3mW!!

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/i265013902-s411903063.html

 

The beast that arrived would not look out of place in the hands of Luke Skywalker, Obi Wan Kenobi or Yoda!! Apparently green lightsabers are wielded by Jedi warriors.

 

It does come with diffusers to make pretty patterns, these are still in their plastic bag

 

Charged the supplied 18640 Li-Ion battery on the supplied charger, time to test.

I checked the input power and I reckon the laser is nearer to 2W but so what!

 

It works like a charm, the birds see the beam coming and scatter, no need to actually hit them so no smell of barbecued pigeon. Walk around the house aiming towards the beasts a couple of times and they don't come back.

 

After a week of use at dusk when they are seeking somewhere to roost, we are now down to one or two each evening, Madam encourages them to leave (she's evidently got an evil streak).

 

It works at long range (commercial units of similar power claim several km), aimed at the next house over (100m or so) and their pigeons scattered too.

 

Is the beam strong enough for a two story house? I get up to 30 at a time. Tired of banging pots and throwing rocks. These rats poop more than the dogs.

[Crossy]

10 minutes ago, flexomike said:

Is the beam strong enough for a two story house? I get up to 30 at a time. Tired of banging pots and throwing rocks. These rats poop more than the dogs.

 

Easily.

As I noted it zaps the beasties on the next-door place 100m or so away 🙂

 

 

[nickmondo]

4 hours ago, CallumWK said:

I have a battery powered BB gun, and shoot at them when I hear them roosting.

 

In the past 2 year they built 4 houses behind mine, and one opposite my house as well.

 

Their roofs are full of pigeons, sometimes up to 20 on just one roof. I rarely see any on my roof

where in Thailand did you buy a BB gun?

 

[flexomike]

5 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Easily.

As I noted it zaps the beasties on the next-door place 100m or so away 🙂

 

 

 

5 minutes ago, Crossy said:

 

Easily.

As I noted it zaps the beasties on the next-door place 100m or so away 🙂

 

 

Thank you for the quick response, I wonder if it will work on a water monitor lizard,  he has been eating my gooose eggs, he makes a living eating them, shells everywhere. Almost got him in the goose house today but he got away. damn they are fast.

[Etaoin Shrdlu]

Years ago, Mrs. Shrdlu suspended CDs on fishing line around the balcony and other parts of the house where pigeons used to congregate. She had heard that the CDs would repel the pigeons. I told her it would be futile because few pigeons could afford CD players and those that could might end up liking the music on the CDs and hang around even more.

 

We finally solved the problem by installing strips of spikes on all window ledges and other horizontal surfaces as well as boarding up all areas under the eaves where they could nest.  Haven't had any pigeons around the house in years.

Edited October 9 by Etaoin Shrdlu