Pigeons are nuisance, messy disease carriers

The birds are becoming a problem in downtown Cape Girardeau.

They like to roost in flocks and leave their droppings on whatever they want; pigeons are a basically a nuisance, experts say.

The cooing birds made news this week when downtown residents complained about a poison that was being used by a pest-control company hired by Marquette Tower. A pet dog was poisoned, but survived. Some thought the poison-laced corn was unsafe for pets and children, and also inhumane to the birds.

While pigeons will leave their mark on various buildings, sidewalks and park benches, Southeast Missouri State Biology Department chairman Bill Eddleman said pigeons can carry various diseases.

Psittacosis is an infectious disease the can be transmitted from birds to humans. The disease is mild and can cause non-specific, flu-like symptoms.

Humans can become infected with psittacosis by breathing in dust particles of the organism, which is found in the urine, respiratory secretion, or dried feces of infected birds. Other sources of exposure include a bite from an infected bird and handling the infected birds.

Eddleman said some have even been known to carry salmonella.

"The public health hazard can't be ignored, but pigeons basically just leave a mess wherever they go," he said.

Cape Girardeau County Conservation agent Darin Pettit said he's never dealt with a complaint on a disease-carrying pigeon.

"I've actually never had a complaint on pigeons being a nuisance," Pettit said. "We're continuing to face a problem with nuisance wildlife but it's not necessarily pigeons."

Eddleman agreed that problems with pigeons include the smell and mess they leave behind.

"Most people tend to discourage them from being around," he said. "There are certain spots where I can usually see the pigeons; I know the get in bell towers a lot. I would say the Marquette Tower people certainly considered them a problem since they have a flat top roof."

Quality Pest Control of Cape Girardeau was recently contracted by the Marquette to reduce the building's pigeon population.

Poisoning the pigeons should be a last result to get rid of them, Pettit said.

"There are always other ways to get rid of them," he said. "Using a plastic owl on the roof will scare the birds off. You can distract them with loud noises."

Pettit said in the winter there is a huge problem with the blackbird population and a propane cannon is used to scare them away from heavily population blackbird areas.

"The main thing is to find out where they're nesting and remove the attractant," Pettit said. "If there is a ledge where they are roosting, cover it up with chicken wire, they'll move on to a different site."

The Cape Girardeau Public Health Department has had no reported cases of pigeon-carrying diseases.

jfreeze@semissourian.co