An Ounce of Prevention
There are many aphorisms that advocate the wisdom of planning ahead, such as the Boy Scouts’ pithy motto, be prepared. Every business should have plans to deal with loss prevention and on-site injuries. You wouldn’t dream of going without a disaster recovery plan or a fire evacuation plan. But do you have a plan to deal with birds?
If this sounds like a flight of fancy (no pun intended!), our experience tells us otherwise. Birds may not cause the widespread damage that a fire does, but since invasions are more common, the property damage and time spent contending with the feathered pests can add up. At Meridian Bird Removal, we encourage all of our clients (and prospective clients) to have a plan in place to deal with birds. This plan should have four components:
- Prevention
- Communication
- Internal efforts
- When to call for help
Prevention
We have covered prevention extensively in previous articles. Even though our stock in trade is bird removal using our patented system, avoiding bird incursions in the first place is the best course of action for any business or facility. You can read our tips on preventing birds from entering your building.
Communication
So you’ve done everything you can, but now a bird is stuck inside your facility. Do your employees know what to do? Does the forklift driver know to whom they should report the incursion? Does everyone even know they should report birds?
As we mentioned in our prevention articles, there should be an employee or team that “owns” the bird problem. Every employee, foreman, and manager should know birds present problems and should be reported immediately. At that point, the “owner” of the bird plan can coordinate internal efforts.
Internal efforts
As much as we love to help, some bird problems can be handled in-house. Depending on the type of bird and where it is, you may be able to flush it out. Your corporate office may have a standard procedure when dealing with birds. For example, if people or stock isn’t in jeopardy, you might be required to wait 24 to 48 hours to see if the bird leaves on its own.
When to call for help
When you call a bird removal service, they will have questions about the bird or birds in your facility. So your plan might involve taking pictures or gathering information about your bird(s). As mentioned above, HQ might want you to give the bird time to exit. Your plan might also wait until you have more than one bird to save time and money.
Of course, there are times and situations where you’ll want to call for help immediately – for example, if the bird in question is a raptor (such as a hawk or falcon) or when people or stock are in imminent danger. Every employee and the bird plan “owner” should know these situations, just as they know your fire plan.
Do you have someone to call?
Part four of your plan falls apart if you’re scrambling to Google “bird removal.” Many pest control businesses are not equipped to capture birds. There may also not be a competent bird removal service in your area. Just as you have an attorney, pest control, and equipment repair specialist on standby, if birds are a problem, you should have a bird removal service already picked out and ready to go.
Bird Bucks to the rescue
Obviously, we think Meridian Bird Removal should be that company! We specialize in birds only, we offer a patented bird removal system and we’re expanding our service area every day. We’ve also started a new program called Bird Bucks.
Bird Bucks is a way to pre-purchase services at a discount. Not only does this make bird removal easier to budget for, it also makes planning for bird invasions a snap. And we tailor the Bird Bucks services depending on the size of your facility. If your facility is small or experiences few problems, we offer a package as small as four service visits. For larger facilities or ones that get many birds, we have an annual service plan where we visit, inspect, and remove birds monthly, bi-monthly or quarterly depending on your needs.
At Meridian Bird Removal, we believe in being prepared and having a plan to deal with birds in your facility. If you need bird removal regularly, click here or contact us to find out how Bird Bucks can fit in with your plan.