In previous articles, we compared Meridian’s live bird capture method to those used by pest control companies. Meridian’s founders developed the patented Bird-N-Free process because it’s faster and more effective than glue traps, poisons, and shooting. But it has another main advantage – it’s safer.
Poisons. Don’t you know that they’re toxic?
Pest control companies use poisons on many different types of vermin, from insects to small mammals. In many cases, they can be effective in killing off the pests. But they always pose at least some risk to humans and other animals. For example, a commonly used avicide (poison formulated to kill birds) claims it’s safe for humans, even though it contains strychnine. Even in small doses, strychnine causes muscle spasms and respiratory distress in people. A pest control professional would of course not use poisons close to areas frequented by people, and many use strychnine and other poisons routinely with no problems.
However, people are not our only concern. Pets and service animals can be susceptible to poisons in much smaller doses. Research also shows that they act slowly on birds. A bird might ingest poisoned bait and fly around before dying, possibly carrying small traces of toxins to food or surfaces they touch. The dead bird also creates a public health and environmental nightmare for your facility. We’ve gone into buildings and found bird corpses crawling with insects and diseases.
Glue traps create sticky situations
Another common method to control birds is glue traps. As with poisons, you need to place glue traps away from food and high traffic areas to prevent the glue from contaminating people and inventory. This usually means a forgotten corner of your store or warehouse. Since pest control services typically operate on a route, they may not check the trap until their next visit – possible two weeks out. That’s plenty of time for a bird to get stuck and die inside your facility. By the time the corpse is removed, the maggots and bacteria have been feasting for days.
Our solution avoids these liabilities
That brings us to our last point. Our system is not only effective and fast, it’s easier on the bird. Slow-acting poisons can cause birds to diarrhea and vomit (which create more disease vectors) and can also blind them so they can’t get out. In short, it’s a miserable death. The same goes for glue traps, where birds effectively die of dehydration. At Meridian, we focus on live capture in nets designed for ornithological study. Our nets don’t harm the bird and they are not electrified (you’d be surprised how often we get that question!). Our process provides better control – we know where the birds are at every stage of the capture (no unaccounted-for bird bodies!). Our Bird Removal Technicians are always happy to explain to interested customers and employees what’s happening and reassure them the bird is fine. As animal and nature lovers, we know our Bird-N-Free system is the safest, fastest, and most effective way to remove birds from your facility. We guarantee it!
Download the flyer to see our pointers for preventing birds from getting in your building.