Bird Netting

By Alex A. Kecskes

Commercial buildings seem to attract pest birds like flies to sugar. The problem is that these buildings have all sorts of places birds just love to hide and build nests in. Birds will gravitate to open beams, lofty attic areas, storage lofts and many other nooks and crannies.

When pest birds roost and nest in these areas, they create a number of problems. Dry nesting materials and feathers make perfect kindling for fires. Any slight spark can ignite these materials and you have the potential for a destructive fire with loss of inventory and escalating insurance rates.

Then there are the droppings. This chemical waste can corrode virtually any material over time, including electrical wiring. Bird droppings can also jam up skylights, windows and rotating rooftop ventilators. And they can create dangerous slip-and-fall hazards for employees. Finally, dried bird droppings in the form of dust can carry any number of serious diseases.

There are, of course, a number of ways to get rid of pest birds. Poisons, BB guns, loud horns may work for a while, but they all have their drawbacks.  One of the most popular solutions is Bird Netting.

Bird netting has been successfully used to block a wide variety of birds from entering unwanted areas. It's a humane, low profile way of blocking out pigeons, sparrows, gulls, starlings and crows. It comes in a variety of stock sizes and custom cuts. You can generally choose from two mesh sizes to deter the species of pest bird that tends to invade your particular commercial building: a 2-inch mesh and 3/4-inch mesh. The best No-Knot Bird Netting has the longest guarantee on the market--10 years.
 
The best Bird Netting is made of flame resistant, multi-strand polypropylene fiber. Polypropylene is chemically inert and highly resistant to a wide range of chemicals at ordinary temperatures. This netting has been ISO 1806 Protocol Mesh tested. Netting will not rot, absorb water, or mildew. It features U.V. inhibitors and can withstand a wide temperature range from 250F to 338F. It is very light, non-conductive and easy to install, yet it boasts a break strength of 50 pounds.

For optimum bird proofing results Bird Netting must be properly installed. Before installing the netting, thoroughly clean all surfaces to make sure they are free of bird droppings, nesting materials, rust, peeling paint or other debris. Netting that is improperly installed can sag or droop, creating gaps that birds can work their way through. Birds are smart and very skilled at poking through nets that are not correctly installed. For best results, cables should be set up around the area and the net should then be attached to this cable. When in doubt about proper installation, consult a bird control expert.

Big box warehouses often have pest bird problems. Many are located in rural or semi-rural areas, so birds are in plentiful supply. Unless they are controlled by bird netting, birds will take shelter in these large structures. They wild pests are drawn to the large open garden areas and other doors that are kept wide open all day and most of the evening. The stores also attract pest birds because they offer protection from natural predators. And they offer warm shelter from the elements. But most of all, the stores have plenty of high ceilings with all sorts of nooks and crannies where birds can nest and roost. 

Some stores have outside areas where employees eat lunches and snack at dinnertime. Trash cans in and around these areas are often littered with food scraps, which provide a handy food source for the pest birds.  All in all, big box retail outlets and warehouse stores are a pretty ideal haunt for most wild birds. Bird netting is one way to deter them.

When birds nest in the upper rafters of a warehouse, it's sometimes hard to get rid of birds. They often aren't even discovered until one notices the droppings on highly stacked merchandise. Their droppings can damage products and packaging.  And they can also create potential electrical fire hazards, since their nests are perfect kindling for starting fires. In fact, many pest birds like to build their nests near the warmth of light bulbs. These light bulbs are often high wattage and require ventilation, which bird nests seem to choke off. Bird netting can prevent these hazardous conditions.

Pest birds also create a distraction for customers as they sometimes swoop down on shoppers. Even more hazardous is the habit of birds distracting forklift operators as they move dangerously heavy loads high on upper shelves.

One Home Depot store had some pretty hefty bird problems. Seems that sparrows were nesting inside their store. What made things particularly annoying was the fact that the sparrows were nesting above the checkout area, depositing quite a mess with in bird droppings. The store manager was understandably worried  about the slip-and-fall liability. Customers and employees could be hurt. And there was the potential for the transmission of disease posed by the bird droppings—wild birds can carry any of 60 known diseases. The store was in dire need of some serious bird control to properly address the sparrow problem.

The solution was both effective and humane. To deter the sparrows, 3/4-inch mesh bird netting was installed by bird control product experts. The netting created a permanent bird barrier in key store locations. Sparrows no longer  had unrestricted access to the store. Bird netting completely blocked the birds so they could no longer nest and roost in the area. As an added bonus, the bird netting even blended in with its surroundings. It was barely visible from below.

Bird netting can be ordered in several different colors--including white, stone and black. Non-conductive netting is available for installations where electrical conductivity could cause problems. For outdoor patio areas of a store, choose U.V. stabilized, flame resistant and rot- and water-proof netting.