Flying rats

[wabmester]

Argh.   I just heard the hopping of a bird in my attic.    It must be starling season again.    These stupid birds somehow hack through the mesh I put over the soffits and build their nests in the attic.

Anybody else have this problem?    Any eradication or prevention tips?

I'm thinking of using a net with an open bottom, so the bird can get out (and fall through the bottom of the net), but not back in.    No idea how I'm going to get the nest out....

 

[OldAgePensioner]

wab,
trust me it works.

Got to Costco, etc and get the largest cayene pepper portion they have.  On a few windy days waft some spoons full of it into the vents.  Nobody is hurt, and the effect lasts a couple of seasons.

EDIT: But do wear a suit similar to mine in the avatar.

 

[Nords]

These stupid birds somehow hack through the mesh I put over the soffits and build their nests in the attic.

Ooooh, yeah.  Zebra doves & mynah birds.

You could either staple the mesh over the outside of the house (ugly) or try soffit grilles.  They're made of aluminum and can be either screwed or glued in.

While you're crawling around up there, see where the light is coming from.  Sometimes builders don't seal all the holes that occur at roof valleys or dormers.

Years ago a "friend" used to make nitrogen triazide tri-iodide in the chemistry lab (totally unauthorized but not hard to accomplish), drip it onto sugar cubes, put them on the inside windowsill, and watch the houseflies blow themselves up.  Not, of course, that I'm suggesting you do any such thing with attic critters...

 

[maddythebeagle]

Got to Costco, etc and get the largest cayene pepper portion they have. On a few windy days waft some spoons full of it into the vents. Nobody is hurt, and the effect lasts a couple of seasons.

does the pepper make them go away or are you looking to season them?

 

[BigMoneyJim]

wab,
trust me it works.

Got to Costco, etc and get the largest cayene pepper portion they have. On a few windy days waft some spoons full of it into the vents. Nobody is hurt, and the effect lasts a couple of seasons.

Does this work? Birds eat peppers and spread the seeds. The capsaicin doesn't affect birds like it does mammals. Maybe it's just some birds and not all/starlings?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capsaicin :

Birds are generally not sensitive to capsaicinoids.

 

[Martha]

European Starlings. Bad news. http://www.bestofbbml.audubon-omaha.org/starling4.htm

The one way door sounds like the best idea.

Our neighbor gets them too and as he patches one area, they find another entry.

 

[wabmester]

European Starlings.  Bad news.

Ugh. I didn't realize they were that smart. More like flying monkeys than flying rats.

I mixed up some ground chili pepper and water, put it in a spray bottle, and just managed to clog up my spray bottle. Anyway, I sloshed some on the soffit hole, and I'll see if it has any effect.

If not, I'll build a trap tomorrow. And if that doesn't work, I'll release cobras into the attic.

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Years ago a "friend" used to make nitrogen triazide in the chemistry lab...

I tink dat was nitrogen tri-iodide, mebbie? (Don' ask.)

Ed the Chem Eng

 

[Nords]

I tink dat was nitrogen tri-iodide, mebbie?

Thanks, Ed, you're absolutely right...

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Then there was lead azide and mercury fulminate.... We won't go there, but let me tell you about a fellow ChE I worked with who blew a few fingers off one hand when he was a kid. I was lucky. He wasn't.

How about a rubber snake in the rafters? Probably only chases away the rubber birds.

 

[wabmester]

I tink dat was nitrogen tri-iodide, mebbie?

Hey, that does look like fun:

Nitrogen Triiodide Detonation Movie

Just sat outside with my binocs for a while and observed the Starlings. Chili powder doesn't bother them. I waited for them to leave, and put more wire mesh on their entry. If that keeps them out for a while, I'll try to remove the nest from the attic. (Yech.)

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

I can't help you there, Wab. I dread yellowjacket nests in my attic, myself.

Now, if you had mice, I know absolutely the best mousetrap ever invented. (It doesn't work on rats. Tried it. Works great on mice! Tried it!) By the way, my digitally challenged friend gave me the design. I had forgotten that. funny how things are connected sometimes.

 

[Caroline]

does the pepper make them go away or are you looking to season them?

A friend and I were barbecuing once, and a dove with a broken wing fluttered by outside the fence.  I asked him to put it out of its misery (knowing, as I did, that he was a hunter and could quickly dispatch it.)

I turned my back for THREE SECONDS and he had the thing killed, dressed, butterflied, and on the barbecue next to the chicken.

Maybe starlings are tasty too.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

i just trapped that feral cat and will be glad to ship. just send me your fed ex account #.

 

[OldAgePensioner]

wab,
if you were dressed in a red jump suit with orange dance shoes and wearing a Rocko mask, spraying cayene pepper into your soffit, I can promise that you will not have a starling problem.


Now if they are Mexican starlings, you may end up with a roof full of starlings that will never leave.