PiCAS INTERNATIONAL

A pigeon caused a great deal of public interest in the town of High Wycombe, UK, when it became tangled in netting provided above a restaurant in the town.  The netting had been installed to stop pigeons perching on a window box above the restaurant.  Firefighters were called to the building to remove the distressed bird which had obviously been entangled in the netting for several days, unable to move.  The pigeon was taken to a local wildlife hospital to be treated but the bird died some days later.  The manager of the hospital said: "Normally pigeons are pretty robust, they don’t succumb.  He’d had terrific trauma where he was.  He was very thin and very distressed." 

This is a classic example of why nylon netting should never be used as a deterrent.  The PiCAS Group receives hundreds of calls each year from members of the public and property owners alike who have found a bird trapped in degraded or poorly installed netting.  These birds are the lucky ones as they have a chance of being rescued from what would otherwise be a death-trap.  There are, however, in the UK alone, tens of thousands more birds that are never found and starve to death whilst hanging in netting.

What most property owners do not realise is that if they instruct a pest control contractor to install netting on their property it is they that will be prosecuted should a bird die whilst entangled in the netting, not the pest control company.  A vast majority of netting that is provided by the pest control industry is poorly installed and is also the incorrect product to suit the client’s needs.  Netting will always be recommended wherever possible based on the fact that this product, alongside culling operations, is one of the most profitable services that any pest control company can sell to its client base.

For more information on netting and other deterrents please see the Deterrents page.