BIRD DROPPINGS – DISEASE, HEALTH RISKS and AGGRAVATION

I love birds but the feeling that I had while having to clean up bird droppings off my back doorstep this morning was about as far from love and affection as one chick could get. The problem is that recently birds have taken a liking to the portion of our patio that is covered. They regard the ceiling fans as their own personal merry go round as you can see from the pictures. This is bad enough as they are pooping all over the patio floor as well as the fan’s blades but the worst of the situation is that they have built a nest on top of the audio speakers that are unfortunately mounted directly above the back door to our house and the pile of bird poop on the steps is getting bigger by the minute.

The whole time I’m removing the poop I’m recounting all that I know about bird droppings, disease and health risks that might I might be exposing myself to. It struck me that by having to remove the droppings that I was probably sending no telling what kind of microbes into the air (and breathing them into my lungs) by stirring the mess up to get it swept up and in some cases where it was still fresh, scooped up.

And did I mention the swooping and pecking problem? It’s not enough that the birds have turned my patio into their personal toilet, first they started dive bombing us if we wanted to go into the backyard. To show respect to what I thought might be nesting season, I relocated the kids’ playtime to the front yard and they followed us there. Now the little buggers are attacking the windows of our home whenever they spot any movement indoors.

Can anyone tell me how to rid myself of these aggressive little suckers? We can’t enjoy our home and need to send the bird droppings, the disease, health risks and the aggravation down the road. Please help, I’m beginning to feel like I’m living in an Alfred Hitchcock movie and with my kids’ allergies and existing illnesses it’s not something I want to deal with. Please leave your suggestions on how to lesson my exposure to hostile birds and bird droppings in the comment form on Oooh Baby Parenting and Family Issues.

ASTHMA IN CHILDREN

Why I was so dumb to think that asthma in children had become an illness of the past much the same as polio and red measles would strike me as funny except that dealing with asthma is anything but fun. My older brother had asthma as a child but I was too little to remember anything about it except that my mother accused my father of being the cause of it because he smoked his pipe in the house.

As you can imagine, when my daughter starting presenting symptoms of asthma, the most noticeable being a persistent cough at night it came as a shock. Of course, that was before I did my homework and found that asthma in children was not only alive and well but very common in babies with allergies and eczema which made my infant a prime candidate for RAD (reactive airway disease which is a fancy, modern name for asthma) in spite of my diligent reading of vacuum cleaner reviews to see which models got the best consumer product ratings and reviews .

Her uncontrolled (and misdiagnosed) allergies early on made it impossible to manage her asthma symptoms and along with her MRSA and frequent upper respiratory infections kept me on edge to the point of exhaustion. I’m glad to report that as she has gotten older and her allergy triggers have been pinpointed, treatment has gotten more effective.

And the support network for parents with a child who suffers from this condition is fantastic! There are online screening quizzes to help parents identify the symptoms of asthma in children and information on asthma treatments for children so that you will be well educated and prepared to discuss whether or not your baby’s allergies and asthma symptoms with your doctor during your next visit.