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.