Octobers most awkward job goes to a customer with Solar Panels in Rushden, Northants… Or should i say Pigeons under solar panels. (The customer was lovely, the job, not so much.)

Give me a Rat any day over a Pigeon, Pigeons are just filthy animals in my opinion especially when they’ve taken up to tucking themselves close up behind solar panels. Even though the panels were not too raised from the roof tiles the birds had managed to nest under every panel on the top row.

Over time some of the birds had expired either through natural causes or the fact that they were to big and got stuck, there was a large build up of corpses, feathers and Pigeon mess. Oh, and they stank vile. The rain water gutter at the font of the property was full to brimming with bird waste to the extent that every time it rained the gutter served no purpose and pigeon mess was splashing on to the public footpath below. Something had to be done.

Access to the roof was simple from the rear but the main problem panels were on the front. Due to limited access scaffolding was not a option, there was no working access for a cherry picker without a road closure so that was out of the question. So ladder work and harnesses it was.

Health and Safety is paramount. You can never remove the risk but you can minimise it. Which we did, nonetheless this was one of those jobs where you most definitely had to have your wits about you. On our attendance dare it was noted that there were not roosting pigeons under the panels, all of the birds had left as soon as we started our assent to the apex.

Solar Panel proofing is not a difficult thing to do normally but this one was just on its own. It took hours, limited working access meant constant ladder and harness relocation, cleaning down was slow as the amount of waste from under the panels had to be removed without it landing on the general public below. The panels had to be washed as they were covered in bird waste. There was buckets of the stuff to be collected and removed from site.

Once everything was clean and prepped we had to start the ladder and harness relocation all over to allow access to fit the panel mesh, but at least by this point we had a clean working environment.

What was expected to take the morning took up the entire day but its now done. The pigeons will still sit on the topside of the panels for a short while then they will find another more suitable place as they can no longer squeeze underneath.

On the flip side, another bird call turned out to be one of this months easier calls. Removal of a old and rather decrepit looking Swallows nest, a quick clean down and the installation of a ‘Swallow nest blocker Screen‘ which the customer ordered. A quick and simple solution to stop bird mess all over your nice cream walls and white window frames.

Two bird calls.. Poler opposites. Rattraxs Pest Control Services do not charge to carry out site surveys and to provide quotations for any bird proofing or clean down works. In the event that birds are getting you into a flap, their droppings are getting you in a mess, don’t wing it, Contact Us for a free, no obligation quotation.