Now that winter is over, we’re expecting an influx of calls for bird removal services. At this time of the year, we generally get more calls from home owners looking for help getting rid of birds that have nested in their home somewhere – usually in the attic or dryer vents.
So because of this, we were called out to a home in Brantford because a home owner was being plagued by sounds of scurrying in her dryer vent. We weren’t surprised at all because at this time of year, most species of small birds in Ontario are getting started with their nest building and looking for a safe place to raise their babies. Birds love the warm and safe confinement of wall ventilation lines.
How do the birds get into my dryer vent?
It’s actually quite easy for a bird to get into your vents (and attic) if you haven’t animal proofed your home. The typical means of gaining entry is through the louver vents. Louver vents aren’t the only way birds can gain entry, but it’s one of the typical ways they do. When they do get in, there’s a pretty good chance that they’ll fall down the vents and get stuck. You’d think a bird would be able to fly it’s way back up the vent and out to freedom, but this isn’t always the case as it’s difficult for a bird to fly upwards and gain lift, especially when there’s no wiggle room.
So what happens when a bird gets into your walls and stuck in your vents? Simply call the experts. In the following video, you won’t see too much action, but you’ll be able to see what usually happens when we get calls like this – we have to enter the home, and usually remove the bird from the home owners laundry room. Watch how easy it was for me to catch this little critter and bring him to safety.
Should you remove the bird yourself?
Based on the video above, it doesn’t seem like a bad idea to try removing the bird yourself right? Well the fact of the matter is, although you probably wouldn’t harm yourself by being bit or pecked by the bird, you could pick up a sickness or disease – even in Ontario. Birds can easily be carriers of the following diseases:
- terrible lyme disease
- Avian influenza
- West Nile virus
- Type E Botulism
- Chronic Wasting Disease
- Candidiasis (spread by pigeons)
- Salmonellosis (pigeons, starlings and sparrows)
- bed bugs
To make a long story short, a bird can pick up a disease from other forms of wildlife too. You can read this who article on the dangers of wildlife in general, but birds more specifically: Source. According to this link:
During spring and summer, the public should be alert to unusual deaths in wild birds, particularly crows, ravens (pictured), black-billed magpies, and blue jays. Unusual deaths in these species could be a sign of West Nile virus.
Contrary to popular belief, there’s many more diseases to be concerned about when it comes to exposure to birds besides West Nile and the popular bird flu (Avian influenza). As you can see by the list above, there’s a slew of other diseases one could contract – diseases that can kill – and because of the potential for one to contract these diseases, removing them should always be done by the professionals.
What if the bird is dead?
Stay away, and call the experts? You’d rather be safe than sorry and we come equipped to deal with the problem and to do so safely. A dead bird can carry all of the above mentioned diseases, and now that it’s dead, it can end up carrying other diseases that it picked up during the decomposition process. There’s also the chance that even though you’ve found one dead bird in your attic or vents, but there’s the high possibility that other birds are still alive and need to be removed before either more damage is done or the problem simply gets worse.
Call the experts and get the job done right. You can view our entire removal process related to birds and other flying creatures here:
https://www.allwildlife.ca/bird-control-removal/