The Pest Control IndustryThe PiCAS group receives thousands of email and telephone enquiries each year asking for advice on bird control and also asking PiCAS to recommend a pest control company. PiCAS will never recommend a pest control contractor where bird control is concerned. In a vast majority of cases, property owners can be empowered to resolve their own bird-related problems acting directly on advice provided by PiCAS’ team of experts. In order to resolve any bird-related problem, first there has to be an understanding of the species concerned. In most cases commercial pest controllers simply do not have the experience or the capability to provide a client with a service that will permanently resolve their problem. At best, the service provided will be a quick-fix (normally culling) and the client will then be back to where they started within a matter of weeks. Where deterrents are recommended and provided by a pest controller, the standard of workmanship is often appalling and it is clear that in most cases the pest controller’s goal is profit rather than the provision of a good and lasting service to the client. PiCAS is called in by many property owners after they have been sold a totally inappropriate control system, by a pest control company, that has failed to resolve their problem. In many cases the control system has not only failed to resolve the client’s problem, but, more importantly, it has also cost the client a very considerable sum of money. Anybody can start up as a commercial pest controller with no prior experience of pest control or the products that they recommend and sell to their client base. Due to the nature of the work, clients rarely ever have any comeback if they are sold a service that fails to resolve their problem - the usual response from a pest controller when confronted is to say that no guarantees are given. It is not just the small pest control companies that are guilty of selling inappropriate products and services – many of the large national and international pest control companies often provide an appalling service to their client base. Instructing a well known contractor does not guarantee a good service or back-up if the controls provided by the contractor have failed to resolve the client’s problems. Having said this, clearly not all pest controllers provide a poor service, but PiCAS has yet to come across one single company that provides what it considers to be a reasonable service to the client. In the main, pest controllers will recommend a combination of culling and the installation of deterrents to the client. This is because both of these services are highly profitable. PiCAS is often asked why pest controllers, who have recommended the installation of deterrents, have also recommended culling prior to installing deterrents. The usual response from the pest controller to this question is to say that culling reduces the impact on the property following the installation of deterrents. Clearly this does make sense – if the correct deterrent is recommended and if the deterrents provided are installed correctly and in the right areas, why should the client continue to experience bird-related problems following installation? Normally because the contractor does not have the necessary experience or understanding of the problem to predict how the target species will respond and react to the various deterrents provided. The pest control industry will normally agree with experts and scientists that culling is ineffective and far from being a sustainable solution to bird-related problems, but most pest control contractors continue to sell this service to clients. Why – because culling is a revenue-rich service. Scientific research has proven, conclusively , that culling, when used as an avian control (particularly where pigeons, wood pigeons and gulls are concerned) will act to increase bird numbers in a given area rather than reduce numbers. This is because the size of any bird population is dictated, exclusively, by the extent of available food – if birds from a feeding flock are physically removed, by whatever means, a void is created into which other birds will breed. In the case of pigeon control, research* has proven that pigeon populations will breed back to the pre-cull figure within a matter of weeks following a cull. The client, to which a culling service has been sold, however, will rarely be provided with this information - it is simply not in the best commercial interests of the pest controller to do so. In the UK and many European countries the use of poison to control bird populations has either been banned or is stringently regulated. In the USA, however, pest controllers use vast quantities of poison each year to control bird populations, in the main with serious ramifications for all types of wildlife. Poison is totally indiscriminate when used as a control option, killing not only the target species but also killing many protected species of animals and birds. Pest controllers will assure the client, however, that the use of poison is strictly controlled and that no other species will be allowed to take the bait, but, in reality, this is not the case.
Many pest control companies are now using hawks to control bird populations, selling this type of control as green and natural. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only is this method of control completely ineffective as a control option but it is also extremely cruel and expensive. Falconry is a blood sport, not a pest control service and should not, under any circumstances, be used as a method of control. For further information on the use of a hawk as a method of bird control please go to the
Deterrents
page of this website.
The essential difference between PiCAS and the pest control industry is that PiCAS acts solely in the best interests of the client; the pest control industry acts, almost exclusively, in its own best interests – profit.
For completely free, expert and commercially unbiased advice on bird control please contact PiCAS International using the email form provided on this website. PiCAS International’s remit to its client base is to provide the most effective, the most humane and the most cost-effective means of controlling bird populations. There is no catch and there is no fee – just an expert and comprehensive service.
If your problem is in the USA please visit the PiCAS USA website. at: www.picasusa.org * Daniel Haag-Wackernagel, June 1992
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