Westside : City Hall Tries Decoy Owls to Keep Pesky Pigeons Away
Culver City has found a creative way to deal with a common problem of city buildings. The problem, politely put: pigeon droppings.
Perched in the eaves of Culver City’s new City Hall are about 20 fake owls--decoys to scare away the pigeons that have taken to roosting and nesting in the rafters.
City staff members bought the owls last June, just a few weeks after the city moved into its new offices, because the birds were messing the walls and grounds outside the building.
“We expected to have pigeons, but I don’t think anyone expected the pigeons to like the building this much,” said Jody Hall-Esser, Culver City city manager.
The owls are just a temporary measure. The city is exploring other deterrents, such as stringing piano wire across the beams so that the birds cannot perch and fold their wings easily, and lining the wooden beams with toothpick-sized prongs so the birds have no comfortable place to land.
The city has also purchased a hydraulic lift so that city employees can wash droppings off the walls where the birds cluster.
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