U.S. RETAILERS Irked by problem, stores aren't for the birds

Retailers use nets and guns to rid large stores of birds.
WASHINGTON POST
Inside stores, usually long after customers have gone home, there are the hunters and the hunted.
The hunted: sparrows, pigeons and starlings that are stuck inside or have decided to make their homes where there's warmth and food. The hunters: a legion of exterminators who use an array of tools, including nets and even guns, to keep buildings clear of birds and their messy and potentially toxic droppings.
Dodd Delph, of Gambrills, Md., is one of the hunters. He observes the birds' indoor flight paths and sets up nets to trap them in midair. But frequently, the birds are too wily or the building's interior makes using a net impractical. Then Delph and other exterminators will use a pellet gun.
Not uncommon
Wildlife veterinarians, exterminators and other experts estimate that virtually all large buildings are invaded by nuisance birds, in some cases a chronic problem.
"We get calls about this quite a lot," said Edward Clark, president of the Wildlife Center of Virginia, a teaching veterinary hospital. "They're basically in any building large enough to accommodate them and have a door open at one time or another."
The problem can require vigilance to combat. The manager of a Home Depot store in Virginia, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said store employees scout out and clean up bird droppings every morning before opening the doors to customers.
If they spot the birds, they "try to scoot them out," he said, but "the birds are trained, and when the doors open they come right back in."
Chasing birds from buildings usually doesn't work, said Jack Wagner, who owns a Virginia company that's working on a radar-controlled bird deterrent. Because the birds rely on a dependable food source inside the building or are trying to return to their nests, they are not easily turned away.
Calling in help
He has made a career of selling exterminating products but says most large businesses "have just given up" on traps and repellants. When birds decide the building is their permanent home, it's time to call a " 'wing hunter' -- anyone who can take out a bird in flight," Wagner said.
Delph usually begins by employing a "mist net," which is difficult for birds to see but is strong enough to pluck them out of the air. Although he usually works at night, he has done this even while stores were open -- with concerned customers watching him.
After removing a bird from the net, "I put [the bird] in a shopping cart so they can see it's OK. People always ask, 'What are you going to do with it?' " he said. He takes the birds at least a 30-minute drive away before releasing them so they're less likely to return to where they were caught, he said. The fee for such a service is "no less than hundreds of dollars," depending on the size of the problem."
Going in at night
A job requiring a gun is done at night, mainly to prevent injuries to customers and workers, Delph said. Some exterminators load BB guns with silver candy balls normally used in cake-decorating because those shatter against glass and leave only a harmless sugar residue, Wagner said.
Another reason to work at night is that businesses are keen to avoid bad publicity, exterminators say. One Washington-area company sent its bird expert to a store at 4 a.m. The exterminator carried his gun in a case but was spotted by someone who called the police. The store got more attention than it wanted when several officers arrived, thinking the store was being burgled.
"The No. 1 problem is image," Delph said. The health aspect is secondary in most cases, he said, and the reason many businesses care about that at all is "because the health department cares."
Experts agree that the risk to patrons who don't come in regular contact with wild birds is generally slight, but recommend special precautions for workers. Charles Blem, ornithologist and biology professor at Virginia Commonwealth University, said he has safely handled thousands of pigeons, starlings and sparrows while conducting research. "Very few diseases jump from birds to people," he said. But the droppings can cause respiratory problems and other ailments, he said.
Because birds are so difficult to evict, health experts and exterminators encourage methods that keep birds out in the first place, including construction techniques that cut down on nesting spots.
Goldie Taylor, spokeswoman at Home Depot's headquarters in Atlanta, said, "Our primary goal is to interfere with the entry of birds" by installing netting over stores' garden areas, but "we will never get to zero entry."