Mike Givlin
One of every waste management facility’s ongoing challenges is managing gull activity. Gulls can be the source of a number of problems: creating a variety of issues for neighboring properties, serving as potential dangers to nearby airfields, causing structural damage and mechanical issues, and posing health risks for workers. Responsible waste management facilities are faced with dozens of choices for managing populations, and the question most often asked is, “What is the best tool to use?”
The answer is not what many professionals want to hear. There is no silver bullet, and there’s no “shortcut” to reducing gull activity. But, don’t lose hope. With an effective gull management strategy, you can achieve effective, long-lasting reductions in populations.
How? With a customized, integrated approach designed specifically for your site. There are a wide variety of tools available, and a plethora of companies that will willingly sell you services like pyrotechnics, chemicals, and falconry that promise to mitigate gull issues. However, environmental factors, the design and layout of your site, the type of waste and any number of other factors can affect what tools will work at your location. Most importantly, remember that there’s no silver bullet. The best programs will use a number of tools to achieve maximum success.
Seven Useful Tools in Gull Management
With technology advancing constantly, there are dozens of new tools brought to market each year. When used properly, these seven tools have proven effective. When carefully selected for your facility and used in combination with each other, these tools can help you realize your gull management goals. Here’s what you need to know.
Pyrotechnics
These specially designed firecrackers are used to frighten birds. When deployed properly on a randomized schedule, they are extremely effective in deterring gulls from a facility. However, when used improperly, not only will they become ineffective, they can also create an annoyance for neighboring properties.
Propane Cannons
Like pyrotechnics, propane cannons make loud noises, similar to that of a shotgun, that frighten birds away. The mistake many facilities make is having propane cannons on a timer and keeping them in a fixed location, giving gulls the opportunity to figure out the pattern. Videos taken of propane cannons used in this method show birds resting on the cannon, lifting off before the cannon fires, and then resettling on the machine. To be effective, propane cannons must move around a property and be used only occasionally.
Gull Distress Calls
These loud, speaker-emitted sounds simulate what an injured or dying gull would sound like. When used appropriately, other gulls in the area hear the distress call, warning them of potential predators or danger. If used too often or at the wrong times, the distress call simply becomes another noise to which gulls acclimate. Additionally, the loud noise can become disturbing to neighboring properties.
Gull Effigies
These manmade replicas of birds in distress, danger or death work similarly to distress calls, serving as a visual cue to birds that an area may be inhospitable. To avoid gulls becoming “adjusted” to the site of the effigies, they must be in constant motion and be moved to different areas of a site on a frequent basis.
Green Lasers
Deployed manually by a wildlife management professional, rather than by a machine, green lasers are aimed directly at birds. When the laser hits a bird, the frequency of this concentrated beam of light makes the bird uncomfortable, triggering it to relocate. Gulls do not become acclimated to lasers, and lasers do not harm the birds. However, this method must be used responsibly to avoid interfering with neighboring properties, aircraft or freeways.
Long-Range Acoustical Devices (LRAD)
Think of this relatively new tool as the audio version of a laser. LRADs are aimed directly at birds and project a concentrated beam of sound at a high decibel. The sound causes great distress for birds at which it is aimed, causing them to move rapidly out of an area. The sound does not harm birds, and once birds leave the beam, they are no longer affected. Because LRADs are fired manually by professionals, they are targeted and have not caused issues for surrounding facilities or workers at facilities where they are used.
Methyl Anthranilate (MA)
Methyl anthranilate is a chemical compound that can be found naturally in grapes, jasmine, lemons, mandarins, strawberries, and other flowers and fruits. It is useful in deterring a wide variety of nuisance birds. MA irritates the trigeminal nerve, causing birds temporary irritation in their beak, eyes and throat—think of it as causing a reaction similar to that pepper spray might have on a human. Although mammals also have a trigeminal nerve, MA does not affect them because the nerve, exposed in birds, is deeply embedded in the skeletal system for mammals.
MA can be applied in a number of ways, but it is most effective when used as a haze over areas where gulls are problematic. As birds fly through the haze, they become irritated and see the area as inhospitable, relocating themselves. Hazes can be machine-generated and set on a timer to provide continuous protection and control the amount of product used. However, haze applications can be rendered ineffective by shifts in the wind that disperse or relocate them, so constant monitoring and knowledge of how and when to reposition machines is necessary.
Some wildlife management firms suggest applying MA directly to waste to deter birds from eating it; however, experts do not recommended this practice. If used in this fashion, MA must be applied every time new waste is brought in, significantly increasing the amount of product that must be used.
The Critical Tool to Success
As you can see, when used properly, almost all of these tools can be successful to an extent. The key to success in any bird management program is not the tools, but the people using them. Whether you choose to run your gull management program in-house or contract it out, finding the right person or team to run your program is the one absolutely indispensable tool you must have.
To determine the most effective solutions, your program must be run by a dedicated resource, preferably someone with a background in wildlife management. In addition to knowledge, this individual or team will have the time, training and ability to continually re-evaluate methods in place to determine effectiveness and adjust as necessary. In-house resources are often used for multiple tasks, limiting the time they can spend on bird management, which can detrimentally affect the program. To be most effective, an in-house resource must be dedicated full-time bird management and receive regular training to stay current. Alternatively, using a professional wildlife, bird or pest management firm typically costs a fraction of what employing someone at your facility might. In addition, these professional firms ensure regular training for their employees, and are often the first to hear about innovative new methods.
The headaches created by gulls for waste management professionals have gone on for too long. With the right tools, time, effort, and most importantly, people, successful gull management is achievable.
Mike Givlin is Vice-President of the North American Bird Program at The Steritech Group, Inc., a leading North American brand protection services firm specializing in pest prevention. Mike is an expert in bird management, and has successfully implemented solutions for gulls, geese, pigeons, grackles and more at commercial retail and hospitality properties, large airports and waste management facilities. For more information, call (800) 868-0089 or visit www.steritech.com.