With all the recent road construction, and placement of new bridges throughout the county, I’m surprised there isn’t a greater discussion of the overpopulation of pigeons in the county.

You might wonder what one has to do with the other, but it actually makes a great deal of sense.  First and foremost, pigeon urine and feces are dangerous.  Not just in the yuck-I-have-pigeon-poop-all-over-my-car kind of way, either.  Pigeon feces carry all kinds of harmful microorganisms that release into the air once the droppings have dried that can cause respiratory problems in humans and animals.  And, they attract other creatures like mice and rats to an area.  Gross and a health hazard to those who live in the area.  But, I’m talking about the very real danger of pigeon urine.  You see, pigeons have a high uric acid concentration in their urine, the key word being acid.  It can eat through wood joists, concrete, and cause metal to rust faster than it would normally.  I’m sure you see where I’m headed with this.  The serious overpopulation of pigeons in our county can seriously undermine the money and safety of the residents in our county.  We’ve spent a lot of taxpayer money to pay for these new overpasses and bridges, and we’ve all endured months and months of dealing with road construction and detours, all with the glorious aim of lessening road congestion.  Wonderful, right?  So, why should we have to deal with repairs and replacing these structures much earlier than normal?  If we allow the overpopulation of pigeons to continue, we’re going to pay the price in the long run, by jeopardizing the structures we just paid for.  What is it they say about an ounce of prevention?

But, it seems to go completely unnoticed right now.  I commute about 40 minutes each way, and drive under some of these new overpasses.  Looking up, I see they’re covered in flying vermin, and I have to wonder why we aren’t doing more about the problem.  Maybe the county can’t find the funds to install barriers, or do what they need to do to get rid of the pigeons.  Conspiracy theorists might wonder if the road construction companies invite the pigeons in order to ensure themselves work in the future.  As for me, I believe that no one in the county government has considered the overpopulation of pigeons to be a big enough problem, yet.  I worry that it will be one of the things we’re discussing in the years to come, as we have to pay more and more for repairs, maintenance and cleaning.  The worst case scenario would be if we allowed it to go on past the point of no return, and one of these new bridges or overpasses actually collapses.  Wouldn’t we rather take care of the problem now rather than moan about what we should have done?