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Bird is relentless building nest in Laurel vendor

OurTown

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This is a new issue to me that I didn't think could happen. Going on 7 days now that everyday a bird is building a nest behind all the magazines in a five selection Little Tree vendor. The first day I removed all the magazines and cleaned it out thoroughly. Then I thought I would open two black ice trees and two True North trees and put them in there thinking it would keep it away. Nope. Now everyday I just remove the farthest to the left magazine and clean out the majority of the new nest. The only bird repellent that has seemed to work for us in the past is a product that is basically pellets made from dried garlic. It works mediocre but smells awful and I love garlic so there must be something else in there. There's no way I'm putting it in there. One day soon there will be eggs in there. I can feel it coming soon. That might be a mess if they break trying to get them out. Anyone else have this issue and how did you fix it?
 

Randy

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I’ve got the same problem. Only it’s not in the vending machine. I think I’d close off the vending until nesting season is over. I’ve got them building nests on the top and inside the concrete block. They get real mean when you destroy there nest.
 

soonermajic

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Get something called Bird Away. Dap it wherever they land & problem is OVER!
 

Kimberly Berg

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Oh my, you certainly have a unique problem! Using wire or plastic spikes is NOT an option, as it would prevent the air fresheners from falling. How about attaching reflective tape to the vertical supports, inside the vending machine, so the strips hang down loosely? Hopefully this will discourage birds from flying up inside the machine. Best of luck to you!
 

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Kimberly Berg

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I’ve got the same problem. Only it’s not in the vending machine. I think I’d close off the vending until nesting season is over. I’ve got them building nests on the top and inside the concrete block. They get real mean when you destroy there nest.
We had the same problem in April, so we glued plastic bird spikes, on the inside of the C-Channel facing the concrete block. We got an early start BEFORE they started to build their nests.
 

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kentadel

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A few years back a Robin built a nest on top of a center post of my Automatic wash. And yes, the babies survived while growing up with almost 40 cars per day being washed within a couple feet from them. I am quite sure a rainstorm never bothered them as adults!
 

OurTown

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I’ve got the same problem. Only it’s not in the vending machine. I think I’d close off the vending until nesting season is over. I’ve got them building nests on the top and inside the concrete block. They get real mean when you destroy there nest.

I should have posted this earlier to get your response. For days now we have been really slow because of rain and I could have closed it off without much if any loss of tree sales. After a few days of no access the bird might go elsewhere.
 

OurTown

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I use 1/2" hardware cloth and cut a piece to keep them out.
Are you suggesting close off the retrieval opening with that (effectively shutting it down) or place it elsewhere and keep it operating? It looks complicated to keep them out and operational.
 

OurTown

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A few years back a Robin built a nest on top of a center post of my Automatic wash. And yes, the babies survived while growing up with almost 40 cars per day being washed within a couple feet from them. I am quite sure a rainstorm never bothered them as adults!


Pretty much every year we get one there. Either a robin or dove nest. My guess is they build it during a slow time when we have rain for days.
 

MEP001

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Are you suggesting close off the retrieval opening with that (effectively shutting it down) or place it elsewhere and keep it operating? It looks complicated to keep them out and operational.
I meant cutting a piece or pieces to close off the path to where they're nesting.
 

soapy

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Put a large glue rat trap in where they fly. It will capture them when they get on it then just throw them away.
 

OurTown

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Yesterday I bought Bird-B-Gone clear gel in a caulk tube cartridge at Ace Hardware. It's the only place I could find anything like it locally in stock. It sounds similar to the stuff Sooner mentioned. I didn't have time yesterday to remove multiple magazines to get the caulk gun in there but I'll try today.
 

MEP001

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The only problem with that gel is that it's messy and they have to land on it for it to work.

Can you not just cut a piece of the hardware cloth and set it on top of the magazines so the bird can't fly up inside?
 
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