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Why in no case should you feed pigeons near the house
Compassionate residents of high-rise buildings hang bird feeders on their balconies, and when leaving the entrance, they sprinkle the playgrounds with bread crumbs. Do you know what this is fraught with?
Until a flock of pigeons settled outside my window, I did not even think about anything like that. But the winter turned out to be harsh, frosty and windy, snow covered even the outdoor unit of the split system. Here they settled on it. I looked: they were sitting quietly, ruffled, hiding their heads deeper in their feathers, and so it became, poor fellows, a pity for them. The children and I immediately brought the crumb and crumbled it. But the joy of our good deed was short-lived. I was reprimanded by a neighbor, who also turned out to be an employee of the ZhEK, and enlightened me on the part of birds.
They say that pigeons are air rats …
Shocking statement for tamed birds, a symbol of peace that always live next to humans, isn’t it? But in fact, the comparison arose for a reason: pigeons can be carriers of about 90 pathogens of various diseases, of which 10 are the so-called zoonoses, infections transmitted from animal to person (psittacosis, salmonellosis, toxoplasmosis, tularemia, pseudotuberculosis).
At the same time, in people with weak immunity, diseases caused by birds are rather difficult. About 10 percent of acute pneumonias are due to ornithosis pneumonia, which is caused by the bacterium Chlamydia, which lives on birds. And if the body is damaged by salmonellosis, even a lethal outcome is not excluded.
Another dangerous disease spreads through birds – Newcastle disease, or a whirligig that affects the central nervous system. Surely you have noticed birds that turn their heads uncontrollably, they have convulsive movements. According to some reports, a third of urban pigeons are carriers of this virus and easily infect domestic birds.
The severity of the infection lies in the fact that the virus that causes it is very persistent, it is not so easy to get rid of it, it even lives on a dead bird for up to six months.
A person can also become infected with a twirl, especially children who take the birds in their arms, do not monitor the cleanliness of their hands are especially at risk. But our body tolerates the disease more easily – most often as conjunctivitis, inflammation of the lymph nodes is possible.
In addition, numerous parasites accompanying birds can harm human health: fleas, ticks, bugs, beetles. All this “small scum” strives to crawl into the dwelling through windows, bars, cracks.
Other parasites, such as pinworms and roundworms, also live in the gastrointestinal tract of birds. They can easily enter the human body through dirty hands.
Another painful health condition that birds can “organize” is allergies. Down and feathers are known to be strong allergens. And urban pigeons that live in a flock produce a lot of garbage around them, the smallest allergenic particles are easily carried through the air. So, if you do not want to get a sudden attack of coughing, tears with hail and a rash, do not feed birds near your housing.
In all of this, there is good news: cases of the disease acquired through pigeons are not so common. So if you follow certain rules, you should not worry. But another problem is more real.
Unsanitary
Pigeons are grateful creatures with a good memory. If you fed them from your window, then do not hesitate, the next day they will visit you with their entire bird community. And it won’t be easy to ward off them. Opening the windows in the apartment is now unlikely to work – fine fluff and harmful particles will end up on the windowsills. And the gray-winged guests themselves do not mind entering the room.
My neighbor, the manager of the house, recalled a case when pigeons once took a fancy to the attic of a five-story building. Not only were the tenants of the upper floors tortured to wash balconies and windows from pigeon droppings, but worms began to crawl out of the vent from the vent: the dead birds remained on the technical floor. But if nets can be attached to the windows of the attic, then it is not easy to protect the windows of the loggias from traces of the presence of birds.
What to do?
Of course, you can feed the birds, but it is recommended to do this away from the residential building: for example, hang feeders in parks and squares.
If the pigeons love your window sill, you need to try to drive them out of there, and wash the window with disinfectants. Be sure to wear gloves and a mask, you cannot be sure that there were no sick individuals among the birds.
Avoid contact with birds that look sick, disheveled, inactive. Do not try to cure them yourself, entrust this matter to specialists.
Do not handle wild pigeons, do not allow the child to touch the birds, for example, hand feed. Crumbs can be poured into the feeder or thrown on the ground.