Birds poop on my layout

[collectors]

I was warned about tree sap & leaves on the track when designing the layout & running past two oak trees, & this steered me more towards RC battery trains. But you guys forgot to mention the flying rats "Pigeons" pooping all over layout in these areas.
So, i am going to build a canopy over the track in these areas. Something corrugated would look good, but would need to go from left to right of picture & dont think corrugated would bend this way without buckling. Any other suggestions, or do you know of one that wont. Remembering the track is on plastic decking boards razed off the ground. Thanks

 

[Rhinochugger]

I was warned about tree sap & leaves on the track when designing the layout & running past two oak trees, & this steered me more towards RC battery trains. But you guys forgot to mention the flying rats "Pigeons" pooping all over layout in these areas.
So, i am going to build a canopy over the track in these areas. Something corrugated would look good, but would need to go from left to right of picture & dont think corrugated would bend this way without buckling. Any other suggestions, or do you know of one that wont. Thanks

View attachment 316975

And you think that will deter them ?

S'okay - you can clear the guano off the track with a small, sharp stone pretty easily

 

[PhilP]

I would run the corrugations front to back, and have a pent roof, higher at the front.

You could also go with flat clear sheet, which would allow for you curve.

PhilP

 

[Rhinochugger]

I would run the corrugations front to back, and have a pent roof, higher at the front.

You could also go with flat clear sheet, which would allow for you curve.

PhilP

......... and they'll walk in underneath it and do what comes naturally .................... and when it comes to pigeons, frequently

 

[dunnyrail]

......... and they'll walk in underneath it and do what comes naturally .................... and when it comes to pigeons, frequently

They do like to walk the ballast and eat any loose stones for their crop, well that is if they are small enough. Bird poop just one of the many natural hacpvards to contend with, personally I would not worry with the faff of a cover. Just go over the track with a piece of wood a bit wider than gauge.

 

[Rhinochugger]

Yup, with battery power, you only need to clear the rail head and the inner face of the rail head (sufficient for whatever flange clearance you need, but you're never going to stop 'em

 

[dutchelm]

When I take a layout to a show I sometimes take buildings that have been out in the garden. At one show I was asked how I got such realistic streaks on the station roof.

 

[korm kormsen]

i agree with the others, that you'll be fighting a loosing war.
a cal .22 would be my choice of tactics.

but to your question:
if you got one of these (Fiscars) crimpers, instead of crimping soda cans, crimp bake-forms. these one-use aluminium baking forms you find in any supermarket.
they are somewhat more flexible.

as you are planning a form-giving subroof, you can bend and glue the crimped alu to that.

 

[collectors]

Thanks guys, pigeon pie sounds like a good bet. But i only have a 12 bore, & i think this will damage the track. I might do some experimenting with corrugated & heat.

 

[JimmyB]

Pigeons are the least of my worries, foxes can do damage, but the crows are worst, they come to pick insects off the vegetation around the railway, and move everything around to get what they are after.

 

[PhilP]

I had a crow fly off with an illuminated Playmobil lamppost..

Must have created a very 'des-res' of the nest?

PhilP

 

[collectors]

Must admit a lot of you guys have a lot more maintenance than my layout & think a jet wash every now & then will help. But will still build a canopy in the worst areas.

 

[Gizzy]

We have foxes as well as squirrels and pigeons carping all over the garden, despite being in Cambridge.

Just part of being in the garden. They are a nuisance for railway modeller but it's worse for our neighbours who grow a lot of their own vegetables....

 

[collectors]

We have foxes as well as squirrels and pigeons carping all over the garden, despite being in Cambridge.

Just part of being in the garden. They are a nuisance for railway modeler but it's worse for our neighbor's who grow a lot of their own vegetables....

We can add deer & the occasional bagger to the list that pops in from the golf course, plus mice on which i have to be carful of. Maybe an electric fence will help?? But i think the mice will limbo under this.

 

[Gizzy]

We can add deer & the occasional bagger to the list that pops in from the golf course, plus mice on which i have to be carful of. Maybe an electric fence will help?? But i think the mice will limbo under this.

Badgers we don't get here, but the odd Muntjac deer I have seen although not in our garden.

I've seen the occasional rat although the foxes seem to keep their numbers down from the carcasses we and our neighbours have noticed.

I posted a picture of a Sparrow Hawk that was on the tracks a couple of weeks ago....

 

[Paradise]

Get a pet raptor! That will keep the pigeons away.

 

[GAP]

I have a problem with birds going under my carport roof and pooping on my cars I have found the best deterrent is to hang CD/DVD discs under the roof they catch the sunlight and because they move in the wind there is no pattern to the flash.
I'd put some posts made from reinforcing steel or something else locally available around the track and suspend some discs at differing heights to frighten them off. You could string LED lights off the posts powered by a battery (use a 12V SLA with a small solar panel to keep it charged) for night running.
For the sap build the canopy as planned or cut the trees down.

 

[Rhinochugger]

I think ultimately you have to look at it as something of a prototypical challenge.

BR gets the wrong sort of snow, and we get the wrong short of bird s***t guano

 

[JimmyB]

hang CD/DVD discs under the roof they catch the sunlight and because they move in the wind there is no pattern to the flash.

This is where it fails in the UK

 

[Paradise]

I have a problem with birds going under my carport roof and pooping on my cars I have found the best deterrent is to hang CD/DVD discs under the roof they catch the sunlight and because they move in the wind there is no pattern to the flash.

I was told to tie blue plastic shopping bags in my peach tree to stop the parrakeets from eating them.
While I was up in the middle of the tree after tying several blue plastic shopping bags, the parrakeets decided to come and join me eating the peaches within arms reach. Well, I gave up on that idea!