Problems with birds

[WDWDad]

We were at OKW March 3-10. We always request 3rd floor because we love the view, but this time the room we recieved had alot of trees surrounding the patio. At first we liked it, because it felt kind of private, but it really needed a good pruning.

Well it didn't take but 30 seconds to realize that there was going to be a problem. We were sitting on the patio and I noticed right away alot of bird droppings on the railings and even the chairs. About 5 seconds after that the birds started settling in around us. They were loud, and quite bold. It was obvious that they were looking for a handout because the would land just out of arms reach and screech at each other. After the first day we called and explained the problem and asked if the deck could be powerwashed. Housekeeping sent one poor guy out with a spray bottle and and some paper towels. He did a fair job, but the next day the mess was back.

Needless to say this ruined our experiences on the patio for the entire week. We couldn't walk out there without the masses starting to alight. It was like something out of the movie " The Birds ".

I've been known to hand out some popcorn to the occasional duck, but no more. I am strictly calling this practice offlimits for my family. Has anyone else had a similiar experience ? What can be done to minimize this problem? I know that the parks have struggled with this problem before, and I know that the Boardwalk has had problems near the lake. I seem to remember more signs there on this last trip. Am I being too sensitive or is this a problem

[Firefighter Mickey]

I haven't noticed this before, but I have noticed that the ducks can be quite aggressive. Anytime you get a situation where people are giving away food to wildlife you can run into this type of thing (ever been dive-bombed by a seagull?). About the only thing to do is for DVC to start asking people to not feed the wildlife and hope that people will do that and that eventually the problem will go away.

I am reminded however of a Tom Lehrer song "...when they see us coming the birdies all try and hide, but they still go for peanuts when coated in cyanide..." - and before anyone gets the wrong idea, I am certainly not suggesting this as a solution; the situation just happened to bring the song to mind.

[DebbieB]

When I was at the Magic Kingdom in February, we were eating outdoors at the Plaza Pavillion. The birds were very aggressive. A Mom sat down and put a sandwich down for her son and before he sat down a bird almost grabbed it! Afterwards, we were walking over near the hot dog shop at the end of Main Street and a little girl was crying because a bird grabbed her hot dog! :eek:

[PamOKW]

Great subject :rolleyes: I'm not sure of a solution but people feeding them does contribute to the problem. I know when I first went to OKW, if you opened the door the ibis (what's the plural?) would run away. Now, they run toward you as fast as they can looking for a handout.

The different seasons may increase/decrease the problem. I know they said spring on Discovery Island would have more bird poop and aggressive behavior. You also find way more seagulls at WDW in the colder months.

[walter]

I remember a couple of years ago when we were at MK, a little girl and her ice cream cone were attacked by an aggressive seagull. I wish I had my camera ready, for it would be funny to post a picture of this on the DIS Boards with the caption "Share the Disney Experience".

[wdw4us]

we were at the BWV a couple of weeks ago. A duck came into our room since we had the door open. She just walked right in for a handout. A bird did the same the next day.

denise

http://www.wdwinfo.com/sites/family/sewsig.gif

[bigdisneydaddy]

My 8 yr old son calls the seagulls "garbage eagles" I thought it was pretty accurate.

[genealle]

While dining under the trees at Flametree BBQ, a feathered friend made a large deposit on my shoulder, much to the delight of my son. Oh but to have had a camera! (I made sure to gather all scraps-no treats for the wicked) <IMG WIDTH="15" HEIGHT="15" SRC="/infopop/emoticons/icon_razz.gif" alt="razz">

[jcodespoti]

I have seen Seagulls eat almost anything (dead or "handout") the are very aggressive and bold. If people keep feeding them its only going to get worse


Joe in CT

[KNWVIKING]

I guess I'm not a bird person because I hate the black birds at BWV, the sea gulls,(dumpster ducks) at MK and those big ugly vultures or buzards that were infesting AK in December. Maybe they need to stock up on predator birds to thin them out, or let us start whackin 'em with tennis rackets.

[treloarf]

We had a similar problem at OKW in March on the 1st floor. Birds/ducks were right there and my kids wanted to feed them. I don't know if anyone read my previous post, but my husband is deathly afraid of creatures and borrowed the movie "The Birds" from Hanks and made my kids watch it so they would not want to feed the birds. How cruel!!! The movie didn't even phase them - they still wanted to feed them. I think there should be signs saying "please do not feed the wildlife, it could harm them". What would happen if people feed them the wrong thing, they could get sick, dye. I think something should be done about it!!!

[A1A1]

The birds at bw were a nightmare last November and the previous October.

We also could not enjoy our fifth floor balcony with the boardwalk view that we "paid" extra for. I was so upset about this, because I thought that it should be part of housekeeping or maintenance duties. This is part of our room, right. Even if they had to clean it every day, it would still be easier to clean than the baked on, caked on, cemented on stuff that we saw on our first day in the room. Each day I requested that the balcony be sprayed off. The BWV also sent in some poor soul with a spray bottle and a towel. They told me I must be feeding the birds. I can assure you that nothing could have been further from the truth.

I will not request a high floor anymore. The birds are evil!

[PKK/MJK]

We had a two bedroom unit at OKW a couple years ago where there was a tremendous amount of foliage around the balcony--I believe it was in the 50's. We hated that unit--the only time we did not like our OKW accommodations. The birds we terrible and the foliage kept the living room very dark. Last January we were dive-bombed by aggressive birds in the Plaza Pavilion too. That was scarey. The worst though was the fifth floor Boardwalk view room we had in 1999. Just like the other poster said, the balcony was a disaster and those birds flew right at you the moment you opened the door. The view was incredible if you could avoid the birds long enough to enjoy it.

Phil and Mary Jo
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WDW--82,83,85,87,89,93,95,96, 97,98,99,00,01
DVC/OKW

[dianeschlicht]

I love these kind of stories. A couple years ago at OKW, we were standing out on our balcony watching the ducks when a long beaked lame bird hopped up on the rail and walked over to my DH. My DH put his hand out, and the bird bit him and cut his finger! We laughed about that all week.

Last year, one of our guests go "plopped on" by a bird just as we were entering MGM. It got her right on top of the head and was quite "loose" if you get my drift. We had to go the restroom and wash her hair!

Disneydiane http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/vltdisney/mickey36.gif http://www.dreamsunlimitedtravel.com/images/official_logos/keywest.gif

[Lisa F]

I've been told by more than one CM that disney is working on the bird problem, but it's not an easy one to solve (obviously). They can't rely on people not feeding them to stop it so they're going to have to figure something else out. I think they should look at their "integrated pest management" program... that's where they introduce "good" insects into the environment to eat the "bad" ones. The only problem is, anything big enough to eat those birds will probably want to eat small children as well. Hmm, I guess that won't work.

Maybe Disney needs to charge those birds admission. The high cost of getting into the parks could certainly keep them away!

Lisa

"You employ stone, wood, and concrete, and with these materials you build house and palaces. That is construction. Ingenuity is at work. But suddenly, you touch my heart, you do me good. I am happy and I say 'This is beautiful.' That is architecture. Art enters in."
-Le Corbusier

[baileybrad]

has anyone used any "homemade" remedies that have had any impact on keeping birds away, say at their home. I am not talking about offing the critters just wonder if someone has had any success with making them less interested in coming around.

It does so drive me nuts when I see guests feeding the birds in the parks. Now the birds seem to think that it is an entitlement whenever someone has food.

[spiceycat]

work uses wooden hawks - they kept away everything except the crows (very aggressive).

[KNWVIKING]

I wonder if certain hi frequency sounds iritate birds,kinda like those deer whistles you mount on your car bumper or those insect repellers. I don't know if either actually work but it might be a human way to get rid of them.The one post was about wooden Hawks.I know at the Jersey shore they use owls.They also paint seagulls on the parking lots. Seagulls pick up clams,fly high & drop them on asphalt to break the shells.They won't drop them if they think another gull is on the ground waiting. Works very well.

[Fenceman]

At HH they have strung pieces of fishing line in criss cross directions from buildings to trees around the Mercantile/snack bar and near the pool. The naturalist said they use this to help keep the black birds away. The birds do not like the vibration of the string in the wind nor the way the sun light reflects off the string. The strings are not that noticable unless you are looking for them but have to be move occasionally so the birds do not get use to there position.

He said they had the same problems with birds. They were so smart that they would swoop down and knock things off the tables. When you would reach down to pick that up they would swoop down and take your food.

[Dreamfinder2]

Aluminum pie plates suspended by string works good in gardens. It sure would be tacky, tho.

[Donald]

On my last visit at OKW, I did not have bird problems on my balcony, but I did notice MANY people feeding the birds from theirs. The kids were loving it, and the birds were getting more and more aggressive! I wanted to yell across the lawn for them to STOP FEEDING THE BIRDS, but thought that would be rude. I have seen signs put out by Disney asking people not to feed the birds in the parks and other public areas. Disney should but a sign on each balcony or place a handout in the rooms telling people not to feed the birds, and why. People need to know it is not an acceptable practice.

"...yes, the pixie dust is strong" - RumpleMom

[eva]

They did put up those clear lines near the Mexican Cantina at WS. I must say that it didn't work all that well. In December of 99 my husband and I ate there and had to practically down our food before the birds did. It is funny that someone mentioned a child losing an ice cream cone. That happened while we were eating there. A little boy about 5 had just started to put a brand new ice cream cone to his lips when a huge white bird swooped down and grabbed it right from his hands. Poor kid didn't even get one lick. My husband and I actually saw the whole thing and couldn't believe it. I don't know what the answer is.

[KNWVIKING]

Ya know,the more I think about them birds the madder I get. I'm in favor of protecting nature, but there is nothing natural about these birds. They are not endangered species, they have no natural fear of man, because of the abundance of food they overbred-thier population is way off the scale, in a resort like Disney they have virtually no natural preditors. Maybe it's time to take extermination measures.Sorry PETA,let the hate mail begin.

[sconstantz]

I am in favor of extermination!!!! When we lived in HH, DH and I used to take our 2 labs for walks on the beach and encourage them to terrorize them. The dogs got a good work out and the birds stayed away, far away!!!!

shelly

[WDWDad]

I don't know. I hate to see any living thing get killed, and yet the birds are a pain in the butt. I also wonder if it would do any good or will more birds move right in.

The obvious solution seems to be to not feed them and actually harass them. I doubt we'd get 100% cooperation and if anyone feeds them it will only reinforce the behavior.

[ohioMickey]

We havent had any problems with birds, but we have run into some aggressive love bugs!!!!!

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Off Site 05/90
Dixie Landings 05/00
Wilderness Lodge 09/00
Polynesian 05/01
VWL 12/01 -- First trip with DVC points!!

[Lesley]

Perhaps they could introduce some natural predators that will take out the bird's nests...hmmm....ones that won't scare people or try to eat children. Owls, racoons, um..maybe ferrets? Just not snakes!

Or they could feed them birth control drugs....I've heard of that being done for deer...

We encountered some rather agressive ducks at FW..tried to get into our tent! And I thought one of those huge black birds was going to peck at me in France outside the bakery...pointy beaks those guys have!

And I'm ROTFL about the aluminum pans
:D


Lesley


1979 Contemporary
1992 Off-site
1994 Carribean Beach
1999 Fort Wilderness and Coronado Springs
2000 Polynesian and Old Key West
2002 Boardwalk Villas

[SueM in MN]

We stayed at OKW at the end of March in a first floor room. We have been known to feed a little bit of stale popcorn to the birds, but I have never seen any bird feeding to the extent that was done by someone above us on this trip.
We were sitting on our balcony, heard some kids come outside above us and it started raining whole pieces of bread and whole dinner rolls! This went on for a good 10 minutes and they threw at least 2 loaves of bread and 8 to 10 dinner rolls. Some of it went into the water and none of the birds went in after it. The birds could not handle the huge pieces of food that were being thrown out and there was a lot of fighting among the birds as they tried to get the smaller pieces. A lot of the bread was never even eaten because it was way too much at one time and way too big. So, not only did it encourage birds to "ask" for food, they couldn't even eat it.

SueM in MN
Co-Moderator of disABILITIES (http://wdwinfo.infopop.net/OpenTopic/page?q=Y&a=frm&s=40009993&f=38009194)

[This message was edited by SueM in MN on 04-14-01 at 05:30 PM.]

[disrailfan]

DW and I were at Epcot the first week of December this past year and watched a gentleman walk away with a foot long hot dog. Shortly after he walked away from the stand a seagull came down and snatched the whole thing bun and all right out of his hand. Needless to say several birds then joined in the feast.

I was impressed though that the CM at the stand did offer him a replacement.

I have noticed that the birds are very aggresive and I'm sure that it is because of everyone feeding them.

http://www.noblesvilleonline.com/images/Dissign.gif
1998 ASM Nov Kids
2000 OKW Dec No Kids
2001 OKW Jun Kids
2001 OKW Nov No Kids

[dznymom1]

One beautiful day at the MK I was divebombed by a gull who was trying to get my churro. It was close, but it's going to take more than a seagull to get between me & my churro!

[mjackson]

Birds at Disney are a problem. I have been dumped on many times and so has my wife. In fact she has written a letter entitled "Dumped on in Disney".

[Lissete]

This thread reminds me of a time back in 97. My husband and I were having breakfast on the patio at Olivia's. He was bringing a stip of bacon to his mouth , when this big black bird swooshed in and took the bacon with him. He practically took it from my DH's mouth! :eek:


Lissete

Mom23K's, Katrina, Karilyn & my angel Kristyn

DVC 1995

[KyBill]

Speaking of birds. Have you eaten at Cantina at Mexico and fought the blackbirds for your food?