Pigeons love hanging around on top of a roof. It's high up away from people. There's a great view so they can see the other pigeons in their community and approaching predators. And there's often good options for shelter, too, such as solar panels, roof-mounted A/C units and nooks where 2 roof lines meet. All provide an awesome place to raise a family.

I can't tell you how many times a customer will call me out to help them solve their pigeon problem and I find spike up on the roof. The customer is often confused as to why the spike they paid someone else to put on the roof didn't keep the pigeons away. The answer is actually pretty simple: those bird spike strips don't move and they can't cover the entire roof. Therefore, they just don't work.

Bird spikes, or pigeon spikes, are considered 'ledge products'. They are designed to protect a ledge. And if the right size and configuration of spike for a given ledge is installed correctly, they will almost always work. On rare occasions, smaller birds may nest in the spike because they can fit between the tines nicely. But out of the literally thousands of miles of bird spike that I've installed over the past 30+ years, I've only dealt with that problem a handful of times.

If you have pigeons up on the roof, spike is not the answer. You have a few options available to you:

• Have the pigeons trapped and relocated at least 50 miles away.
• Introduce lots of movement and light to the roof such as Daddi Long Legs, flash tape, Scare Eye Diverters and a host of other bird control products
• Our Whole-Roof-system, which is the only service that we know of that actually guarantees there will be no accumulation of pigeon feces and/or nesting anywhere on the roof for 3 years.
• Build a giant cage over the entire structure and fill it with hawks or cats.

At the end of the day, don't use spike on the roof or hire anyone who plans to do so. It just won't work. Period. I hope this article helps shed a little light on why pigeon spike didn't get rid of the pigeons on your roof. And I hope you'll consider GoldShot Exterminating as your pigeon control solution. As always - Happy Hunting!

John H. Goldshot

P.S. GoldShot Exterminating is a proud sponsor of StreetLight USA. Check them out at www.streetlightusa.org and see how you can help stop child rape. What if it were your daughter?