Its white variety is the symbol of peace and love, but that’s not what people think about when it comes to the dirty subject of pigeons — and their droppings — at the Capitol and agency buildings.
At least not for Alex Soto, a groundskeeper supervisor with the Department of Administration General Services Division, who holds absolutely no affection for the creatures.
“They’re disgusting,” said Mr. Soto, who estimates that he spends a couple of hours each day ridding the Capitol and its surrounding agency buildings of pigeon defecation. “They’re like a rat on wings.”
Each day, Mr. Soto arrives at 5 a.m. with three other supervisors, 12 groundskeepers and sometimes as many as 15 inmates on work release from the Department of Corrections. Together they scrape and hose down benches, tables, air conditioning units and other areas where the pigeons congregate. Maintaining the appearance of monuments, particularly the memorial dedicated to the fallen of the Vietnam War, is important to avoid the fury of veterans.
To those like Bob Youngkrantz, assistant chief of security for the House of Representatives, the daily reminder of the excrement capability of a pigeon colony far outweighs any interest in the quirks and qualities presented by the animal.
“They still poop,” says Mr. Youngkrantz, who has been hit with falling pigeon feces while on duty. “I don’t like that about them. Look at the ledges. Look at this mess.”
Cleaning up costs money
Each year, the Department of Administration (DOA) spends about $31,500 on staff time devoted to manage the feces, according to Alan Ecker, a department spokesman and legislative liaison. And that figure does not include water, paint or the necessary repairs to benches, tables and monuments marred by the droppings.
To protect the Arizona House and Senate, and its visitors, from the threat from above, the DOA spent $51,400 to install pigeon barrier systems in October 2004, which deliver an electric current to landing birds to deter loitering and nesting on the ledges.
“It makes it uncomfortable for pigeons to land there but it doesn’t harm them,” said Mr. Ecker, who rules out lethal responses to maintain the properties.
Zapping the pigeons to deter them from resting on government buildings and excreting on property and state employees, officials, and visitors is not the preferred method of Sandy Bahr, the conservation outreach director of Grand Canyon Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Though the topic is not a specific “focus” of the group, Ms. Bahr said she favors the idea of transforming the area surrounding the House and Senate to a more natural desert environment with native plants like Palo Verde trees and birds of prey such as hawks to keep pigeon populations in check.
“It would be nice to see more natural efforts to control the pigeons,” she said. “They’re here because of the environment we have created.”
Commercial businesses, such as Bird-B-Gone, Inc., a California based firm, offer a variety of contraptions and products to drive away pest birds, such as sticky gel, electric shock devices, spike strips, “motel” traps, lasers, netting, and sound deterrence equipment that mimic distress and predator calls from birds and their natural enemies.
No threat to humans
While emotional revulsion to the poop can run high, the actual threat to humans is minimal, said Dr. Bob England, acting director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. Exceptions include people with immune systems compromised by medical conditions such as AIDS or treatments given to those with recent organ transplants.
The most serious menace in pigeon or bird excrement is Cryptococcus, a yeast-based fungus usually absorbed by the lungs, according to Dr. England,
Without “putting it (droppings) in your mouth” or inadvertently inhaling fecal “dust” while cleaning after the pigeons, the likelihood of the fungal infection is low, he said.
“You’re better off mopping it up than sweeping it up,” said Dr. England. “You might also want to wear a particle mask, and wash your hands.”
Efforts to attack the unsightly problem have paid off, said Jennifer Webb, who was recently taking a cigarette break at a picnic table near the Capitol Executive Tower.
“They’ve gotten better at cleaning it up, but it’s not the most attractive thing,” said Ms. Webb, who does accounting work for the Arizona Department of Health Services.
In order to have lunch without unwanted droppings raining from pigeons in the trees above, Ms. Webb and her colleagues occasionally are forced to move the tables, she said.
She places the cause of the problem on people who visit the area to feed the pigeons portions of bread or other snacks.
“I love animals,” she said. “But it’s really dirty.”