Pigeons generally hate things that pose a danger to them such as cars, cats and more.
They hate predatory or domineering birds, such as birds of prey like hawks.
Pigeons are also not keen on strong smells like cleaning fluids or hot powder or sauce.
If you have a pigeon problem you can use some of these things to your advantage.
1. Hawks
Falcons and other birds of prey would probably come at the top of the hate list. These are natural predators of pigeons.
Although you won’t find many in urban settings, some have emulated their smaller avian cousins and have moved into the cities.
With their flying abilities, they can actually live in rural areas and nip into the city to see the sights and get a bite to eat.
Some dastardly humans have even imported them to use as avian pest control.
Why wouldn’t pigeons hate them?
2. Cats
Cats are natural predators and love to hunt birds of all species. Of course, pigeons, because of their abundance will be their targets too.
The problem with cats, apart from their natural sadistic tendencies, is that they can and do climb.
They are expert silent stalkers and can turn up almost anywhere.
Just imagine that you are a pigeon, sitting on some supposedly safe perch, out of reach and suddenly some rapturous moggy pounces on you?
3. Traffic
Traffic isn’t a problem for rural pigeons, but you would imagine it is for those city slickers.
Although pigeons are creatures of the air, they do spend a lot of their time on the ground.
Pigeons are always looking for the next bug or titbit to eat and the ground is a great place to find food.
Not only are there all those vehicles whizzing by, but all those people stomping along the pavements too.
There are pedestrian crossings, but what human driver stops for pigeons?
Human traffic must be even worse.
People can be pretty unpredictable in their movements and they don’t look where they are going, especially at their feet.
Dodging wheels and stamping feet is an everyday hazard for pigeons.
They take it in their stride, but you can imagine it would be one of their pet hates.
4. Cleaners
There are two types of cleaners that must annoy pigeons.
One is the everyday street cleaners that come along and sweep up all that potential food from the roads and pavements and then are they the building cleaners.
A smart pigeon would know to keep ahead of the street cleaners before they sweep everything away, but the building cleaners are another matter.
Every so often local councils have a cleaning drive to smarten up their old buildings, especially those ornate and historical ones that have all those carvings, nooks and crannies that pigeon so love.
Just imagine that you are a pigeon and are ready to mate.
You have both worked hard to build a comfy nest, ready to knock out some babies and the cleaners suddenly turn up!
They deliberately destroy your lovely nest and then sandblast the whole building, leaving you homeless!
It doesn’t bear thinking about.
5. Exterminators
Exterminators is a rather fancy name for cold-blooded killers.
These hired mercenaries only have one thing on their minds, wholesale slaughter.
They are there just to commit avian genocide.
They want to do away with you, your family and friends.
As a pigeon, you would wonder what you have done to deserve this! In actual fact nothing.
You and your fellow pigeons are just quietly going about your natural business, not harming anyone, but some humans want to wipe you off the face of the earth.
6. Deterrents
All a pigeon wants o do is go about his/her business.
They hate anything that gets in their way of a tasty morsel or a nice comfy perch so, any kind of deterrent will be top of their peeves list.
The most hated deterrents – we think – are those spikes that people stick on window sills, roof edges and balcony edges etc and the less obvious but equally annoying pigeon repellent gel.
Spikes are becoming less frequently used as humans have become more conscious of animal cruelty and this has given rise to increased use of methods like repellent gel, an option that is considered more humane.
Also in this category of deterrents pigeons hate are bird netting and electric tracks that give the poor unsuspecting pigeon a shock when it lands on it.
These deterrents are the bane of urban pigeons.
Such repelling methods are less common in the countryside where pigeons are not considered a problem – they may just have to contend with bird scarers, water sprays, and scarecrows.
7. Other Pet Hates
You can imagine that bad weather isn’t something pigeons look forward to. Even animals that are used to the turning seasons probably don’t like rain, cold and chill winds.
They make life miserable.
Survival is hard enough, so you would think that winter weather would be dreaded.
Locked bins would certainly raise the ire of pigeons. It’s like putting a padlock on a fridge.
Humans waste tons of food every day and some of it could easily help some poor starving pigeons.
It’s probably the lack of human consciousness that would really make them angry.
There is another pet hate you can be sure that both pigeons and humans share. Chewing gum!
Nobody likes stepping on it and having their shoes stick to the floor.
How do you think pigeons feel when their claws sink into it?
The stuff sticks like glue.
Definitely something to hate.
Cool Customers
Although pretty cool and laid back characters, you would think that any of the above would be high on the hate list of pigeons.
Of course, that depends on if pigeons think and feel the same as we do. On the other hand, maybe they aren’t like us in that way.
Maybe they just accept life the way it is without all the preoccupation about how things should be as opposed to how things are.