How To Keep Birds Out Of Your Grocery Store

Birds frequent grocery stores for the same reason humans do – to search for food. But unlike most humans, they also try to find cozy nesting spots -- unfortunately in the form of your store’s ductwork, rafters, and stock rooms. How does a store owner keep birds out of their aisles? There are preventive measures you can take to keep your grocery store bird-free without harming these flying visitors.

Birds may look harmless, but they can be the dirtiest animals on the planet. Birds have mites and lice, and can carry respiratory and bacterial diseases. Inside grocery stores, birds like to hang around the produce section – which may deter shoppers from buying your goods. Shoppers trust local grocery stores to protect them from illness, and to have the best contagion-free food and produce. Birds in your store give the impression that you may be ignoring sanitary codes. In some cases, health officials may close a store until the location is free of rampant birds.

If you’re hoping resident birds will decide to leave on their own, you’ll be sorely disappointed. Birds will stay in a store until forced to leave or when their food source is completely depleted. In grocery stores, you cannot completely deplete their food source – that would mean your store no longer has groceries to sell.

One of the simplest ways to deter birds from coming into your store is by installing bird control spikes outside the store. These spikes don’t harm birds, but prevent them from landing (and nesting) on your building. If they can’t nest, they’ll leave and make their homes someplace else. Installing a fake bird of prey, such as a plastic owl, will also discourage small birds from frequenting your store, although this does not prevent every bird.

Bird netting is another option for keeping birds out of your grocery store. Farmers use netting on farms to protect plants from invasive birds. Sold by professionals in large rolls, you can use enough netting to cover your grocery store’s roof or loading docks, making it impossible for birds to touch the building.

Protect your grocery store from diseases by taking a step toward being bird-free. If you’re installing bird spikes, bird netting, or other bird control devices, seek the help of a professional who knows what’s best for the birds as well as for your store. The pest control experts at JP Pest Services can help you in all of your bird-blocking endeavors. Contact us for a free commercial consultation!