By: Meredith Walako

It’s a situation that happens all too often: a boat owner plans to take their vessel out for a day of enjoyment, only to find it covered in bird droppings.

Bruce Donoho, owner of Bird Control Supply Company, Bird-B-Gone, says “Left unattended, bird droppings can stain surfaces, and eventually erode materials, not to mention the health risk: bacteria and parasites can also be found in bird droppings.” A high concentration of uric acid, found to be even higher in sea birds, can be to blame for the erosion. The acidity can erode materials like steel, discolor paint, and stain canvases. Taking steps to “bird proof” your boat is an investment that will save you time and money.

There are a few steps that boat owners may already be taking to help protect their investment. For example, the wax coating used on the exterior of a boat can buy an owner time before bird droppings reach the boats surface, prolonging the possibility of erosion.  But how do you keep birds off of a boat in the first place? Birds prefer the highpoints on a vessel, but will also land on a protective canvas. Treating these areas with visual or physical deterrents will help encourage the birds to move on to a more suitable location. Birds rely heavily on visual clues in their environment helping with flight, the detection of predators, food sources, ect. In fact, birds have the largest eye to body ratio in the animal kingdom.

Using items on a boat which move or sway in the wind, such as the Bird Spider from Bird-B-Gone can be big help. The bird spider looks sort of like an umbrella with no vinyl… the arms move in the wind, discouraging birds from landing on the boat. Usually one or two units on a boat will be enough to keep the birds at bay, and Bird-B-Gone offers three different boat attachments: a rail mount, a boat base, and a sandbag base.