Birds Building Nests in Slide Toppers

[EastlakeRoo]

We have been finding birds building nests in our slide toppers while our slides are in during the week. You see we camp mostly on weekends and every Friday when we bring out the slides there is a nest that has to be cleared.

Is there anyway to prevent this? I was thinking of the pool noodles made of styrofoam to put in there but I would need to install after the slide out have gone in and then take them out when we put the slides out.

Not sure if there is anything else we can do besides just cleaning the nest out every weekend.

Any other ideas??

[ependydad]

How are the birds getting inside the camper to make nests?

[Timtation]

toss some mothballs under the toppers. Probably about two times will educate this years crop.

[EastlakeRoo]

I'll try the mothballs. They are building nests on top of the slide out in between the topper and slide roof.

[EastlakeRoo]

Well I put about 20 moth balls initially under toppers and had to remove about half as the smell in the trailer was bad. Noticed today that once the slides are in the moth balls are between the side rubber molding and outside lip of top slide. Not sure the moth balls are going to do anything. The birds are building nests between the small opening when the slide is in and the topper bracket fastened to the outside slide. Think I will have to keep going up on top and removing nests weekly. Ugh!!

[Ida Ratherbe Camping]

BB gun.....

[garbonz]

they may be endangered species and you will have to leave the camper where it is until nesting season is over.

[Great Horned Owl]

Originally Posted by Timtation

toss some mothballs under the toppers. Probably about two times will educate this years crop.

Have you actually tried this? Most passerines (typical perching birds) have very little sense of smell. The Avian Sense of Smell

Joel

[EastlakeRoo]

Not sure what type of bird is building the nests but I know we have "kill deer birds" as they have laid there eggs on some of the gravel and won't leave until they hatch. we were even chased by the bird as we came near the nest. Being my camground is a preserve I'm not sure how well it will go over once they see me with a bb gun. I do like the thought. Nothing is being damaged its just becomming annoying after 4 weeks of this.

Arrive at Camground.
Bringe out slides.
Get ladder from shed
Remove nest from slide
Put ladder back in shed.

I've simplified it a bit by now keeping ladder under trailer so now I can get the nests out a little more effeciently. Oh well..

[Great Horned Owl]

The Killdeer is a protected species, so shooting them (either in a preserve or anyplace else) is a violation of federal law unless you have a permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

It also would not solve your problem. The Killdeer are not nesting in your slide topper. It must be something else. Killdeer are almost exclusively ground nesters, although they have occasionally been known to nest on gravel roofs.

If I had to guess, I would think that the most likely culprit would be House Wrens. Check out the songs House Wren, Sounds, All About Birds - Cornell Lab of Ornithology and see if you are hearing that.

What do the nests look like? What are they made of? Can you post a photo of a nest?

Joel

[Timtation]

GHO, now that you remind me I knew that most birds don't have much sense of smell. No I have not tried that for birds but for other varmints which why it came to mind quickly.

[Wumba]

Had some build a nest in mine about a month ago. Opened the slide and the eggs broke. Quite the smelly mess! Clorox clean up and tossed the nest and they haven't been back since.

[EastlakeRoo]

Will have to come up with something that I can install on the slide ends that covers the opening when closed yet allows for the slide topper to roll up and roll out. Did some searching and didn't find anything. Not sure what else to do besides just keep taking the nests out.

[roxberrym]

You might try a little rubber or plastic snake or alligator attached to your tt slide. Sometimes the birds will think its a predator laying in wait and they will leave. Might be worth a try.

[dcheatwood]

Maybe a predator on the top of the ladder?



I have the same problem with nesting in my pin. A rubber snake seems to have stopped that. Hope i remember to remove the snake when i sell the trailer. :-)

[EastlakeRoo]

The past 2 weeks I haven't encountered any nests so maybe the nest issue is over.

[OL Creeker]

If the birds are damaging the rig, then you must weigh the cost of repairs against the cost of the fine if you shoot them - and get caught. There's also the fun factor to consider.