For the Birds

When it comes to bird poop, necessity, it seems, is truly the mother of invention. Just ask Charleston, South Carolina, residents Rob Turkewitz and Bud Doty. The duo grew so tired of seeing their docks and patios covered in bird droppings they decided to take the matter into their own hands…so to speak.

“We tried everything out there to repel birds—plastic owls, rubber snakes, electronic devices. Nothing worked. So we invented the WhirlyBird,” says Turkewitz.

The WhirlyBird Repeller is a plastic device that spins in the wind, giving off all manner of reflections and vibrations that send birds flying. Sound like a pile of you-know-what? Turns out the Coast Guard station in Charleston put the WhirlyBird through fourteen months of rigorous testing (seagull droppings cut down on the effectiveness of solar-powered navigational buoys) and determined that the gadget works. The WhirlyBird was also employed by the Saint James Episcopal Church on James Island, which was having a problem with large crows crashing into its windows during services. “It was like that Alfred Hitchcock movie The Birds,” says Turkewitz. “But they haven’t had any problems since.”

If the WhirlyBird works for the government and God, we figure it’ll work for your dock.