Bird poop: A rant

[Dixie]

I drove my 911 to work today. Parked it in the unofficial "don’t ding my car" zone. What do I see on the hood when I return? The biggest pile of bird poop I've ever witnessed.

I'm tellin' ya. Either a Condor, a Great Dane with wings, or a C-130, took a dump on my car. The spatter managed to hit both fenders and the windshield. It etched a good 3" x 4" spot into the paint. It took 2000 grit paper, polish, and a buffer to get the worst of the damage out.

What the heck are these oversized condors around here eating?

[Dan in Pasadena]

I can relate. Apparently we still have Pterodactyl's here in SoCal! I am talking about some hardcore, aimed-right-at-you flying pancake batter machines. I carry an old quart plastic bottle full of water and some old rags in my trunk just for this. Got to avoid that etching.

[randywebb]

Condors eat dead meat...


Yes - carry water - you want to get it off the car as soon as you can - it will eat thru the wax and then start eating the paint.

Bird poop is so bad that mammals don't even have the ability to generate it - only birds, with their superior urinary systems can generate appreciable amounts or uric acid.

It's the acid that is eating your paint...

[Emission]

You know, get it off your car ASAP... then wait.

Wait.

Wait.

Wait.

After about a week, the ring in the clear coat will go nearly away. No need to use anything abrasive to get rid of it.

[RLJ]

A few years ago my now ex-wife worked at a resturant over in Nahcotta, Washington, on the edge of Willapa Bay. The sea gulls had learned to pick up oyster shells, go to altiude and then drop the oyster, cracking the shell and suppling them with lunch. The deal was, they didn't care if it was black top or a dark blue M-B 300 TD. Rrrrrrrrr........

We also had Great Blue Heron's or as we called them "$hi$ a Quarts" guess why. They could have contracted out with the Forest Service to do "drops" on wild fires. IF you worked near the bay you didn't leave the top on your convert down.

Randy Jones
1971 911 "Iris"

[randywebb]

Those birds have been imoortalized in journals and textbooks as an example of observational learning in animals.

[84toy]

The Ravens here do similar only with walnuts. They take them high in the sky and drop them multiple times on the pavement (or your car) in order to crack the shell. It's fun to watch.

[Quicksilver]

No disrespect to our host but there is nothing nastier for paint them Pelican poop. It has bits of shells in it and if you wipe it off it will scratch the paint. You have to 'float' it of with a liquid.

BTW - A good fresh coat of wax will help protect from the acids in bird poop but you still need to get it off the paint within 2 hours.

[tc-sacto]

Get one of these.

http://www.chandlerclan.com/Final_Bird.html

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally posted by Quicksilver
...BTW - A good fresh coat of wax will help protect from the acids in bird poop but you still need to get it off the paint within 2 hours.

This always annoys people when I say it but this is the reason I wax one panel of my car EVERY time I wash it. And I wash it at least once a week. I tend to default to doingthe hood, roof or trunk most times for obvous reasons. My Dad used to say, "...if you don't give the sun somthing to eat, its gonna eat anyway, its gonna eat your paint". The shininess that wax gives you is just the icing on the cake, its real purpose is protection. That goes triple for bird poop.

By the way, at the risk of getting flamed that little Ford Sportka in the link is a neat looking (though a bit unusual) car. Anyone know if its got any guts?!

[johncarlos2003]

tc- sacto


that video clip you posted is hilarious! wish i had one for my black 911!

[Por_sha911]

Keep a small bottle of no-salt seltzer in your trunk. Take the top off and put your thumb over the hole and shake it up. You will now have a portable fire hydrant pressure wash to knock off the bird droppings right there in the parking lot until you can get home and clean the rest off. It requires no rubbing so you don't have to mess up your nice clothes and you won't risk dragging sand or other abrasives in the droppings across your paint.

[autobonrun]

But it missed my car.