Beating the bird poop!

[Rivdog]

My R1T lives outside in the driveway because my garage is a home gym. Unfortunately, the birds out here are on a seek and destroy mission against my Rivian. They sit on the rear fin, the bed, my bed rails, the side of the truck, and especially the mirrors, dropping poop bombs all day, every day. The picture below is from when I went out of town for 5 days…not good, especially if you want to keep your truck super clean. This has never been an issue with any of my other vehicles.

I tried getting fake rubber snakes, but even the big ones aren’t much of a deterrent. I had almost given up and resigned myself to using a quick detailer literally every single day, maybe multiple times per day, to clean up the poop.

I then came across one last idea - fake owls - and it has worked brilliantly! I try to move them around a bit, but I’ve had no bird poop in almost a week. Sometimes I put one on the tonneau cover to “mark” its territory as well. If you’re struggling with this issue, try the fake owls! They’re about $20 on Amazon and these are the ones I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0CXDGJCB7?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title

Here are pics of 5 days without owls while I was out of town vs 5 days with the owls.

Before the owls:

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[White Shadow]

That's a lot of poop. I'm not sure if you're big on preserving your paint finish, but keep in mind that bird poop can be pretty acidic and can etch the clearcoat, causing damage that may require wet sanding to repair.

 

[COdogman]

That is a LOT of poop!

As I started reading about your problem I was already thinking about the fake owls because I've used them in gardens before. They definitely work! I even had one that ran on a 9v battery would move it's head slightly when it sensed motion nearby. I'm glad it solved your problem.

 

[Rivdog]

That's a lot of poop. I'm not sure if you're big on preserving your paint finish, but keep in mind that bird poop can be pretty acidic and can etch the clearcoat, causing damage that may require wet sanding to repair.

Exactly, that’s why I was having to clean it on a daily basis. It was driving me crazy.

 

[White Shadow]

Exactly, that’s why I was having to clean it on a daily basis. It was driving me crazy.

Sure, but I'm saying that you need to get it off quickly and even then sometimes the damage is already done. It's probably a good idea to keep a protective coating on the paint to minimize etching or prevent it if you can.

 

[GogglesPisano]

Wow, definitely a lot of poop. I'd highly recommend getting a ceramic coating if it continues to be a problem. That stuff can destroy a clear coat if its not protected and left to sit.

 

[Chewy734]

Wow, that’s a lot of poop! I’m glad you didn’t have to attach the owl to your crossbars, and just placing it next to your truck was enough.

 

[W1SE]

I knew fake owls worked but I didn’t know they worked that well.

if that becomes less effective you can get noise deterrents $30 to $50 on Amazon.

 

[mikehmb]

Fun story: 2 winters ago, we lost the cypress in our front yard in the insane winds along the coast. It was a blessing due to the mess they made on the cars in the driveway (not to mention the constant fear of them killing us in our sleep during a storm), and we opted to replace with natives and a haven for pollinators. Yay, bees!

It wasn’t until last summer that I knew exactly how much bees poop. My god. The amount of bee doodoo on anything left outside for a day is just astonishing. Boo, bees!

 

[Ggunn9]

Those birds F'ing hate your truck. lol That bird poop would drive me crazy. I too clean it off my vehicles ASAP.

Ceramic coating, a wrap or PFF will help. But it appears the owls are doing the trick.

 

[1T2022]

pump and dump

 

[madgrey]

Nice! I tried real owls but they poop more than the birds...

 

[s0ysauce]

Oh man, that hurts seeing that. Sorry OP. Yeah that bird poop is lethal on paint. I knew from prior vehicles, that I had to be more proactive. So I went with clear PPF and ceramic coating on top of it. Glad the owls are working as a deterrent, I might try that also.

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