Arlington helping residents with egret nesting prevention

The city of Arlington is trying to help homeowners get a jump on a loud and messy time of the year.

Hundreds of egrets start migrating in February so the city has a plan it hopes will discourage the birds to nest in neighborhoods.

Several homeowners in the area have been at wit's end when it comes to the problems caused by egrets.

The birds are but and beautiful, but their nests can be very destructive. They migrate around February and attract frogs and mice. They are loud with an offensive odor and have extremely excessive excrement. They’re known to orphan their young.

Beginning next week, the city of Arlington will equip homeowners with what they call ‘egret go kits.’ They will include loud air horn's, distracting streamers and large durable balloons with scary eyes. The noise and distractions will hopefully discourage the birds from nesting around the homes. 

"We have a balloon. It's called the scary eye balloon that we are going to fill up with helium,” explained Ray Rentschler with Arlington Animal Services. “What these do is they float above the trees. So when the birds fly in, they see this and they think it's a predator and this isn't a place they want to make their nest because possibly there might be predators there."

The kits will also include spray nozzles so homeowners can hit the birds with powerful streams of water. Arlington officials say all of the items have seen success in other cities.