Texas Tech acknowledges growing 'bird problem'

LUBBOCK, TX (KCBD) - Birds are causing some headaches for students at Texas Tech.

"I think it's disgusting. You can't sit on that bench right there. Any of these people come out here to smoke or anything and they don't want to sit down right there," said Freshman Alec Deadmond. "Every day is just worse and worse."

"The birds are ridiculous. It's scary, it's like a movie," said Freshman Cheyanne King. "It's so loud; they're all over the place. It's pretty gross."

The main problem is near Chitwood Hall and Sam's Place West. The area is covered in bird feces.

"I want to wipe my shoes off afterwards. You just feel like it's on your feet all the time," said Freshman Megan Golinsky.

"I kind of avoid it. I try to stay around it and don't try to step on it," King said.

The feces presents another issue. The Center for Disease Control says there are health risks. The most serious arise from, "disease organisms that grow in the nutrient-rich accumulations of bird droppings, feathers and debris under a roost."

Diseases include Histoplasmosis and Cryptococcosis, both of which can be deadly - one of the main reasons why the university takes action.

"They power wash it at the beginning of each semester or something," King said. "Because when I came here it was completely clean and now no one sits on it. No one hangs out anymore."

School officials say they are looking for a safe, humane way to deal with the birds and there is a historical example.

The city of Fort Worth had grackles roosting downtown in large numbers, creating a similar mess. To get rid of them, the city used noise cannons and what looked like a larger version of a radar gun to get the birds to roost elsewhere. But whatever the University decides it doesn't seem like it will be a quick fix.

"I feel like it's an issue, but I don't know how you prevent that," said King. "I don't know how you prevent nature."

Copyright 2013 KCBD. All rights reserved.