Are bird feces dangerous to touch or breathe?

Being around birds is as common for many people as being around virtually any other creature on earth. This includes human beings. The likelihood is that you will encounter 20 or 30 times the number of birds that you do people in your lifetime. They are everywhere, and are often ignored because of the fact that they play such a minimal part in your life. You see them around a lot, but you don't really interact with them.

You may not really consider this to be true, but it is. Consider that you see them along the road, they are around your home, and in many other areas where you are prone to come in contact with them. 

Even if you don't come in direct contact with the bird, there are many areas where you will come in contact with them, at least indirectly. Birds are like any other animal. Wherever they go, they will go! What is meant by this is that they will relieve themselves in whatever location they are at. This can be a serious nuisance to you because birds usually travel in such large numbers. This can mean that there will be a lot of feces around your home.

Most of us think of bird feces as something that is just inconvenient, but the truth is there is a lot more to be worried about it than simple annoyance. Bird feces can be quite hazardous to you for many reasons even if all you are doing is breathing around it.

Birds carry a very large number of parasites and diseases. They are part of their natural system but, for them, they rarely are affected by the pestilence themselves. They can carry around these diseases but suffer no ill effects from the illnesses or parasites themselves. However, animals that come in contact with those parasites can be greatly affected by them, even to the point of death. 

This is the plight that some human beings can suffer from. People can be affected by these parasites and diseases, which can have tremendously negative effects upon their health. They can suffer respiratory illnesses, neurological issues, or digestive problems that can be life-threatening in some circumstances.

The problem with these bird feces is that it poses a risk to you in many different ways. The first of which is by you coming in contact with it. Because of the way that these parasites operate, you simply stepping in it or touching it with your hand can result in you getting one of these parasites into your body. The parasites attached to your skin, then burrow their way through the skin and into your bloodstream. From there they travel to vital organs within your body where they begin the process of attaching and living off of the blood or nutrients that you have within your own system. 

Over an extended period of time these parasites will grow to large enough size that they will eventually reproduce and release hundreds if not thousands of these parasites into your system. In many instances, the host animal is destined to expire from these parasites. While one can have a detrimental effect upon the health of its host, several dozen or more are almost always life-threatening. All of this began by simply coming in contact with the bird's feces.

Sadly, in some instances, you do not even need to come in direct contact with the feces itself. If you noticed, bird feces will begin to turn to a dry substance after it has sat in the hot sun for a while. This can mean that as wind and other effects come across it, it causes the fecal matter to become airborne. The parasites travel with it. They get into the air where they can then cause just as many problems for you.

What frequently happens is that if a person comes in contact with one of these parasites that have become airborne, they breathe in the parasite, and the same process that would occur if they were to come in physical contact with it begins. The parasite begins its way through the bloodstream until it finds a location where you can set up its home within a vital organ of the host. From there it begins to reproduce.

Diseases have just as much of an opportunity to cause a problem for a person as the parasites do. They just choose a slightly different avenue to create a serious health risk. For many people, the infection they receive from this disease comes by not properly washing their hands or body after they have come in contact with the feces. It is quite frequent for a person to touch it, even accidentally, and then place her hand into their mouth. The disease then starts to work its way into the person's body, reproducing itself in creating serious problems. All it takes is being a little less diligent about your hygiene and you can have serious issues.

No one is attempting to scare you. The reality is that you need to do what you can to protect yourself, however. It is too easy to become infected with these parasites and diseases, and this is why you need to make sure that you try to keep bird feces cleaned up off your property as much as possible. You simply have no idea about what that can do to you.



Also read our other bird tip: What to do about pigeons in the chimney