Hello!
A few weeks back, a pigeon came to our apartment balcony (5th floor, highest to an open sky) and laid some eggs inside one of our flower pots outside (the pots are empty, so there's nothing inside, making for a great space for a nest). She came back there everyday and after a while the eggs hatched and the two babies grew up healthily. However, after a couple weeks after they hatched, I was greeted by the horrible sight of one of the babies torn to pieces. The other one had survived (alongside the mother) so I tried to use the other pots to shield the area a little but alas the next day the other baby was also torn to shreds, likely by the same predator who came back for more.
I cleaned out the area and didn't see the pigeon again, but after just a couple weeks since the incident I found the pigeon back again having laid another two eggs in another one of the pots (I assume it's the same pigeon, but it could possibly be a separate one, not that it matters much regardless). The eggs still haven't hatched, but I wanted to do something to avoid them from meeting the same fate as before. I'm certain that with a predator having come back before, he'll come back again once the babies are born, but I'm also not sure what I can really do to protect the nest.
My dad suggested to put a net over the balcony, leaving only the space between the bars open (which is where the mother pigeon often flies in from to get to her nest inside the vase), but I'm worried that putting a net might ensnare the mother and seriously harm her, especially if the net is not placed by a professional and attached by us in an awkward manner. Another worry is that while we don't intend to mess with the pot/nest, putting a net around it (despite leaving a space open) might frighten the mother enough to not come back and abandon her eggs.
Any suggestions on what to do? Leaving the nest as is seems to call for another inevitable tragedy, but I also don't want to do anything that might legitimately hurt the pigeon. What's the best option?
A few weeks back, a pigeon came to our apartment balcony (5th floor, highest to an open sky) and laid some eggs inside one of our flower pots outside (the pots are empty, so there's nothing inside, making for a great space for a nest). She came back there everyday and after a while the eggs hatched and the two babies grew up healthily. However, after a couple weeks after they hatched, I was greeted by the horrible sight of one of the babies torn to pieces. The other one had survived (alongside the mother) so I tried to use the other pots to shield the area a little but alas the next day the other baby was also torn to shreds, likely by the same predator who came back for more.
I cleaned out the area and didn't see the pigeon again, but after just a couple weeks since the incident I found the pigeon back again having laid another two eggs in another one of the pots (I assume it's the same pigeon, but it could possibly be a separate one, not that it matters much regardless). The eggs still haven't hatched, but I wanted to do something to avoid them from meeting the same fate as before. I'm certain that with a predator having come back before, he'll come back again once the babies are born, but I'm also not sure what I can really do to protect the nest.
My dad suggested to put a net over the balcony, leaving only the space between the bars open (which is where the mother pigeon often flies in from to get to her nest inside the vase), but I'm worried that putting a net might ensnare the mother and seriously harm her, especially if the net is not placed by a professional and attached by us in an awkward manner. Another worry is that while we don't intend to mess with the pot/nest, putting a net around it (despite leaving a space open) might frighten the mother enough to not come back and abandon her eggs.
Any suggestions on what to do? Leaving the nest as is seems to call for another inevitable tragedy, but I also don't want to do anything that might legitimately hurt the pigeon. What's the best option?
