I have done several jobs over the years where there was a dispute over whose responsibility it is to take care of the wildlife control problem.
One example is of a 3 story building on veterans where there were bees going into the wall of a condo from the outside. The association claimed it was an inside problem and the homeowner claimed it was an outside issue but the truth is the bees were inside the wall itself. I believe the outcome was that the homeowners association had to pay for it but as I said – it was a dispute.
Today I had much the same issue, to evict a sparrow from a wall I wanted to install a one-way door but prior to doing that I would need to seal the exterior wall. Luckily, the president of the home-owners board was on call and we were able to iron it out quickly but the first few attempts with the “office” were dismal because they have maintenance guys who usually handle this sort of thing – caulking and the like, however, this is a bit different. While I do use caulking, I also was going to set up a one-way door for the bird to exit and then remove the following day and perform the final sealing. So It is kind of the same thing, the bird is “inside” so the “office” says we are not responsible but the work is on the outside for which they would be responsible – again a dispute. Like I said though, the board president was there and we were able to discuss it and she was willing to take care of their part of the bill.
Other times, condos can be a real problem when squirrels get involved. What happens is that the tenant at the end of the run of units has a squirrel getting into the roof who then gets into the attic of a unit 3 doors down. So the person with the squirrel in the attic making all kinds of scratching and running around scurrying noises may not actually have the “hole” or “entry-point” and the person at the end unit doesn’t have the money to have it properly repaired or simply doesn’t care. I have seen it more than once and I wonder just how hard it is for some people to care about their neighbors!
~Charles
