by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 23, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes
If you are a Mumbaikar and have a bout of tuberculosis or have suffered an asthma attack, did you ever wonder what might have caused it? It might surprise you but pigeon droppings and feathers could be the reason. To this end, there are some good tidings as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to sterilise the burgeoning population of pigeons.
So after the dogs over a decade ago, it is now the turn of the pigeons to get into the family planning programme. The idea of sterilising pigeons was first mooted by Shiv Sena corporator from Borivali, Abhishek Ghosalkar. He believed that the BMC should control this exploding population of pigeons with the help of Ovistop. According to this method, each pigeon is fed with Ovistop, a product made of corn seeds and covered in Nicarbazin, which acts as a contraceptive for birds. The pill is touted to be highly effective.
The BMC health committee has already passed a proposal to this effect and has forwarded it to the Maharashtra health department for approval on Wednesday. But some procedural and political bottlenecks still remain.
The decks are yet to be completely cleared as the state is planning to forward it to the Centre for necessary action bringing the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) office into the picture. A senior FDA official said that if the drug has to be imported from abroad, a mandatory clearance from the DCGI is needed.
Speaking with Firstpost, Borivali corporator Ghosalkar said, “More than 80 percent of the pigeon population in a Spanish town has come down after a similar sterilisation programme was undertaken.”
A study has also revealed that out of 10 asthma patients in Mumbai, one contracts it from pigeons.
“The percentage of the diseased is higher in children. I am neither anti-animal nor anti-birds. But we have to save our children and the lives of Mumbaikars from the pigeon menace,” Ghosalkar said.
In a reply given to Ghosalkar over his proposal, the BMC had said that the matter does not come under the jurisdiction of its health department and belongs to the director, Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) of the state government. “However, we have asked the FDA about implementing this method of providing food mixed with Ovistop to pigeons in the city,” a civic official told Firstpost.
The reason the Central health ministry has to be involved because the contraceptive called Ovistop is not locally available and has to be imported from abroad.
However, there is a political twist to the story as to why this programme was not taken up before and might not be executed until the civil polls in the country’s business capital in 2017 have been completed. The ruling parties — Shiv Sena and the BJP — may not be in a mood to risk their future as many communities in Mumbai are now used to living with these pigeons.
A comparison of these delays with the speed at which pigeons are born, however, is a matter of concern.
According to a civic official, one pair of pigeons can produce up to 48 squabs a year. No wonder, Mumbai has seen a tremendous jump in its pigeon population over the years.
On paper, there are 50 kabutar khanas in Mumbai. But in reality, there are more than a million places where residents offer corn, pulses and peanuts to pigeons. This can be anywhere — whether the terrace of a building or an open space in a market area with people from all walks of life contributing to these mass programmes of feeding pigeons.
A study has revealed that a well fed-pigeon on an average dispenses up to 11.5 kg of droppings a year.
That’s quite a quantity of poop to be taken care of, given the population of pigeons in Mumbai.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 22, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
This is the home of horrors where disgusted builders discovered years of pigeon droppings plastered across the walls and floors of a derelict Anfield home.
They made the vile discovery after walking into the terraced property near the Anfield stadium development, which has been empty for years and due for renovation.
Up to 40 pigeons had moved in and deposited a generation of mess all over the building.
Specialised Cleaning Services, a Preston-based company, was called in had to carry out a deep clean and Manager Nathan Brennan told the ECHO: “They are doing a lot of houses up in this area and this one is getting renovated too.
“The roof was in a bad shape and loads of pigeons got in. They’ve left a lot of mess. It’s one of the worst states I’ve ever seen in a home.”
Mr Brennan led a three-man team over five days to clear out the pigeon mess.
The workers wore full body-suits, breathing masks and gloves to treat the property
Mr Brennan said: “The roof space of the two houses was connected so the birds could get from one home to the other.
“Clearing up the mess is a case of sweeping and then treating – there’s no other way to do it.
“It was filthy. Even though I was wearing a mask, my face was black from all the muck.”
Derelict homes in the area are being given a new lease of life thanks to the £260m Anfield regeneration project.
This scheme also includes the expansion of the stadium’s Main Stand, a new public square containing commercial and retail premises and a public space in honour of theHillsborough victims.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 21, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Culling pigeons is very cruel. Many times the pigeon dies a very painful slow death when shot.
The only proven method of reducing pigeon flock size, as part of an area-wide control system, is to use a method involving artificial breeding facilities. This stand-alone method of control has been scientifically proven to reduce the pigeon flock size and is currently being used throughout mainland Europe by councils and commercial organisations alike.
It involves providing a pigeon loft, in which feral pigeons can be encouraged to roost and breed, and from which their eggs can be removed and replaced with dummy eggs. This method has proved to be extremely effective in reducing flock size.
It is also not true that pigeons spread diseases. I urge Birdlife and all animal lovers to speak up against the killing of these peaceful birds.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 20, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes
The biblical plagues descended on people for their alleged wickedness. People in some South Jersey towns are targeting themselves for a “plague” of skunks, raccoons, opossums and foxes with poorly thought out behaviors.
Wild animals seek opportunity, just like people. So when people feed wildlife and feral cats, put out garbage (i.e. food) in accessible cans and leave openings into their buildings (i.e. warm, sheltered nests), animals take advantage of it to survive and breed.
That annoys and inconveniences some, who then want to get rid of or even kill the animals. That’s not fair. If people create wildlife problems, people can quit creating them.
These animals that are bothering some people in barrier island and mainland communities are all mammals, so step one is to quit putting out food for mammals. Placing dishes of cat food on the ground for feral cats is disastrous for the cats and the wildlife they kill, but it’s also a giant expansion of the niche for skunks and raccoons.
Many people genuinely love wildlife and feral cats, but feeding them actually harms them by boosting breeding that leads to disease and starvation. Intentionally feeding non-bird wildlife and feral cats should be banned by every town. Yet of the Cape May County towns where people are complaining about skunks this fall, only Stone Harbor bans wildlife feeding on private property – and doesn’t enforce that ban.
That’s typical of local practices. Bad enough that people on the Ocean City Boardwalk often feed gulls, this past summer they were feeding donuts to foxes – and no one was cited for it.
The wildlife division of the Department of Environmental Protection says prohibiting wildlife feeding and backing it up with fines should be the first response to too many skunks, raccoons and such. It also urges the elimination of feral cat colonies.
The DEP also encourages trapping the animals if they’re “a problem.” We think that should be discouraged except when an animal poses an immediate health threat (for example, a rabid animal) and must be killed.
Once trapped, an animal must either be relocated or euthanized. Relocation possibilities, though, are limited even for licensed wildlife rehabilitators to prevent the inadvertent spread of animal diseases. And a relocated animal may not survive in a different territory, especially in winter.
The planet’s 7 billion humans can’t help being a crushing burden on their fellow animals. But people can stop doing things that bring overpopulation, disease and death to wild animals and feral cats.
To make the animals suffer further for human misbehavior is shameful.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 19, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
For pigeons, it seems, leadership is largely a question of speed.
Researchers compared pigeons’ relative influence over flock direction to their solo flight characteristics. The studies showed that a pigeon’s degree of leadership could be predicted by its speed in earlier flights.
“This changes our understanding of how the flocks are structured and why flocks of this species have consistent leadership hierarchies,” said Dora Biro of the University of Oxford in London.
The latest GPS loggers allow the researchers to track not only the birds’ overall routes, but also the sub-second time delays with which they react to each other while flying as a flock.
“We can control the composition of the flocks and the starting points for their homeward journeys,” said Benjamin Pettit, first author of the study.
When the researchers tested the birds individually after a series of flock flights, they found that leaders had learned straighter homing routes than followers.
The new findings offer an elegantly simple explanation for the phenomenon of leadership in birds, with important implications for how spatial knowledge is generated and retained in navigating flocks.
“We also have a good understanding of their individual spatial cognition, in particular how their homing routes develop over repeated flights in the same area,” Pettit noted.
“Some birds are naturally faster and consistently get to the front, where they end up doing more of the navigation, which means on future flights they know the way better,” Biro added.
“You can compare this to a ‘passenger-driver’ like effect: drivers in a car have to pay attention while passengers are often unable to recall the route they were driven along, especially if they remained passive in the navigation process,” Biro explained.
A very simple, self-organising mechanism–such as that based on variation in speed–is sufficient for leadership to arise.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
