The New Pigeon Wars. Rats with wings, or majestic streetwise bird? It’s a debate that’s raged almost as long as New York City has been called that. And this week, the war of pigeon between the two sides boiled over again.
A man feeds the pifeons in Times Square in 1949 (and was probably beaten a short time later.)
Pigeon wars started when the exclusive University Club had its feathers ruffled. It wanted to drape its storied building in netting, to protect it from pigeon poo, which eats away at stone and metal. But the Landmarks Commission said it would have to wait for approval, as it would be a “visible change” to the land marked Italian Renaissance building’s facade. As if the crap wasn’t a “visible change” enough.
Meanwhile, over on East 93rd Street, there was a scuffle involving longtime pigeon activist Anna Dove and her neighbor, who snatched away her bag of seed after he saw her feeding the pigeons on the sidewalk. The police were summoned.
“It’s disgusting,” said her nemesis, retired teacher Arthur Schwartz. “She’s feeding the rats.”
And with the live pigeon-shooting state championships in Pennsylvania coming up, it’s almost guaranteed that there will be an increase in demand of pigeon-poaching — New York City is a favorite spot for trapping them and transporting them to be used as live targets. The animal-rights activists will be out with their cameras and signs to stop them.
No matter which side you’re on, one things for certain — by the end, things are going to get a little birdbrained.
“It’s not the pigeons that are the problem, it’s the number of them,” says Andrew D. Blechman, author of “Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World’s Most Revered and Reviled Bird.” “They’re gentle creatures. The problem is that they get in our face, just like we get in each other’s faces.”
No one one’s quite sure of how many pigeons are in New York City. One adage is “one pigeon per person,” which would put their numbers at about 7 million. They each produce about 25 pounds of waste per year.
Pigeons love cities because of the many ledges, windowsills, eaves and rooftops available for them to roost in, which mimics their natural habitat of high cliffs. Pigeon pairings are monogamous, often mating for life, and both parents raise the babies — called squab — for a time, sitting on the eggs in shifts.
The pigeon includes about 298 species of bird, but the Rock Dove is the most common to the New York area, according to the Parks Department. The grey, bobbing-headed birds usually have purple-green iridescence around the neck area. They’re the scruffiest members of the dove family — although “dove” usually connotes the pure white symbols of peace, not the pizza scavengers of city streets. (Just say they’ve been pigeonholed.)
“If they were white,” Blechman says, “people would love them.”
Blame the French for our pigeon problems. The little pluckers first arrived in the early 1600s with French settlers who used them for meat. They were easy to raise — they could be kept in a barn, where they’d perch on the rafters, and young pigeons served as a good source of protein.
But they soon escaped their confines and went feral.
City life agreed with them and allowed them to flourish — and in some cases, over-flourish. Their natural predators, like falcons and hawks, aren’t found here in great numbers.
Courtney Humphries, author of “Superdove: How the Pigeon Took Manhattan . . . And the World,” concedes that pigeon are pilloried partly because of their “persistence. They nest on the buildings we consider our territory, and they don’t like to be moved.”
The average city pigeon has a lifespan of three to five years. With all the food scattered throughout the garbage cans and sidewalks — plus well-meaning human feeders — they spend less time looking for grub, which leaves more time for mating.
“The biggest problem is the people who overfeed them,” says Blechman. “Every city has about a dozen of them, and they’re the ones who cause the [overpopulation] problem.”
He suggests that if you want to feed the birds, hand out just a teaspoon full of birdseed for a flock. “It’s just enough to give them a little extra energy while they’re out trying to find their own food.”
“If nobody fed pigeons, I think things would look a lot different,” agrees Humphries, who says that human feeders end up creating dense flocks. “A lot of the problem with pigeons comes from people.”
If you can’t freeze the hearts of little old ladies, though, you could try eating them (the pigeons, that is). Squab — baby pigeons that haven’t flown yet — is on the menu at many restaurants around the city, particularly French. They’re “basically the milk-fed veal of the sky,” says Blechman — tender, mostly dark meat, and one of the only poultry that can be eaten rare. (Pigeons produce their own milk-like substance, which they feed to their young by regurgitation.)
Pigeon pot pie was a huge colonial favorite. Today, try the Squab and Foie Croustillant at the Modern, Danny Meyer’s restaurant at the Museum of Modern Art.
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Unless the appetite for squab skyrockets, New York’s options are few. Avicide — poisoning birds — was made illegal in 2000, when the state Legislature passed a bill outlawing the use of “flock dispersal agents” like Avitrol in cities with more than 1 million people.
Before that, property managers regularly hired pest control services to dole out Avatrol to flocks of pigeons.
“In theory, you would mix it with feed, and when one pigeon ate some of the treated food, they would begin to suffer from neurological toxicity,” explained Stephanie Boyles, wildlife expert at the Humane Society of the United States. “When their flockmates saw them suffering, it would prompt them to leave the area.”
In practice, however, overdosing often led to large numbers of birds convulsing and writhing in pain on the street before their deaths. Welcome to New York!
The last major flare-up of pigeon wars was in 2007, when City Councilman Simcha Felder released a report plaintively titled, “Curbing the Pigeon Conundrum.”
Claiming that their droppings carried a host of diseases like histoplasmosis, he proposed a $1,000 fine to anyone feeding them, as well as curbing their numbers through birth control (a measure that cities like Los Angeles have adopted, although some argue that it’s unsustainable), and appointing a city “Pigeon Czar” to oversee other pigeon-control issues.
The NYC Department of of Health and Mental Hygiene maintains that contact with their droppings only poses a small health risk, and that “routine cleaning of droppings (e.g. from windowsills) does not pose a serious health risk to most people,” although disposable gloves are a good idea.
The Humane Society came out against the anti-feeding fine because they weren’t sure it would actually make a difference in reducing flocks, said Boyles. “We still suggest working with communities to create places where pigeons are welcome, and discouraging them where they’re not.”
While Felder’s bill didn’t fly, it was only one of many efforts to keep pigeons clipped.
In 2006, pigeon loitering was so dense near the Army Recruitment Center in Times Square, speakers were set up to broadcast sounds of falcons and pigeons being attacked, in hopes of scaring them away. In 2003, they had so overwhelmed Bryant Park that the operators invited a falconer and his hawk to the park for a week to scare away (not eat) the pigeons.
In 2007, the MTA installed Bird-B-Gone on some of its elevated stations along the 7 line, as well as others. The electronic system zapped birds that got too close.
In the ’80s, plastic owls were a big seller. Today, a slightly more high-tech version, called the RoboHawk, moves its head, wings, and makes what its creators hope are pigeon-threatening sounds.
Every so often, a politician considers reviving an overall anti-feeding bill, since, for now, it’s only illegal in city parks where signs are posted (the fine is usually $50).
Some cling to the hope that the city will come to its senses and declare war. Because they’re a non-native species, pigeons are not protected by either the Federal Migratory Birds Act or New York state laws. Can anyone say hunting season?
It’s got to be done mafia-style, though. Culling is only a temporary solution — as with most wild birds, quick breeding will put their numbers back to pre-cull figures within weeks, according to Pigeon Control Advisory Service.
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But spare a thought, pigeon haters, for your majestic foe. Pigeons have more qualities than you think.
Although city birds aren’t particularly active, pigeons are built to be athletes — a trained bird can fly up to 60 miles per hour, and they can stay in the air for 500 miles. They’re meant for flying long distances, and have “homing” instincts, which means they will naturally find their way back.
This talent is why they were literally drafted into the United States Army Pigeon Service.
A million served in both world wars, where they delivered messages across enemy lines and saved thousands of soldiers’ lives. One pigeon, Cher Ami, won a French medal for his bravery for flying through gunfire, finally delivering the message dangling from what was left of his foot. He’s now stuffed and in the Smithsonian.
The army’s Pigeon Breeding and Training Center was based at Fort Monmouth, NJ, and opened in 1917. Many of its “Pigeoneers” were “basically just boys out of Brooklyn, and they’d just bring their best birds,” Humphries says. (The training center was closed in 1957 when the Army stopped using them as messengers.)
Keeping pigeons on rooftops — and racing them — used to be much more popular. Who can forget Marlon Brando’s character in the 1954 film “On the Waterfront” shouting up to his friend Joey, “I got one of your birds!” right before Joey “accidentally” falls off the roof?
The city is full of equally vocal bird-lovers.
“They animate our lives,” argues Blechman, who says that despite writing a book on pigeons, he is not a “bird person,” and admits to having eaten them before. He’s come around, though. “You look out the window and you can have a pigeon land on your windowsill, and the same one will come back every day, and at the same time.
“What would the lonely, the unemployed, and the elderly do every day if it weren’t for pigeons?”
The Internet is atwitter with kooky pigeon fans. There’s a pigeon appreciation society on Facebook. On photo-sharing site Flickr, there’s a group called The Global Pigeon Art Appreciation Society.
“You are not alone,” the site reads. “Many artists have been inspired by pigeons.”
There is also a city listserv called “New York Pigeon People,” where members discuss how to rescue birds and share pigeon news.
You can eat them, race them, breed them, feed them, but you can’t escape them, whether you consider them the most misunderstood creatures of the flying community or the world’s worst bird. As Blechman put it, “We’re just going to have to learn to co-exist.”
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird issues 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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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I never thought much about people facing pigeon excrement until I moved into a condo several years ago and discovered two birds nesting on the balcony. Because my daughter was worried about the cute little eggs, I waited till the squabs were old enough to fly before clearing out the nest and piles of excrement, along with all my pigeon-defaced outdoor furniture. Then a building reno temporarily solved the problem, but as soon as the jackhammers stopped, the pigeons were back and defecating with impunity
I decided to take action, and quickly discovered some hard facts. Pigeons, instead of nesting in trees, prefer buildings, especially tall buildings with ledges and balconies – i.e., condos. This was bad news in a city undergoing an extended real-estate boom, and this past week analysts were guessing the condo market’s record growth (about 40,000 a year for the past five years) will continue at least until 2010 – which means even more condos, i.e., more perfect pigeon abodes, i.e., more excrement.
Though there’s no pigeon census, many Toronto residents are feeling plagued by pigeons this summer. And it’s possible with the rise of condos, people will be facing the increase in pigeon population, says Tom Mason, curator of invertebrates and birds at the Toronto Zoo.
“As the human population has increased, the pigeon population has increased with it.”
Homeowners are complaining of backyard birdfeeders being overrun with pigeons. And certain areas – like the “pigeon gauntlet” north of Broadview subway station – have become legendary. “When they’re not feasting on bread strewn by crazy old people, they’re packed onto the hydro lines above,” says a Riverdale resident. She cited a recent incident involving a man in a crisp suit, “obviously a stranger to the neighbourhood,” who walked straight under the line of fire. “It looked like someone had upended a container of yogurt on him, honestly, it was that copious. He started running around in circles, screaming, then ran off.”
So Toronto’s people facing pigeon problem was bigger than I’d bargained for – but surely I could get them off my own balcony. I started with humane pigeon deterrents: a bobble-headed “scary” owl, fluttering strips of aluminum foil, twirly children’s toys. Nothing worked.
Whenever I heard pigeons cooing on the balcony, I hammered on the window, or leaped out the door shrieking, “Get out of here, you bastards!” In fact, I got so used to the routine that I stopped explaining the outbursts during business calls. As the battle escalated, I laid in wait with water guns, ambushing the enemy as they landed on my railing, or sneaking over to my neighbour’s balcony – where I knew pigeons were nesting behind a deck chair. There, I would jump up, crane around the partition and blast away at the cornered pigeons as they ran around in circles. One day, it occurred to me that I might encounter – and shoot – the neighbour, so I stopped.
It was time to do more research.
Know the enemy
Toronto’s feral pigeons are descended from domestic birds brought over by early settlers. Males and females look the same, are monogamous and take turns incubating eggs, which arrive two at a time. Both parents nurse the babies with a nutrient-laden “crop milk,” which can double the wee ones’ weight in 34 hours.
“What’s also amazing,” said ornithologist Mark Peck of the Royal Ontario Museum, “is that, as far as I know, they are the only bird in Ontario that breeds throughout the entire year,” which means up to nine “clutches” per annum.
Pigeons are also uniquely skilled at navigation – able to fly 70 kilometres per hour, covering up to 1,000 kilometres in a single race. In wartime, pigeons saved lives by carrying military messages across enemy lines. Science hasn’t figured out the exact mechanism, but the motivation, explains the zoo’s Mr. Mason, is that they’re frantically trying to get back to their nestlings.
This is the trouble with research. You seek data to support a pigeon-killing spree, and you end up discovering pigeons are a lot like humans, except pigeons have a lower divorce rate.
So let’s not forget their capital offences. The Nixalite Architectural Bird Control website states that pigeons are “a vector for more than 50 human and livestock diseases.” Their droppings fade finishes on cars and planes, can destroy wood, stone and marble, corrode I-beams, ruin cloth awnings, short out electrical equipment and fill attics with so much excrement “that the actual ceiling collapses.”
On an excrement-removal website, the U.S. General Services Administration warns that pigeon excrement can “lead to potentially fatal diseases of the lungs and central nervous system such as histoplasmosis and cryptococcosis.”
In fact, the Web is packed with anti-pigeon content. The problem: There seems to be no evidence of pigeon-caused plagues in real life. “That’s correct,” said Dr. David McNeely, associate professor of infectious diseases at University of Toronto. Avian-related diseases are rare to begin with, he said, and they’re usually caused by other species. “Don’t pick on poor pigeons,” Dr. McNeely said. “If you want to worry about bird-related diseases, worry about budgie dander.”
Similarly, Mr. Mason, who works at the zoo with pigeons and other birds daily, has never heard of a case. Nor has Mr. Peck at the ROM, who adds how important pigeons have been to science, from Darwin and B.F. Skinner to the present. “Pigeons are not bad birds,” Mr. Peck said. “They’re just successful.”
Taking action
These scientist types weren’t helping my of people facing pigeon problems at all. I phoned the city to ask if it was legal to kill them. “There are no bylaws that apply to wild pigeons,” said Rishma Govani in the public health department, though “there are rules” about owned pigeons.
Next, I spoke with Donald Fraser, principal of Beacon Environmental impact-assessment (and a former researcher on goose defecation habits, which I figured was close enough to my area of interest), who explained: “It is legal to shoot or kill pigeons because they are a non-migratory bird, and thus not covered by the migratory bird act between Canada and the United States.” You need a permit to shoot gulls, or a hunting licence to shoot geese or ducks, for example, but pigeons are fair game. Mr. Fraser did caution, however, that there might be consequences if firearms were discharged within the city.
Indeed, Constable Wendy Drummond of Toronto Police Services confirmed that, while feral pigeons were not protected by the Criminal Code (the sections on animal cruelty pertain mainly to owned animals such as cattle, she said), any discharge of a pellet gun with intent to kill would result in a weapons charge. Snapping their little necks, quickly and humanely, would be tolerated, she said, “unless, you know, we find 100 dead pigeons.”
So pigeons are good family birds, heroic during wartime and, as Mr. Fraser also pointed out, good scavengers who help keep city streets clean (when not filling them with excrement, that is, but never mind). So maybe we shouldn’t kill them. But feed and encourage them? No way.
On this point, I agreed with London Mayor Ken Livingstone, who reduced pigeon numbers in Trafalgar Square by imposing a controversial feeding ban in 2003. A friend recommended I speak to a woman who fed pigeons in her local park. Oh goody, I thought – my anti-pigeon case would definitely be enhanced by a real-live wacko, probably wearing old rags and a squashed hat covered in excrement, ranting about pigeon rights.
Well, the crazy pigeon lady turned out to be novelist Barbara Gowdy, who may or may not be as deranged as the next writer, but who is undeniably smart, attractive, well-groomed and socially responsible.
“I only feed them at the end of the park, away from homes, during inclement weather, when there is snow and ice on the ground and it’s impossible for them to get food,” Ms. Gowdy said.
For a while, when she was facing people having problems on her feeding pigeons, she handed out pamphlets from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which stated, she said, that “even if you ate pigeon excrement, the only thing you’d get is a mild stomach ache.”
Ms. Gowdy is nothing if not persuasive. Or maybe I was ready to crack. After starting out on a crusade to kill all pigeons, I now considered eating pigeon excrement in order to properly research this article.
In any case, the fight had gone out of me – mainly, I think, because of one detail I couldn’t get out of my head: The reason pigeons love condos is because the high-rise towers resemble ancient cliff faces, near Asian seas, where rock doves originally made their homes. That image of our city’s condos as soaring cliffs along the edge of Lake Ontario transformed my view of both the buildings and pigeons.
Ms. Gowdy was right: Toronto’s feral rock pigeons have as much right to live here as we do, and the city would be a much poorer place without its wild animals. I’m willing to live and let live – though it would still be nice to find a way to stop them from living on my particular balcony.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird issues 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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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They’re feathered, but they’re not your friends. Pigeon droppings contain acids that can eat through the tiles on your roof. Also present are salmonella and the fungus that causes histoplasmosis, according to the Southern Nevada Health District, the problems on fighting pigeons poop…
“Fecal matter from any animal in significant quantities is certainly unhealthy,” says Vivek Raman, the district’s environmental health supervisor.
Here are few steps homeowners can take before calling a professional.
REMOVE ALL DROPPINGS AND NESTING MATERIALS
The scent of their own toilet will keep pigeons, and their buddies, coming back.
Before removal, wet droppings down with a disinfectant mix of one part bleach to nine parts water, either in a spray bottle or garden sprayer. Also, wear gloves and a respirator or very fine mask. If the material is caked on, a trowel may be required. Hose down the area afterward.
To fight pigeons: DON’T FEED THEM
Pigeons don’t need us to sit on a park bench with a bag of sunflower seeds. We’re also feeding them when we don’t seal the lids on our trash cans, and when we feed our dogs, cats or “cuter” birds in our backyards. (Pets make crumbs when they eat, and the ground beneath even “pigeon-proof” feeders makes for great foraging.)
On a related note, always use a protective cover after seeding your lawn.
fighting pigeons: DON’T HYDRATE THEM
Avoid watering during the day, when pigeons are awake. And bury all drip systems. Even the heavily chlorinated water in fountains, pools and spas will supply life-sustaining hydration — although it may sting Tweety’s eyes. For your pool and spa, keep at least six inches between the edge and the waterline to curtail dunking.
fighting pigeons:CHASE THEM OFF
Oliva recommends the “ball and key” method: shake your keys and hurl a tennis ball. Birds will learn to associate your property with a high sense of alarm. Squirts from your hose will work for birds on the roof.
“On the third day, you’ll think it’s not working,” Oliva says. “On the fourth day, they won’t show up.”
If the pigeons are already nesting, however, forget it.
fighting pigeons: SCREEN OFF EAVES
If climbing 20 feet up a ladder scares you less than a pest-control bill, find your eaves (the spaces between roofs that provide shelter from the sun, wind and rain).
Oliva does not believe in screens. However, the other two experts say they’re so effective, they should be erected even before pigeon problems develop.
Wire is available at any hardware store. But it needs to be heavy — at least 14 gauge, according to Gardner, because pigeons will push through thinner chicken wire.
Attaching it also is tricky. Screws need to go into the wood fascia, not the tiles. Otherwise, you can cause a leak in your roof and void your builder’s warranty.
fighting pigeons: SPIKES
They’re available for about $15 per short row at most larger nurseries and hardware stores. But they don’t work well. Pigeons can simply stand a few inches to the left or right. Adding insult to injury, some even use them to build nests.
fighting pigeons: MOTION-SENSOR SPRINKLER
These work, but pigeons can learn to avoid the area in which the water sprays. Installing them — including their feed hoses — all over one’s property and roof would be ridiculously unsightly and costly. (They’re $54.99 a pop at Star Nursery.)
fighting pigeons: TRAPS
These work, too, but bait seed will attract more birds to your property than the trap will capture.
In addition, you can’t just take your “jailbirds” somewhere and let them go, because they’ll fly right back to your/their home. (All pigeons are innately homing.)
BIRDBRAINED IDEASHere are some pigeon-removing strategies best avoided.
Fake owls: These must be a funny joke in the pigeon world. T.J. Broniecki of Summerlin Pest Control reports that birds often roost atop them. Even the ones that emit a motion-triggered hoot work only for a few days, according to Nevada Pigeon Control’s Nephi Oliva, for the same reason that pigeons often nest under air conditioners: Eventually, they learn that the intermittent noise is harmless.
Repellent: Polybutene gels work by making the roof sticky, which pigeons don’t like. The adhesive lasts about six months to a year.
Meantime, dust, dirt, droppings, feathers and dander are collected, making removal a maintenance nightmare.
Poison: Avitrol is the most effective, but none of the experts consulted by the R-J either uses or recommends it. It could poison other birds and animals — directly or by ingestion of the poisoned pigeons. And even the best-case scenario leaves you with carcasses that, if not all cleaned up, will lead to worse health problems. You’ll also be breaking the law, since obtaining, possessing or using Avitrol requires professional certification in all 50 states.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird issues 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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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As one wanders through the great piazzas of Italy — the Piazza della Signoria in Florence, Piazza San Pietro in Rome, and the Piazza San Marco in Venice — one cannot help notice the magnificent facades of government buildings and churches, the impressive works of sculpture in marble and bronze, and… the pigeons. They have become tourist attractions in their own right, and for a small fee one can buy a bag of seed and turn oneself into a human bird feeder. The end result is predictable. As food is more than ample, the birds do not leave but multiply (the incubation period for a pigeon egg is a scant 17 to 19 days), and seeking homes nearby, they settle and nest on statues and buildings in close proximity. In turn, the pigeon waste, often inches thick, eats away at their surfaces, causing irreparable damage.
First of all, let me not suggest that Italy is the only country to face serious pigeon infestation. London’s Trafalgar Square is home to an estimated 30,000 flying citizens. Mayor Ken Livingstone actually used pigeon reduction as a campaign platform, effectively planning to starve them out, though his efforts have been thwarted by an animal-rights group, the aptly named Pigeon Alliance Issue.
What to do? A controversial, and by no means long term, solution is to “eliminate” the problem itself, and in fact, more pigeon carcasses have be seen on the streets of Florence in the last year or two. And yet the sale of feed in the piazzas continues, perpetuating a rather cruel and pointless cycle.
Yet if one cannot eliminate the pigeons, it seems that the next best option would be to keep the pigeons off of the statues and buildings altogether. To this end, high-tech solutions, even ridiculous ones, have been sought. Following the technicolor restoration of Maderno’s facade of St. Peters in Rome for the 2000 Jubilee, an electrostatic system was installed to repel the birds. And in a ironic twist, the town of Assisi in Italy has followed suit. Yes, the basilica founded by St. Francis, the saint who preached to the birds, has installed electric wires to discourage pigeons from landing on the 13th century building. They’ve even gone so far as to enact an ordinance that forbids their feeding in public spaces.
Statues have also been given an electric jolt. Most notably, Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus, which underwent a 3-year long, highly-publicized restoration, complete with video-installation and CD-rom, was returned to its original outdoor location in the Loggia dei Lanzi in 2001, complete with pigeon-deterring wires. These raised electrified braces have also been attached to nearby Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine, seemingly to no effect, since birds can still be found perched safely upon the desperate woman’s head. Clearly the aesthetic results are less than ideal, though in other cases riskier treatments have been applied, as in the case of the monument to Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square, where the statue has been coated with what has been described as “anti-pidgeon gel”. At the very least, sculptures are covered with microcrystalline wax, as in the case of Bandinelli’s Giovanni delle Bande Nere, situated in the major pigeon colony of Piazza San Lorenzo, where the unfinished facade of the church has become some of the best avian real-estate in the city.
There are less-invasive alternatives. Protective netting can be mounted over architectural reliefs and the like to prevent occupation by birds. In Trafalgar Square, air horns have also been employed to scatter the animals, exchanging bird pollution for noise pollution.
In reality it seems that there are only two reasonable solutions to the pigeon issue. One has been implemented for quite some time, and is practical only in terms of sculpture, which is to move the originals inside. This not only has the benefit of “guano protection,” but also of preventing damage to works by other forms of environmental pollution. To have undergone the intensive restoration to the Perseus, only to subject it to the same conditions, is absurd, and only assures us that future interventions will be required, ad infinitum.
For architecture, the same solution cannot be implemented, but several protective measures seem feasible. For one, even if the complete cessation of pigeon-feeding has been deemed inhumane, at least the migration of the birds to a less urban area would suffice. In other words, should one want to feed the birds, it would be welcomed in a park, not a stones-throw from a major monument. And finally the caretakers of these monuments must commit to a plan of good old-fashioned washings on a regular basis, so that major, and inevitably harmful, interventions do not become necessary.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird issues 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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Every summer we’re stuck with the same dilemma. We can park the car out in the sun, which will inevitably will lead to scorching hot interior temperatures.
The alternative is to park under a shady tree, where birds will undoubtedly poop all over our freshly washed ride.
We usually opt for the sun out of auto vanity,
but at least we don’t have to worry about bird poop messing with the paint.
We’ve heard that acid from the bird droppings is the reason for the doo-doo perforations, but a study by UK car care experts Autoglym reveals that the excrement is only part of the problem.
The real culprit is the sun, which expands and warms the paint on your vehicle.
When the sun hits that bird poop, the poo hardens at the same time the paint expands.
When the sun sets and the vehicle cools, the paint then contracts and forms itself around the hardened crap.
If a bird does his or her business on your vehicle, the best thing to do is remove it, and fast.
A moist cloth will do the trick in most instances, or if you’re not into close encounters of the rectal kind, you could also hit the car wash.
We would go into more detail, but we’re thinking that’s enough excrement talk for one day
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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For 10 days this August,a fresh-faced 41-year-old named Jeffrey Traill trolled Hollywood in his Honda, videotaping pigeons. Pigeons lined the ArcLight theaters near the Walk of Fame, commandeered the roof at Big Lots!, perched along power lines like stolid chess pieces. “Pigeons,” Traill says in his video, shakily framing one roost. “Pigeons,” he says again, wrenching his camera toward another. The effect is nauseating. “Over there,” he says. “Over there. Over there.”
Traill is one of a half-dozen neighborhood activists whose volunteer campaign against these birds has escalated idiosyncratically for more than a year. Their leader, Laura Dodson, had ordered him out on yet another round of surveillance, to update the group’s hulking pigeon “dossier.” “We’re kind of an unusual neighborhood association,” Dodson told me.
Dodson has lived in Hollywood for 29 years. She likes pigeons and does not want them killed or made to suffer. She said this repeatedly in the clipped, mildly truculent way she says a lot of things. But having helped muscle gangs and drugs out of her neighborhood in the 80’s, Dodson says she feels besieged again. She and her group, the Argyle Civic Association, have turned to a series of unconventional approaches to neutralize a problem they simply refuse to put up with. “We’re in the middle of the biggest boom, and there are pigeons everywhere — like where they’re going to put the W hotel,” she says, invoking, as she often does, the upscale hotel as a symbol of Hollywood’s hard-won renaissance. “There’s nothing but pigeon poop.”
A pigeon dispenses about 25 pounds of excrement a year. Often this gunk must be blasted off hard-to-reach places using boom lifts and steam hoses. Pigeon-related damage in America has been estimated to cost $1.1 billion a year. But the full scope of our disdain and distrust for the birds is impossible to quantify; it’s hard even to explain. Marketing by the bird-control industry — a lucrative offshoot of the $6.7-billion-a-year pest-control business — reminds us that pigeons and their dung can spread more than 60 diseases. This is true, but not necessarily panic-inducing, given the exceedingly rare incidences of respiratory infections like cryptococcosis.
For much of the 20th century, controlling pigeons primarily meant killing them. (Culling remains a common fallback position; the United States Department of Agriculture kills 60,000 pigeons a year in response to complaints.) But even the trade journal Pest Control now warns that with “millions of bird lovers out there,” you must consider “the publicity you would receive if your local paper runs photos of hundreds of poisoned pigeons flopping around on Main Street.” As we have become less tolerant of the birds, we have also, somehow, grown more concerned about their well-being.
The bird-control industry has evolved to fill this paradoxical niche. Pigeon control has increasingly become about moving pigeons elsewhere. With a staggering catalog of spikes, nets, sticky gels, coiled-wire barriers, ultrasonic noisemakers, holographic frighteners, fake owls and even electrified strips — from Bird-Shock Flex-Track to Bird Jolt FlatTrack — bird controllers have been busily transforming our bare ledges into unwelcoming obstacle courses. Often, according to Bob Van Gelder, who for 25 years has been president of the full-service pigeon-proofing company Birds Away/Pigeons Away, you must “follow the problem” — destabilizing pigeons’ existing roosts and anticipating their next move. “Birds have instinct,” he says. “We have logic.”
Of course, these displaced pigeons inevitably turn up somewhere else. The Argyle Civic Association sought a more holistic, area-wide fix — as well as a humane one. So in May of this year, after consulting with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, the group voted unanimously to implement a novel strategy pioneered by the Pigeon Control Advisory Service, or PiCAS, in Britain.
Essentially, the PiCAS model complements the widespread pigeon-proofing of buildings — this aimless shifting of pigeons from facade to facade — by situating large birdhouses, called dovecotes, in places like city parks. Displaced pigeons relocate inside. As the pigeons breed, volunteers and workers reach into the dovecotes and remove their eggs, replacing them with dummy eggs to stave off rebreeding. It’s a mechanical form of birth control that, PiCAS claims, can reduce total pigeon populations by half over four years.
As all kinds of wildlife rebound and infiltrate the cities from which we exiled them, PiCAS’s approach is among a number of humane and ecologically savvy efforts on the forefront of urban animal control. Elsewhere, the U.S.D.A. is working to orally vaccinate skunks and raccoons against rabies and to use chemical contraceptives to treat nuisance animals like deer, prairie dogs and Canada geese. As we learn to recognize each city as an ecosystem, we may be more willing to sustainably control these problematic populations as a wildlife manager might, rather than eradicating them or shooing them around as exterminators do.
Dovecotes have been erected in a handful of British towns, and when I first spoke to the director of PiCAS, Guy Merchant, in May, he told me that Melbourne, Australia, was finalizing an ambitious scheme in its financial district. Melbourne, Merchant said, agreed to take every recommendation in the 30-page report that he produced after an initial visit. (He offers free consulting outside Britain.) Since the number of pigeons is a function of the availability of food, Merchant ordered a public-relations campaign discouraging pigeon feeding and suggested the appointment of a municipal “pigeon warden” — a caseworker to persuade the most “deliberate and persistent” pigeon feeders to feed only around the dovecote. While in Melbourne, Merchant persuaded one elderly gentleman to do just this, once the dovecote was erected. Merchant deemed this “a major coup,” since the man, notorious for meting out about 90 pounds of seed every day, was probably supporting 3,000 pigeons all by himself.
But just as PiCAS’s dovecotes essentially domesticate pigeons, they also appear to bring these well-meaning pigeon lovers — often the lonely seniors we presume them to be — back into the fold as well. Around the dovecote, their eccentric hobbies is legitimized. “That feeder then becomes the Pied Piper of Hamelin,” Merchant told me. “He or she brings the pigeons with him. It’s one of those rare things in life — a win-win situation.”
I pictured an elegant, almost St. Francis-like pastoral. It wasn’t until I arrived in Hollywood that I began to wonder if this, or any harmonizing of avian instincts and human logic, could withstand one unfortunate fact: we have logic, but we do things every day to defy it.
The pigeons among us are feral — free-roaming descendants of once-domesticated birds. The pigeon was the first bird species domesticated by man, more than 5,000 years ago, in fact. Millions were raised across medieval England and France, either as messengers or meals, in dovecotes similar to the ones PiCAS employs. In the late 18th century, the French aristocracy’s pigeons, which were free to fly into the fields, were infuriating the peasantry, looting grain reserves and pecking at crops. The farmers weren’t permitted to kill them, and this incessant, aerial tyranny has been cited as one cause of the French Revolution. Once in power, the revolutionaries made a point of destroying the dovecotes, spilling the stocks into the wild — meaning that ever since, generations of these exiled nobles have fanned out to muck up the hoods of our cars.
Modern Americans have been similarly shortsighted. Pigeons were one of the few species left unprotected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. They were often killed with shotguns. After World War II, poisons emerged as discrete alternatives. Many, like the Rid-a-Bird Perch, which poisoned pigeons through their feet, were phased out as the environmental movement grew. Avitrol, which is typically mixed with corn or other grain, is the last remaining poison in commercial use.
Killing pigeons doesn’t actually accomplish much, however. In 1961, Basel, Switzerland, began rapaciously culling its population of 20,000 pigeons. Its trappers and marksmen depleted some flocks by 80 percent, only to watch them return, sometimes in greater numbers, within weeks. This went on, like a demoralizing carnival game, for 25 years. The city finally stood down, having killed 100,000 pigeons. There were still 20,000 pigeons in Basel.
Then, in 1988, the biologist Daniel Haag-Wackernagel established 13 lofts (essentially, rooftop dovecotes) around Basel and began replacing eggs. Within four and a half years, Basel Pigeon Action, as he called his program, reduced the city’s pigeon population to 10,000. He has subsequently become one of the world’s few experts on feral pigeons. Guy Merchant, the director of PiCAS, claims to have devised his organization’s strategy before Haag-Wackernagel’s work began and stresses that the two are not affiliated. Nonetheless, when PiCAS claims that the dovecote scheme is “scientifically proven” to halve pigeon populations, it is citing Haag-Wackernagel’s peer-reviewed 1995 study, “Regulation of the Street Pigeon in Basel” — and, notably, his study alone.
The futility of killing pigeons is a far better established fact. An emptied niche in any ecosystem will rapidly be filled, either by immigrants or newborns. And pigeons are not only opportunistic, keeping a keen lay of the land, but also prolific breeders. This is partly our fault. Millennia of domestication selected for more fecund pigeons long before these natural cliff-dwellers settled into the architectural canyons of the modern city. As the value of food cheapened after World War II, pigeons urbanized along with us, no longer having to commute to forage in surrounding fields. The city, with its abundance of safe and sheltered breeding locations, now also offered an abundance of food. “Whenever you couple that,” says Louis Lefebvre, a biologist at McGill University who has studied pigeons in Montreal, “you’ll get an explosion.”
Moreover, when someone feeds pigeons in the park every day at noon, the birds are able to organize their day around that appointment. There, pecking 145 times a minute, a pigeon can rapidly eat its fill for the day, about one ounce. Cobbling that sustenance together from trash might require thousands of pecks at numerous locations, many of them far apart. Haag-Wackernagel speculates that the resulting free time and excess energy allows pigeons to breed more rapidly and successfully. Feral pigeons lay eggs six times a year, producing as many as 12 squabs in that time.
“In a city like New York or like Melbourne,” Merchant argues, “the pigeon population is sustained solely by little old ladies and little old men that go out every single day and feed top-quality foods to the birds.” This isn’t the average office worker, flinging the last crumbs of lunch. Like the man in Melbourne, these feeders maintain a purposeful regimen. Lefebvre calls them “marginal city dwellers whose interests in life do not extend beyond feeding pigeons.” He describes, with disarming empathy, people who “wait outside the backdoors of restaurants for day-old bread and patiently soften all the bread and break it into little pieces and then hand it out to the pigeons.”
Without much effort, I began finding stories of such feeders in Michigan, Washington, New York, California — all eerily similar, as if they were proprietors in the same franchise. In Marin County, one was distributing organic polenta with pine nuts. In San Francisco, I met a white-haired Scottish widow who not only fed pigeons but also retrieved dead ones off the streets, wrapped them in plastic and buried them in trash cans.
Attempts to fine feeders have proved unpopular. (Shortly after Merchant left Melbourne, a local paper criticized the city for threatening an 87-year-old woman with a fine of nearly $8,000.) Feeders tend to believe the pigeons depend on them. Thus, PETA, in a pamphlet promoting PiCAS, recommends that the public-relations campaign accompanying any dovecote plan should “focus on the fact that a reduction in available food will not result in starvation for large numbers of pigeons.” Though such events are impossible to predict exactly, basic ecology suggests that pigeons, forced to expend more energy foraging, will disperse and slow their breeding.
“At the end of the day, pigeons are there because we’re filthy, dirty creatures,” Merchant told me. “They’re there because we’re stupid creatures who go on feeding them.” They are the heroes of a great co-evolutionary success story. One ornithologist has crowned them “superdoves.” The less deferential way of saying this is, we’ve taken an otherwise unobjectionable bird and built the perfect pest.
As our car idled beside the CBS studios in Hollywood, Laura Dodson pointed at birdseed spilled across several feet of sidewalk. “You can tell by the red stuff on top, the reddish glow,” she said. “That means it was poured this morning.” The pigeons, Dodson has noticed, eat the red bits first.
Dodson and Jeffrey Traill, two of the Argyle Civic Association’s most indefatigable pigeon combatants, had picked me up just before 7 a.m. to tour what they referred to as “the affected area.” Here, a woman named Susie Kourinian — they called her Bird Lady — had been routinely emptying entire 25-pound bags of birdseed from the rear door of her black S.U.V. “She’s like a stealth bomber,” Traill said.
Traill drove us to a squalid traffic triangle near the Capitol Records Building — the first place they noticed Bird Lady’s regular feeding — and then to a subway stop near Hollywood and Vine, where, they said, they often found hundreds of birds on power lines in the morning, waiting for food and spattering parked cars. At our next stop, a grocery store, anti-roosting spikes lined every light post and tier of the facade. But in a corner of the parking lot, pigeons indifferently pecked at a mound of fresh seed.
Pigeon feeding is illegal in Los Angeles in only a precisely delineated section of downtown around Pershing Square; it has been illegal there, and nowhere else in the city, for as long as anyone can remember, and for no immediately apparent reason. Attempts by the City Council to reason with Bird Lady, including at least one visit by a staff member to Kourinian’s place of business, have failed, and the Argyle Civic Association initially began lobbying to expand the law. To document the extent of the problem, they devoted most of April to ramshackle reconnaissance. Dodson says that their patrols began as early as 3 in the morning. They kept detailed logs of all sightings and videotaped Bird Lady in action; in stills, she pours a robust stream of seed from her waist like a cement mixer. They compiled “witness statements” from neighbors who had quarreled with her. Dodson, for her part, avoided any skirmishes. “Once we started this investigation,” she said, “my mouth’s been shut.”
Gradually, they built up an almost ethnographic understanding of Bird Lady’s routine, mapping 13 “known locations” where she fed. One day, Dodson says, she followed Bird Lady behind the Ricardo Montalban Theater, retrieved 45 empty birdseed bags from the Dumpster, then fanned them across her patio for a neighbor to photograph. Based on this evidence, the group approximated Kourinian’s annual outlay at 112 tons of seed and, using a scholarly article on pigeon metabolism (someone found it online), estimated that she sustained about 6,700 birds. This intelligence was compiled in what Dodson, handing me my own cumbersome copy, called “Bird Book.”
Susie Kourinian, aka Bird Lady, would not be interviewed for this article. She is from Armenia and works as a seamstress. (She is pictured in the March 2005 issue of Vanity Fair, pinning up Cate Blanchett’s gown.) Kourinian told The L.A. Weekly that after feeding Hollywood’s pigeons for 10 years, she had begun sleeping in her shop, afraid that Dodson and company would follow her and find out where she lived. (In truth, they already knew.)
Other local news organizations picked up the story, and this publicity, coupled with the Argyle Civic Association’s unrelenting street presence, had, it seemed, begun intimidating Kourinian, upsetting her routine and forcing her to move elsewhere, just as spikes and shock-tracks displace the pigeons. Seed was still turning up on sidewalks by the time Dodson, Traill and I rumbled around Hollywood in late June, but no one had seen Kourinian’s S.U.V. for some time. The existence of multiple Bird Ladies now seemed almost certain. “I’ve wasted so much gas watching her, it’s ridiculous,” Traill told me. “I think she just felt uncomfortable with me watching her like a hawk.”
At the traffic triangle, we had found only a lone, purple-headed pigeon, drinking from a leaky water pipe near a jacaranda tree. Sitting in Dodson’s dining room after our outing, I mentioned that the situation looked to be under control or at least to be shifting elsewhere. “She’ll just be back if we take the pressure off,” she shot back. Besides, Dodson had begun to fear that if Bird Lady were forced to stop feeding pigeons altogether, they would be unable to find enough food on their own. “They’d fall out of the sky,” she said. Having already refused options like Avitrol and trapping, the Argyle group was sworn to humaneness. Changing the law to make pigeon feeding illegal throughout the city was no longer a priority.
The group’s PiCAS phase, too, turned out to be short-lived. Even before I first arrived in Los Angeles, Dodson had another conversation with her contact at PETA, a wildlife biologist named Stephanie Boyles. Boyles told her about a pigeon contraceptive-feed called OvoControl working its way through the E.P.A.’s approval process. Dodson’s rank and file was relieved: replacing eggs sounded like a lot of work. “It was a hands-on thing,” Dodson said, “and we didn’t want to do hands-on.” And so, a month after voting in favor of PiCAS, the Argyle Civic Association voted unanimously to scrap that plan and wait to put pigeons on the pill.
Chemical pigeon contraceptives were first experimented with 40 years ago. Efforts to dose a flock of free-roaming birds inevitably require overcoming several ecological and logistical obstacles. In this case, how do you ensure that each pigeon eats the required five grams of OvoControl every day, for many months? And if other protected bird species eat any OvoControl, how do you ensure that they won’t be harmed? Many biologists, including Haag-Wackernagel, argue that it has been difficult to even gauge the success of contraceptives in the wild, since treated and control flocks can’t be isolated meticulously enough to be counted.
OvoControl’s manufacturer, Innolytics, contends that these issues are being resolved; in fact, its active ingredient appears to have shown much real-world promise in several multiyear Italian studies. Most appealing to Dodson’s group, the company says that OvoControl can succeed in Hollywood regardless of whether feeders cooperate. Innolytics might even hijack Kourinian’s flocks — setting automatic rooftop feeders to dispense OvoControl 15 minutes before she arrives in a given spot, reaching the pigeons with their small, contraceptive “snack” before she satiates them. Boyles, for one, says that if a program does eventually go forward, Kourinian could be persuaded to feed pigeons OvoControl instead of seed. “We can channel that energy, that desire she has to be productive,” Boyles told me cheerfully.
Guy Merchant was not as sanguine when I called to fill him in. He said he distrusted all chemical contraceptives and seemed incensed that Boyles had suggested it. “Stephanie Boyles and the staff of PETA haven’t a clue where PiCAS is coming from,” he said. He had just had a similar falling out with Melbourne, severing all ties after accusing the city of being “unprofessional” and willfully ignoring his instructions. (A Melbourne spokeswoman says, “He seemed upset about something, but we can’t figure out exactly what.”) OvoControl looks like an easy fix, Merchant said, but in his experience: “All of the good ideas don’t work. All of the things that would be great if they were true, aren’t.”
Pigeons, he seemed convinced, will frustrate whatever elaborate technologies we mobilize to suppress them. But PiCAS seemed to me to rely, every step of the way, on the perfunctory compliance of people. It is difficult to judge which, finally, is more exasperating.
In his paper “Regulation of the Street Pigeon in Basel,” Daniel Haag-Wackernagel writes that as the city’s 20,000 otherwise intractable birds were reduced to 10,000 by his methods, the flocks inside the lofts also decreased by half — from 1,400 pigeons to 708. Immediately after reading this, I was confused: if he had been removing the eggs of only 1,400 pigeons, what accounted for the depletion of the other 18,600 birds in Basel?
“This is the giant misunderstanding,” Haag-Wackernagel told me in his thick Swiss-German accent when I reached him at home. I had missed the point of his paper altogether. This amused him. Apparently it happens a lot.
The dovecotes were irrelevant, he said. The Basel Pigeon Action worked exclusively via “a change of public opinions” — a euphemism, it seemed, for an almost belligerent offensive against pigeon feeders. Just as PiCAS advises, Haag-Wackernagel flooded Basel with posters and advertisements characterizing pigeon feeding as “cruelty to animals” since it leads to overpopulation and overcrowding. For emphasis, he included noxious photos of squabs infected with parasites.
Citizens began ratting out feeders, sending Haag-Wackernagel names and the locations where they were regularly found. People began accosting feeders on the street, shaming them. “Although we certainly did not condone extreme action,” he writes, “in one case a pigeon feeder was even physically attacked.” One elderly man, perhaps finding no safe place left to feed pigeons outside, began luring them in through his apartment window. He was evicted.
The Basel Pigeon Action emerges as a case study in logic — purely ecological logic — taken to its extreme. Basel so thoroughly conceived of the city as an ecosystem that it treated humans like animals. And as feeders stopped flooding the system with food, Basel’s pigeon population waned. Of course, Basel’s game wardens were also offing thousands of pigeons to speed along this otherwise gradual process.
The lofts, he said, were showpieces — a ploy. By maintaining a few healthy flocks at the city’s expense, Haag-Wackernagel said he hoped that even the most steadfast “pigeon friends” would be convinced that Basel cared about pigeons and would trust him enough to stop feeding. Initially, feeders were allowed to feed these resident pigeons in designated areas, but Haag-Wackernagel said he quickly came to believe that “the idea of feeding only in certain places will never work.” Other pigeons swooped in, ate and flapped off to breed elsewhere.
Haag-Wackernagel told me he didn’t know much about PiCAS but had followed an unaffiliated consortium of cities employing dovecote schemes in Germany. These programs also cite his paper, he said, but he doubted that they are successful. He argued that they have misread his paper in precisely the way I had, or at least optimistically misappropriated it.
“If we could start again,” he told me, “if I was ordered to solve the pigeon problem in New York City for example, I wouldn’t use the pigeon lofts at all.” Not wanting to go back on Haag-Wackernagel’s word or evict the birds he raised there, Basel is still strapped with tending to them every week. In hindsight, Haag-Wackernagel says that any feeders reasonable enough to appreciate the gesture would probably have been reached by the logical appeals of the P.R. campaign alone.
“Most of the pigeon feeders are in some way crazy,” he said, summarizing, rather informally, a psychological study he helped write on the subject. “It is impossible to influence these people.” The most relentless have no family and few interpersonal relationships. They adopt pigeons as surrogate children. He described women — older women — who worked as phone-sex operators and prostitutes to pay for birdseed. This may be the pigeon’s greatest co-evolutionary triumph: the black magic whereby these grubbing little birds have sought out their depredated, human counterparts and transformed them into senseless disciples.
“They are like martyrs,” Haag-Wackernagel said. Ultimately, he conceded, his Basel Pigeon Action succeeded because, during those four years, “many pigeon feeders died.” They were old, and with the city so thoroughly re-educated, no younger people filled their emptied niche. There is a certain ecological elegance to this idea, too.
The great Pershing Square Pigeon War began in Los Angeles in February 1923. “I am a bird lover,” declared Milbank Johnson of the Pacific Mutual Life Insurance Company. “But as the city has grown from a village to a great metropolitan city,” he continued, rarefied businesses like his couldn’t keep scouring droppings from their facades and dislodging pigeon carcasses from their gutters. Pershing Square’s brand-new Biltmore Hotel — the largest hotel west of Chicago — was budgeting $500 a month for such drudgery.
Legislators banned pigeon feeding in Pershing Square park, writing the law that Dodson once hoped to universalize. But even the mayor scoffed at outlawing this “perfectly natural and harmless act,” arguing that it wouldn’t solve anything. “Every day,” a reporter wrote in The Los Angeles Times, “the city became more and more ridiculous to be thus thwarted by a lot of pigeons.” Finally, the city called in a “noted pigeon trapper of the High Sierras” to transfer the birds to the outlying hills near where, that very summer, tremendous white letters were being raised to spell “Hollywoodland.”
As cities like Los Angeles continued to sprawl, and hinterlands like “Hollywoodland” grew into hubs like Hollywood, countless animal species have been driven farther and farther out. We are now perhaps more starkly estranged from wildlife than any other humans in history, and we have come to mistake those animals’ absence from our daily lives as the natural order — an entitlement, even. Pigeons not only weathered that upheaval; they also managed to thrive in it. They are the holdouts, the spoilers. We resent them for this, and we want them to go away. Our finickiness is their last, great predator.
Scientists in the relatively new field of urban wildlife biology often talk about a species’ “cultural carrying capacity.” This is to say that, along with the amount of food and habitat available, many animals live and die by just how willing we are to put up with them. But the idea of cultural carrying capacity encompasses another equally un-Darwinian force that interferes with nature’s mechanisms: our compassion.
It’s our queasiness about harming pigeons that gave rise to the bird-control industry’s spikes, nets and shock-tracks — the shuffling of pigeons from one paying customer to the next. Our compassion for our own species, meanwhile, generally keeps us from tormenting those who, for whatever pitiable reasons, compulsively feed the pigeons — and who are, by feeding, extending what they can’t help seeing as the most basic form of compassion. Ultimately, it’s this niche that pigeons exploit: the rift opened between these virtuous ideals. We all mean well, and it’s easy to get tripped up in that same vertiginous territory while searching for a resolution.
A few days after I left Hollywood, Laura Dodson spotted Bird Lady’s truck and — feeling, spontaneously, that the time was right for reconciliation — pulled over. Kourinian told Dodson that she was catching a plane. Things in Hollywood had become miserable for her. She was going to Armenia for a few weeks, to think and be with family. “I said, ‘If you’re going to Armenia, what are you going to do about your birds?”’ Dodson told me, relaying all this. “She said, ‘I’m walking away from my birds, and I don’t care.”’
Dodson said she felt terrible. She tried to apologize. “I actually cried with her,” she said. The Hollywood Pigeon Action had, albeit unwittingly, attacked the problem at its human source. From a certain vantage point, this may have been its payoff. All Dodson had to do was patiently wait on OvoControl’s E.P.A. approval. And she has. But after devoting so much time to rustling up humane solutions, she was, above all else, concerned about the fate of the birds. She appealed to Kourinian again. But, Dodson explained, “she said: ‘I don’t care. My life is all broken up.”’
Dodson knew what she had to do. She conferred with Stephanie Boyles at PETA. Given the extent of Kourinian’s feeding, Boyles hesitantly agreed, advising Dodson “to err on the side of compassion.” And so Dodson called Jeffrey Traill. Together, they drove to a Wal-Mart some distance away. They bought a modest two-week supply, about 20 or 30 bags.
“We got the seed,” Dodson told me. “We started putting it out.”
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Feral pigeons (Columbia livia) are not harmless birds. Many potential infections of humans silently exist in pigeons which are not apparent. They have the potential for transmission of over 30 diseases to humans plus another ten to domestic animals. Environmental pollution from pigeon droppings is quite evident. Air pollution involves more than noxious gases from automobile exhausts and belching smokestacks. One serious air pollutant is air-borne fungi, which are agents for infectious diseases. There is much information written about the problem, but it remains primarily in the professional journals and technical references, neatly stacked away on library shelves. The objective of this paper is to provide a brief account of the major diseases and to assess their importance. Feral pigeons have been identified with mycotic, bacterial, protozoal, chlamydial, rickettsial, and parasitic diseases as well as dermatosis (Weber 1979). MYCOTIC diseases are not transmitted from humans to humans. Perhaps this is why they do not make the headlines. The fungi causing the diseases are acquired by inhaling the fruiting bodies or spores along with particles of dust. The fungi live saprophytically in feces and soil. Aspergillosis is caused by Aspergillus fumagatus. The fungus produces toxins which poison the victim’s blood. Pigeons assist the spread of the spores in airborne dust. Blastomycosis is caused by Blastomyces dermatitidus. It primarily affects the lungs; the main route of infection is by inhalation of spores. The organism has been isolated from pigeon manure. Candidiasis is caused by Candida spp., chiefly C. albicans. Nearly one-fourth of all mycotic deaths are caused by this yeast. It often affects the mouth, respiratory system, intestines, and urogenital tract, especially the vagina. Incidence of candidiasis (yeast infection) in women is an increasing problem. The discomfort of the itching, pain, and discharge caused by the growth of this fungus is.
ignificant enough to warrant the elimination of pigeons which are one of the three wild birds most frequently infected with Candida. Cryptococcosis is caused by a systemic pathogenic yeast called Cryptococcosus neoformans. No organ or tissue of the body is exempt. It very frequently involves the brain covering as cryptococcal meningitis. One Indianapolis victim spent 91 days in the hospital with cryptococcosis. The yeast is carried in the intestinal tract of pigeons and deposited in their feces (Newberry 1967). One Kansas City survey showed that 93% of the pigeon coops were infected. Histoplasmosis is caused by Histoplasma capsulatum. It is interesting to note that the disease was suggested at one time as a biological warfare agent because of its airborne route (Furcolow, personal communication, 1960). It is probably the second most significant fungus disease. The “summer flu” that midwesterners used to get is now thought to have been histoplasmosis (Personal communication, American Lung Association, 1974). It is basically a pulmonary disease but may extend to the liver, lymph nodes, and spleen. The organism may disseminate to the blood and bone marrow and be fatal. It may lodge in the eye to cause ocular histoplasmosis. Twenty-two cases were reported to the Indiana Board of Health in 1976. Pigeon feces fertilize the soil in such a way as to give the fungus competitive advantage over other soil microorganisms. The largest outbreak ever recorded occurred in Indianapolis during the winter of 1978-79 with over 450 confirmed cases. There were 18 deaths. BACTERIAL DISEASES identified with pigeons are listed. Erysipeloid generally starts in a break in the skin and is accompanied with a sensation of burning, throbbing pain, and intense itching. It is caused by Erysipelothrus insidiosis. Pigeons are involved in its transmission. Listeriosis is caused by Listeria monocytogenes. It causes changes in the cells of the nervous system. It may cause conjunctivitis, endocarditis, and skin infections. It can also cause meningitis in newborns, abortions, premature delivery, stillbirths, and death. The organism has been isolated from pigeons. Parteurellosis is caused by a highly contagious bacteria, Pasteurella multicida. The 157 disease may be divided in four groups of syndromes: 1) infection of the upper respiratory tract as nasal discharge or conjuntivitis, 2) infection of the lower respiratory tract as bronchitis or pneumonia, 3) infecton of internal organs as appendicitis or inflammation of the urinary tract, 4) abscessed wound infections. Pigeons can spread the bacteria through their droppings or nasal discharge. The organism can live as long as a month in pigeon manure or three months in a dead pigeon. Salmonellosis is more than food poisoning. Gastroenteritis is the most common manifestation. Enteric fever or septicemia may follow several weeks later as a relapse. Septicemias often terminate fatally. Persistent infections are less common but very important. There may be an abscess or local infection as arthritis, bronchopneumonia, endocarditis, meningitis, osteomyelitis, or pyeleonephritis. Pigeons are important in the spread of salmonellae, since the bacteria are left wherever the pigeons defecate (MÜller 1965). They trample back and forth through their copious excretion on window ledges and air intake vents. Dusts to contaminate food or homes enter through air conditioners and ventilators. The most common salmonella Isolated from pigeons is Salmonella typhimurum var. Copenhagen, which is found in about 2% of pigeon feces (MÜller 1965). Yersiniosis is a plague-like disease by Yersinia pseudotuberculosos and Y. enterocolitica. The disease is clinically indistinguishable from appendicitis. Both diseases cause fever, nausea, headache, hard and painful stomachs. Because of the similarity, there were 32 school children hospitalized in Oneida County, New York in September 1976. Fourteen were reported to have had unnecessary appendectomies. Y.enterocolitica serotype 8 was isolated from the ill children. It was first isolated from pigeons in 1916. Transmission may be through the feces, eggs, or ticks of pigeons (Hubert 1972). PROTOZOAN diseases include American trypansomiasis, toxoplasmosis, and trichomoniasis. American trypanosomiasis is caused by Trypanosoma cruzi. There is no vaccine, effective treatment, or cure for the disease. It is transmitted through the feces of infected triatimid bugs, as the pigeon kissing bug (Triatoma rubrofasciata). The bugs tend to feed at night while the victim is asleep the bug defecates during or soon after engorgement, and most human infections occur when the bug feces are rubbed into eyes or mucous membranes following a bite. Toxoplasmosis may be one of the most widespread zoonotic diseases in the United States. It is caused by Toxoplasma gondii. It has been shown to cause abortions in women (W.J. Schneider, personal communication, 1977). The organism seems to have an affinity for brain tissue; it may cause mental retardation and death. Pigeons frequently transmit toxoplasmosis through fecal contamination, respiratory droplets, eye secretions, contact with infected tissue, or through ectoparasites. Trichomoniasis is caused by Trichomonas gallinae. It may affect the genital tract. Pigeons are considered the primary host, with about 80-90% of the adults infected. VIRAL diseases include encephalitis, meningitis, and Newcastle. Eastern equine encephalomyelitis (EEE) is the most deadly of the North American arbovirus diseases. It has been known to cause mental retardation, convulsions, and paralysis. The mortality rate may be around 60%. Pigeons are considered an amplifying host for the virus (Fothergill et. al. 1938). St. Louis encephalitis (SLE) affects the nervous system, ranging from complete recovery to disorganization, paralysis, coma, and death. The mortality rate is usually 5-10%, in some cases up to 33%. Pigeons, English sparrows, and house finches are the three birds labeled as main reservoirs of SLE. West Nile encephalitis ranges from mild to fatal Infections. The virus has been isolated from pigeons. Western equine encephalomyelitis is much more present and dangerous than most people think. The fatality rate has been between 5 and 15%. Children under one year of age may never recover from an infection of the virus, often becoming total vegetables. Pigeons are one of the amplifying hosts (W.F. Rathel, personal communication, 1977). Meningitis causes as inflammation of the brain and its covering. Pigeons are subject to meningo-encephalitis. Newcastle disease often involves conjunctivitis, lacrimation, and a mild influenza-like infection. Pigeons are the third largest common carrier; the virus has been detected in their feces. CHLAMYDIAL and RICKETTSIAL diseases. Chlamydiosis, caused by Chlamydia psittiaci, is a generalized infectious disease that causes a flu-like respiratory infection with high fever, severe headache, and generalized aches and pains. Mortality is usually 158 restricted to the old, the weak, or those with concurrent disease. Pigeons are the most common and consistent source of all known hosts (Terskiph 1961). Over half of the pigeon population is or has been infected. Q fever is caused by Coxiella burnetti. It is characterized by a sudden onset of pneumonitis, sometimes causing death. Pigeons are involved as carriers (Syrcuek et al. 1956). Investigators have isolated C. burnetti from the Kidneys of a large number of pigeons. The disease can be transmitted by infected ticks, ingestion, or by inhalation of dust contaminated with the organism. PARASITIC WORMS include cestodes and trematodes. Taeniasis by large tapeworm is caused by Taenia saginata, with specimens up to 50 feet having been recovered. Pigeons have been incriminated as potential vectors. Schistosomiasis, one of the most prevalent diseases throughout the world, is caused by a water-borne trematode. Pigeons are associated with flukes in the watery areas where they exist. Other pigeon associated trematodes include Echinoparyphium paraulum, Echinoparyphium recurvatum, Echinostoma revolutum, Haplorchis pulimio, and Hypoderaeum conoideum. DERMATOSIS. Acariasis is caused by infection of mites. Bird mites were responsible for a case of pruritis in a North Carolina hospital. The mites originated in a pigeon nest in the ventilator.
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Pigeon Ban Leads To Conflict Of Interest Allegations In B.C. Community
The District of North Vancouver is now investigating council after it passed a bylaw targeting a councillor’s neighbour and pet pigeons.
A new pigeon prohibition in a North Vancouver community has roused suspicions that a councillor’s continued grudge against the birds has led to a serious conflict of interest.
Thursday, in response to concerns from the public, district Mayor Mike Little ordered an independent investigation into the events leading up to and the passage the controversial ban known as the “Pigeon Prohibition Bylaw.” It bans residents from harbouring what some consider intelligent animals (who mate for life!), and others believe are rats with wings.
The chief administrative officer will look into the conduct of all councillors, including Little.
The pigeon squabble started almost three years ago, when Kulwant Dulay and his multi-generational family moved to the north shore neighbourhood and transformed a dilapidated backyard chicken coop into a charming miniature cottage for his homing pigeons.
“I fixed it up. I wash the coop every week. I keep it clean. There’s no smells at all,” Dulay told councillors Nov. 18. He and his family wash the pigeons and clean up their droppings.
His neighbour, councillor Betty Forbes, saw the situation differently. She declined to comment, as the independent review is being conduct and therefore would not be “appropriate.”
In emails to staff, released through a freedom of information request and first provided to CBC News, Forbes complained of her neighbour’s pigeons flying over her house and landing on her roof, and requested staff review a bylaw from 1971 to “control” the look of the coups, and limit the number allowed.
“Both chickens and pigeons can carry disease and are dirty,” Forbes wrote to staff in May 2017, before she was councillor. “How can you control health risks, monitor that the chickens or pigeons are being kept in approved coups, under humane living conditions, food is stored so as not to attract other animals, the number of kept birds is within the by-law?”
Forbes was elected Oct. 20, 2018. Five days later she requested staff act on her “pigeon complaint.”
“I have been patient but I feel that 1.5 years of asking for this issue to be dealt with in accordance with the bylaw is long enough,” Forbes said in her email.
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Forbes recused herself from the vote because of a conflict of interest. Before being elected, she had made several complaints to staff about the pigeons and said they had damaged her lawn, and in 2017 spoke at a public hearing and said they could impact her property values.
But according to Freedom of Information documents, after Forbes was elected — but before she was officially sworn in — she sent an email to city staff complaining about the situation and asking for action. In recent months she also exchanged emails with the councillor who put forward the pigeon ban motion about the situation.
In praise of pigeons: Enthusiast chirps the praises of ‘troublesome’ birdThe new information has prompted the two councillors who voted against the ban to ask for a reconsideration — which would require a request from either Mike Little or one of the three councillors who voted in favour of it.
“There was clearly some background information we didn’t know,” said Jordan Back.”I’d like to have a better understanding as to why [Forbes] thought it was OK to use her position to bring forward a personal matter. I don’t think it’s appropriate, and I think we’ve heard widespread feedback from the community that they don’t think it’s appropriate.”
Forbes has ultimately declined multiple requests for an interview by CBC News, but through a spokesperson indicated she would make a statement at Monday’s council meeting and speak to the media afterwards.As for Hassko? He says he’ll also be at Monday’s meeting, with a clear message for the district.
“Something does smell fowl here, and it’s not the pigeons.”
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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On Givo Hassko’s Maple Ridge property, there are Indian fantails, Budapest short-faced tumblers, and any other number of trained pigeons that he’s either bought, bred or fostered over the years.
A director for the Vancouver Poultry & Fancy Pigeon Association, Hassko estimates there are around 300 pigeon owners across the Lower Mainland. He says he’s heard from many of them, outraged by the District of North Vancouver’s recent ban on the birds.”It does not seem in any way correct how they’re going by it,” he said.
Prior to council passing the bylaw, staff said the only active complaint file the district had was from newly elected councillor Betty Forbes — and the only person they could identify who had pigeons was her next-door neighbour.Pigeon feud: North Vancouver approves ban targeting councillor’s neighbour
Forbes recused herself from the vote and discussion, but Hassko says members of the pigeon community are worried it will set a precedent in other communities where the birds are currently allowed.”It’s not just about our pigeons anymore,” he said.”It’s more about what your neighbour next door can to do to you if they don’t feel like you belong in that little area.”
Indian Fantail pigeons belonging to Hassko. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)Pigeons allowed in most of Metro Van
Before the vote, District of North Vancouver staff admitted they hadn’t done extensive research on pigeon rules throughout Metro Vancouver.
But a CBC News analysis of regional animal control bylaws found only two other municipalities explicitly banning poultry, with only the District of North Vancouver explicitly signalling out pigeons.Several other communities, including Vancouver, Richmond and Surrey have specific rules around how many pigeons a person could have, or how they need to be cared for.
Hassko said the district’s previous rules allowing pigeons, enacted in 1971, “was one of the best bylaws in the Lower Mainland,” and that a ban usually only incentivizes people to keep pigeons secretly, free of regulation.He also believes the district had several alternatives to resolve the dispute without resorting to a ban.
“They could have easily picked up a phone and emailed and said ‘hey, can you help us with this bylaw and this situation?'” he said.
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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A Manx bird charity has spoken against Douglas Council’s move to ban mass feeding of wild birds throughout the town.
Manx Wild Bird Aid (MWBA) is calling for the council to follow guidance set out by the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture (DEFA) on how to manage the pigeon population without leaving them to starve.It also raises concerns about home bird feeders being affected.The council is now seeking approval from Tynwald to amend the Douglas General Byelaws 2013, in particular bylaw 19, which relates to ’feeding of animals and birds’.It wants to extend the current prohibited feeding zone to cover the entire Borough of Douglas.
The current zone includes; Douglas seafront from the Bottleneck to the war memorial; Mona Terrace; Finch Road; Athol Street; Bridge Road; South Quay and Parade Street; plus areas on Prospect Terrace and Buck’s Road.Those caught flouting the bylaw would be given a fixed penalty notice.David Cole, a founding member of MWBA with his wife Barbara, doesn’t believe the bylaw would protect those who feed birds at home from being fined if a complaint is made against them.He said: ’The trouble is that Douglas Council says the bylaw doesn’t apply to people with bird tables in their gardens. A byelaw doesn’t have any exceptions.’In theory if someone says “the birds in your garden are annoying me” the bird feeder could be liable for a spot fine.’
Council leader David Christian said: ’The changes the council is proposing are not about targeting well-meaning householders who have bird tables or garden feeders in their gardens. This we applaud.
’It’s about putting enforcement measures in place to deal with irresponsible individuals who persistently mass-feed birds, especially seagulls.’This is a practice which attracts large concentrations of birds, causes widespread public nuisance and distress and encourages vermin.’It also places undue demands on the council’s street cleansing operations and compromises our efforts to project a positive image for Douglas.’Advice given by the DEFA to local authorities includes having designated feeding areas set up for members of the public to freely feed pigeons and other birds.
In the document ’Advice and Information on Pigeon Control’, it also suggests setting up artificial breeding facilities, which has been said to decrease pigeon populations by as much as 50%.This is achieved by removing eggs that have been laid inside the nesting boxes and replacing them with dummy eggs.We previously reported in May about the worrying decline of seabird populations across the island.A survey was carried out over two years by Manx BirdLife with its 2017-18 census revealing that eight seabird species have suffered significant declines, with population losses of up to 82%.hen asked about this, Mr Cole said: ’We have got to give gulls a helping hand, particularly when it’s cold or during breeding season. When we take away that option [of being fed] it’s going to have an affect on a number of birds.’
He added: ’We deal with sick and injured birds. If there’s a sudden stop in the feeding of birds then a lot of them are going to starve because of it. There’s a lot of distressed birds in the island already.’’Milly would be here’ had Glasgow hospital followed adviceA mother whose daughter died at Scotland’s largest hospital has said her daughter would be still alive had concerns about water contamination risks been addressed in time.Kimberly Darroch was speaking after a leaked inspection report into Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) revealed “high risks” in 2015.
Milly Main, 10, contracted an infection in 2017 while on the hospital campus.She was recovering from leukaemia at the Royal Hospital for Children.
The QEUH 2015 inspection report, which ranked infection control measures as “high risk” in several areas just two days after the hospital opened, was passed to Labour MSP Anas Sarwar by whistleblowers. NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (NHSGGC) insisted the hospital campus had a “safe and effective water supply” and all inspection reports had been acted upon.
Warning of ‘high risk’ to water supply at hospitalHospital infection spiked at time of child’s deathMs Darroch told BBC Scotland on Thursday night: “I’m shocked with the information that came out today. The fact that they’ve known since since 2015, it’s absolutely disgusting that nothing was done about it and no action was taken and the hospital was still opened.
“I believe Milly would still be here if action had been taken. I’ve no doubt in my mind that Milly would be sitting beside me, right now.”There is no words to describe that pain of knowing that if things had been different, that if things had been sorted with the water, she would still be here.”I think the health board needs to be held to account for the mistakes that they made.”
She added: “We wouldn’t have been made aware of any of this if it wasn’t for the whistleblower coming forward.”I think there will continue to be shocking revelations for the foreseeable future.”
Kimberly Darroch said the leaked report had “shocked” herA spokesperson said the Scottish government was “examining in detail” the separate material Mr Sarwar had highlighted.
They added: “We want to ensure that all families who have been affected can get the answers that they are clearly entitled to and the health secretary has given her personal assurance that she will ensure this happens.”We are committed to making sure that these matters are dealt with transparently and with clear accountability, which is one of the reasons the health secretary has instructed a public inquiry in these matters to be chaired by Lord Brodie.”Ms Darroch said she was “very angry” and felt the health board had swept the case “under the carpet”.
A hospital complaints manager had contacted her on Thursday but she had not received an apology, she said.
Milly, who had leukaemia, underwent a successful stem cell transplant in July 2017 and was making a good recovery when the following month her Hickman line, a catheter used to administer drugs, became infected. Milly went into toxic shock and died days later.
Her death certificate lists a Stenotrophomonas infection of the Hickman line among the possible causes of death but Ms Darroch says the family were kept in the dark about a potential link to contaminated water problems at the hospital.
A spokeswoman for NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde said: “We are very sorry for the ongoing distress that has been caused to Ms Darroch and we want to provide parents with as much support as possible.”We are in contact with Ms Darroch and would like to meet her to answer her questions if she would be happy to do that.”
The Legionella assessment was carried out by private contractor DMA Water Treatment two days after the hospital openedIn the Scottish Parliament, Mr Sarwar said he had seen figures which suggested there were 50 cases of infections at the Royal Children’s Hospital – part of the £842m QEUH campus – between 2015 and 2018, and a further 15 unconfirmed cases so far this year.
ressed on the warnings at first minister’s questions, Nicola Sturgeon said she was determined to get the “answers parents deserve”.The documents seen by Mr Sarwar show that NHS Estates commissioned three separate independent reports into the water supply at the QEUH.
The first Legionella assessment, carried out by private contractor DMA Water Treatment on 29 April 2015 – two days after the hospital welcomed its first patients – categorised the management of the bacteria as “high risk” because there was “significant communication issues between the parties” responsible for managing the risk.
The problem of contaminated water is one of a number to beset the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) and the adjoining Royal Hospital for Children.
Last year, two cancer wards at the children’s hospital were shut because of concerns about infection, and children were moved to the QEUH instead. An inquiry by Health Protection Scotland later identified 23 potential water supply-linked infections during 2018.In January it emerged two patients at the QEUH had died after contracting an infection linked to pigeon droppings.
City to remove hundreds of tonnes of pigeon poop from Sid Buckwold BridgeSaskatoon has a pigeon poop problem. A heavy one.
Since it opened in 1966, a flock of around 1,500 pigeons has called the Senator Sid Buckwold Bridge home. Over the last five decades, the city estimates that 348 tonnes of pigeon droppings have accumulated in the crevices and cavities of the 183-metre bridge.
Now, as part of a two-year plan to rehabilitate the concrete river crossing, the city is preparing to spend around $800,000 on specialized contractors who will capture and euthanize the pigeons, then manually remove 53 years worth of their feces.The next step will be to ensure pigeons can’t return, because the feces adds significantly to the bridge’s dead load and the uric acid in the droppings can eat into concrete and rebar, according to the city’s general manager of transportation and construction.
The droppings weigh as much as 232 mid-sized cars — within the limits for which the bridge is rated, but a potential concern should nothing be done, Angela Gardiner said Friday in an interview. Large piles of pigeon droppings also have potential health implications.
“There’s no immediate concern about the integrity of the bridge; it’s just the long-term potential that it could cause over a number of years and decades,” she said, adding that there is no indication the uric acid has damaged the bridge’s structure.
The city expects the work to begin next week. The first phase — trapping and euthanizing the birds — is slated to last about six weeks, while the “labour-intensive” cleaning is likely to continue through the summer and into the fall, Gardiner said.
Once the bridge is clean, the city plans to install barriers to ensure pigeons can’t return to the cavities and utility conduit under the span. Gardiner acknowledged that it’s impossible to completely eliminate the pigeons, but said the city will do what it can to keep them away.
While the city plans to keep an eye on its other major pieces of infrastructure, the Buckwold Bridge is thought to be particularly hospitable for pigeons. The city’s other bridges offer the birds far fewer opportunities to nest.
Pigeons are well-known pests that damage private property as well as municipal infrastructure. They are also thought to be among the most destructive; few other species are capable of causing as much damage.
“This job comes with a lot of new and unique things. Each project is different. We were aware there were pigeons (and) an issue with this bridge. But the extent of it is a lot bigger than I thought anyone anticipated,” Gardiner said.amacpherson@postmedia.com
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Stop the pigeons! Birds fed birth-control drug at SkyTrain station to reduce population
Pigeons can seem pretty innocuous in the city, but according to TransLink, the birds can cause all kinds of problems along the SkyTrain system. Now, along with the BC SPCA, TransLink is testing a birth control drug on the birds to reduce the population. To start, there’s the issue of poop. CBC News first reported in December that pigeon droppings had dogged the transit authority as it prepared to open a new platform at the Commercial-Broadway station. TransLink has a poopy pigeon problem on its hands at new Expo Line platform
The problems don’t just revolve around the nasty mess. According to TransLink, pigeons can interfere with the transportation system, causing SkyTrain delays when they trigger track intrusion alarms, and automatic brakes are activated. TransLink has tried to discourage the birds from roosting in its stations. The spikes installed along perches didn’t do it. Nor did low-voltage strips or netting. According to TransLink, a falconer has been hired to make the rounds at pigeon-plagued stations to scare off the birds. But according to spokesperson Jill Drews, what’s needed is a long term solution. Along with the BC SPCA, TransLink is testing a feeding system that distributes corn laced with a contraceptive called OvoControl. Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with BC SPCA shows the feeding unit placed at the VCC-Clark SkyTrain station. (Michaële Perron-Langlais/CBC) The drug has to be eaten daily to keep the pigeons from laying fertilized eggs, and its effects are reversible.”We’re going to be working with the SPCA here at VCC-Clark for a few weeks and determine the effectiveness and hopefully roll out the feeders at other stations soon,” said Drews.
‘Disruptive and inconvenient’: Granville SkyTrain station escalator shutdown to last 2 years According to Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with BC SPCA, the drug breaks down in the pigeons’ blood stream and won’t affect any predators that may eat the birds, nor any mammals in the area. “It’s safe; it’s not toxic. It was approved by Health Canada last year. We’ve been waiting for several years for it to come to Canada,” said Dubois. Pigeons seem harmless, but according to TransLink they’re a big problem. Their droppings make a mess of transit platforms, and they can trigger intrusion alarms, causing trains to automatically brake, leading to delays. (Rafferty Baker/CBC) “The goal’s not to get rid of pigeons, the goal is to manage the pigeon situation to the point where it’s not causing problems for TransLink,” she said. Dubois said the results of the pilot program will be carefully tracked, both in terms of whether the birds are consuming the drugged food, but also the number of track intrusion alarms set off by pigeons. Drews said that people are partly to blame for the number of pigeons around SkyTrain stations.
“We would like to tell our customers that we would really like it if they stop feeding birds near our stations,” she said. “It isn’t good for the pigeons — they’re best off to find their own natural food — and it isn’t good for our customers, because it caused delays and unsightly health hazard mess in our stations.” With files from Michaële Perron-Langlais. Follow Rafferty Baker on Twitter: @raffertybaker
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Sick pigeons downtown might have been poisoned: Salthaven West A local wildlife organization is concerned about the number of sick pigeons it’s finding in Regina’s downtown.
Megan Lawrence, director of rehabilitation for Salthaven West, said her organization is frequently called for reports of pigeons in distress.
She said Salthaven has been dealing with the birds for years now and fears they might have been poisoned.
“On average we’re seeing a poisoned pigeon every two to three weeks,” she said, adding those numbers increase in the summer. “It’s not a very humane death. Their temperature skyrockets; it can be a very painful death.” “By the time we receive them, they’re having violent seizures,” she said. “The only thing we can do to get rid of the poison in their system is basically flush it out.”
Lawrence said she’s heard that some businesses downtown may be using poison in order to detract the birds from congregating on rooftops and other roosting points on buildings. However, she wasn’t able to offer any proof for her claims or pinpoint specific businesses and said she hasn’t spoken to any business owners herself. The Leader-Post contacted some downtown businesses to see how they control the pigeon population. None of the businesses who responded said they use poison or have had an issue with pigeon overpopulation.
Salthaven West director of rehabilitation, Megan Lawrence, stands with a Swainson’s hawk in Regina on April 16, 2015. Lawrence believes pigeons in Regina’s downtown are victims of poisoning.
Kevin Lang, building manager for the Ramada Plaza located on Victoria Avenue, said while he has inquired with pest control companies about using poison to stop pigeons from roosting on the hotel’s roof, he’s never used it. “I’ve been told … it affects the other (types of) birds,” he said. “(If) you put poison out, it can be consumed by anything that lands on our roof, which is not environmentally friendly.” Instead, the hotel uses cages to keep them out. He said without them, pigeons can get into ventilation equipment and leave feathers in the rooftop coils.
Lawrence said if pigeons ingest poison, they aren’t the only ones who suffer. Animals who eat pigeons could be affected. “If a Peregrine falcon was to eat one of those pigeons that had ingested the poison, the falcon is also going to get the poison and perhaps die as well,” she said. Half of the pigeons they receive, she said, end up dying.
Salthaven’s most recent call to assist a pigeon was Wednesday evening. That one ended up dying. The organization doesn’t usually have pigeons tested to see what specific poison is making them sick, but it’s considering sending that one in for testing. Lawrence believes the pigeons may be ingesting Avitrol, a bird control product she said is used in cities across Canada.
“It’s very common … to control pigeon populations this way,” she said. “It’s likely (because) it’s cheap and easy.” In an email, the City of Regina said it doesn’t have a pigeon control program and doesn’t monitor pigeon populations. On its website, the makers of Avitrol say the product “causes behaviours similar to an epileptic seizure.”
“Birds eating the treated bait will emit distress signals used by their species when they are frightened or injured,” the website says. “This will frighten the flock and cause it to leave the site.”
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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An Aerial view The City’s downtown core in Regina, SK. on Thursday, August 22, 2013. Salthaven West director of rehabilitation, Megan Lawrence, believes some downtown businesses may be putting out poison to deter pigeons. Several Regina pest control companies contacted by the Leader-Post said they do offer Avitrol, but it can only be administered in commercial and industrial areas and isn’t for retail sale. A trained pest control employee must administer it.
Instead of poison, Lawrence recommends removing structures where pigeons could roost and screen off air conditioning units where they might drink water from. Bristling wires, which prevent pigeons from landing, can also be purchased from a pest control retailer and installed.“If they’re up on the roof and you start seeing them build nest, remove all nesting materials,” she said. “The more times that happens they’re going to realize this isn’t a place (they can) nest.”
Saskatoon woman says people may be using neurotoxin to poison local pigeons
A Saskatoon woman who helps restore injured birds to health is calling on the City of Saskatoon to help curb a trend she says concerns her. Jan Shadick runs Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation. She says that since Jan. 1, people have called her about 35 dead pigeons.
Rate of ‘kidnapped’ baby hares a concern in Saskatoon Based on the symptoms described, Shadick says she “strongly suspects” most of those birds were poisoned.
“The pigeons are convulsing. They’re having seizures,” she said. “One woman contacted me about a dead pigeon in her yard. I think it was in a flower pot and she was concerned because her dog goes out in the yard.” “It’s an animal. It’s a life. And I don’t think it should suffer,” said Shadick. (Guy Quenneville/CBC) Shadick said she believes a particular neurotoxin used to repel birds is to blame. In a public letter to city councillors, she said Saskatoon Light and Power has used that neurotoxin in the past. Brendan Lemke, the acting director of Saskatoon Light and Power, said, “SL&P does not use poison to kill pigeons in or around its substations. “It has, in the past and consistent with best practices, retained the expertise of pest control experts which have used widely accepted chemical repellents for pigeon control, but SL&P has not used those products or services since 2017.” Shadick wants the city to ban use of the product by anyone in the city.
“It’s an animal. It’s a life. And I don’t think it should suffer,” Shadick said Thursday as she grasped a dead pigeon wrapped in a plastic baggie.
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment said it has not granted a permit for the use of the neurotoxin and would only do so “in exceptional circumstances.”
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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The Pigeon Poop Station Saga: Bird Pooping On Lawmaker’s Head Seems To Catch Local Leaders’ Attention
HICAGO (CBS) — The CBS 2 Morning Insiders got the scoop on the poop heard ’round the world.
Our video showed a pigeon relieving itself on an Illinois lawmaker as he talked about a problem at the Irving Park Blue Line station. It got international attention, but more importantly, it seems to have caught the eye of leaders locally.
CBS 2’s Lauren Victory met back up with Illinois state Rep. Jaime Andrade (D-Chicago) for this latest report. This time, they shot their interview strategically, given that a pigeon pooped on Andrade’s head as they spoke last time.
RELATED: State Rep. Searches For Funds To Clean Up Irving Park ‘Pigeon Poop Station,’ Gets Pooped On During Interview | ‘It Stinks To High Heaven’: No Solution In Sight For Pigeon Poop Problem At Irving Park Blue Line Stop
Victory: “Did you ever think that a pigeon would get you name recognition?”
Andrade: “Not that much. Not at this level.”
At the Kennedy Expressway underpass at Irving Park Road, where the entrance to the Blue Line station is located, the pigeons’ waste, feathers, and filth create a gross hopscotch game for commuters.
Last time, of course, Andrade couldn’t dodge said pigeons. The pigeon pooping video clip made headlines across the city, the country, and even the ocean.
“Farthest place I’ve heard so far is Spain,” Andrade said.
His feces fame is not for naught. Andrade said he spotted men in yellow vests hard at work after our most recent story aired.
“They said they were out here taking measurements from one of the agencies,” Andrade said. “I’ve been trying to get a real cost, price for over a year. You do the story and they’re out here, measurements just within a few days?”
The Chicago Transit Authority said it sent Landmark Pest Management crews to remove garbage from pigeon netting. As to whether they are working on something long-term, the CTA refused to say.
So Victory decided to learn more about Landmark. Its parent company, ABC Humane Wildlife Control and Prevention, is hired by several departments in Chicago and at the state level.
Landmark President Rebecca Fyffe told Victory that a city contract prevents her from speaking specifically about plans for the Irving Park station. But she pointed CBS 2 to her company’s pigeon abatement work at the Lawrence Red Line station in 2010.
Today, that area is fairly clean by city standards.
CBS 2 is told that Ald. James Cappleman (46th) pushed for the project after several pigeon-related complaints. Cappleman’s spokesman said bird poop was also causing CTA equipment to degrade, so the CTA picked up the bill – to the tune of $150,000. When asked if that figure scared him, Andrade said it did not.
“No, no, I hope it’s that,” he said. But Andrade’s problem is that Irving Park comes with jurisdiction issues. The Blue Line station is CTA property, but other parts of the overpass belong to the Illinois Department of Transportation. “Our constituents don’t care. All they want is the situation solved,” Andrade said. “This story has brought attention all the way to the top, so that I know.”
We’ll wait, and so will the pigeons – who are so comfortable along the overpass that even a train won’t make them flinch.
If you have something you want the Morning Insiders to check out in your neighborhood, email cbschicagotips@cbs.com.
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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LAS VEGAS (KSNV) — A unanimous vote has officially made it illegal to feed the pigeons in public in the City of Las Vegas.
Ward 1 councilwoman Lois Tarkanian sponsored the bill. She said the city received numerous complaints about pigeon problems, and it came down to a health issue. Their droppings, she says, can be toxic and can even carry diseases.
News 3 spoke with a pest control expert who explained that when people feed pigeons, more pigeons will show up and expect food at that location. they flock there, reproduce, and thus create more waste.
Meanwhile, the expert says, that food source disappears, but the pigeons don’t necessarily leave. As a result, the street feeders have created a problem for the pigeons.
This may sound like a silly crime — but there are similar laws in place in Henderson and in Clark County.
It does bring up the question — how does the city plan on enforcing it?
Well, if you’re caught feeding them on the streets, there is a chance you’d be reported to the city.
Violators of the new pigeon law could face fines up to $1,000 and even up to six months behind bars.
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Fifteen-year-old Aurora Milbrandt impressed Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark with a presentation at city hall on how to deal with pesky pigeons in a humane way.
Milbrandt appeared at Monday’s meeting of city council’s environment, utilities and community services committee to address a request to ban the use of neurotoxins to kill nuisance pigeons.
“Wow,” Clark said after Milbrandt’s presentation. “For a Grade 10 student, that was a very well presented set of arguments and solutions.”
Milbrandt targeted the product Avitrol, saying contrary to what some believe the chemical agent can result in a “very painful death” for pigeons and other small animals that consume it.
She suggested the city consider euthanizing pigeons as a last resort and focus on other measures — educating the public not to feed pigeons, using a birth control product to make female pigeons barren and employing a predator like a hawk or falcon.
The committee heard that the City of Saskatoon no longer uses Avitrol. Clark asked whether any city has banned its use throughout the community, including by private citizens and businesses.
City lawyer Blair Bleakney told the committee the city could enact a bylaw to govern chemical use on private property, but advised against a ban on a specific product.
The committee voted unanimously to direct the administration to study a pest management strategy for the city.
The city contracts out pest management, including pigeon control, to private contractors and Avitrol has been used in the past, a city report says.
The city stopped using Avitrol after Jan Shaddick, executive director of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation, appeared before the same committee in May to request the city discontinue the product’s use, the report adds.
The city hired a contractor this year to euthanize about 1,500 pigeons that had made their home inside cavities in the piers of the Senator Sidney L. Buckwold Bridge, the report notes. In September, the city said 2,300 pigeons were euthanized.
Angela Gardiner, the city’s general manager of utilities and environment, said there is an understanding between city hall and the contractor that animals will be euthanized according to Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) standards.
“The CVMA holds that when animals are euthanized, death must be quick using a method that causes the least possible pain and distress,” Gardiner wrote in an email.
She did not know the exact method of euthanasia used for the Buckwold Bridge pigeons. Grating was installed during rehabilitation work on the bridge to ensure pigeons do not return to the cavities.
The company working on the bridge removed about 635 tonnes of pigeon waste from the cavities.
ptank@postmedia.com
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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The Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services on Monday reviewed a report prepared in response to a request by Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.
The centre asked the city to stop using the neurotoxin, saying it’s an inhumane way to control pests.
Around 2,300 pigeons put down, 635,000 kg of feces cleaned from Saskatoon bridge
According to a description on Avitrol’s website, the product works by causing “behaviours similar to an epileptic seizure.”
“This may include flying erratically, vocalizing, trembling, dilation of the pupils and other symptoms,” the description says.
Witnessing these behaviours can encourage unaffected birds to leave a location.
“Flocks can be frightened away from sites little or no mortality.”
According to the report, Avitrol is no longer used in other cities including Halifax, San Francisco and New York.
The committee heard how in the past the city used Avitrol to remove pests, but currently there are no sites where the city or its contractors are using the poison.
However the city does not have anything in writing that bans private use of Avitrol.
City hall to pursue pest management strategy for Saskatoon
Concern is raised over the city’s use of neurotoxins to control pigeon populations
PHIL TANK, SASKATOON STARPHOENIX
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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There are over 400 species of pigeons in the world, and each species has its own curious trait. For homing pigeons, it’s always knowing the way back from which they came. For a USD professor who raises them, it’s figuring out which way to go.
Kandy Noles Stevens is an adjunct professor and STEM Specialist teaching physical science for elementary in the School of Education at USD. The recipient of the 2019 Graduate Excellence in Teaching at USD, she’s also studying to gain her doctoral degree.
Stevens grew up as the only girl in a crowd of cousins who led her to muddy riverbanks to catch frogs and tadpoles. In high school, despite an upbringing in nature, Stevens had no intention of entering the field of science. Until someone told her she couldn’t.
“My first day of my high school physics class, the teacher said something about how only the boys were going to succeed in the class and none of us girls were going to be able to finish the class,” Stevens said. “I didn’t realize it at the time, but as I got older and was able to look back, it was in that moment that a scientist was born. Because I was going to prove him wrong.”
And prove him wrong she did. She went to work as a chemist for the United States Agriculture Department, and later, became a teacher herself. Now, when Stevens isn’t teaching at USD, she’s teaching at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall, Minnesota, where she and her family live.
Kandy Noles Stevens holds a homing pigeon outside her home in Marshall, Minnesota. Stevens commutes to Vermillion once a week to teach physical science for elementary in the School of Education. Lauren Soulek | The Volante
It’s also the place where, eleven years ago, tragedy struck them. On Feb. 19, 2008 at 3:25 p.m., on a highway north of Cottonwood, Minnesota, roughly 15 miles north of Marshall, a minivan blew through a stop sign and broadsided a school bus returning children home after a school day. The bus flipped on its side, and as a result, injured fourteen people and killed four.
Three of Steven’s four children were on the bus. Two of them survived. One did not.
“Out of that experience, I learned a lot about grief and grieving,” Stevens, whose daughter is now enrolled at SMSU and son at USD, said. “I was asked by a local pastor’s wife if I could share some of the things that the community did well to support my family and in areas that they could improve.”
From that, Stevens added ‘author’ to her list of titles. In “The Red Bird Sings the Song of Hope and Other Stories of Love,” published in 2016, she documents how those around her helped her family through the grief, and offers an idea of what grieving people wish others knew.
Before healing through words, though, she healed through birds — homer pigeons, to be exact.
As her second son endured surgeries from the wreck, he wanted to occupy his time with raising chickens. Because their community had strict laws behind raising farm animals in town, they instead raised pigeons.
“He had been through so much that it seemed like a crazy, whack-a-doodle thing at the time,” Stevens said. “It was a great way to do something productive and to give ourselves something to think about other than all of the negative things we were dealing with.”
Though a theory on why homing pigeons know how to navigate over vast distances, some scientists say they use earth’s magnetic field as a guide.
The pigeons provided a type of therapy for the family. Her son had a new getaway and Stevens, described as “nurturing” and “a mother figure” by Annaliese Howe, a third-year elementary education major, had new birds to nest and to learn from.
“Learning that life cycle and seeing the flight patterns and just the sound of them coming home, it’s really kind of a neat thing,” Stevens said.
Stevens has spoken nationally about her book and the process of overcoming grief. She’s also morphed the message into her own education by helping schools understand how trauma impacts students and student learning.
“Stay curious,” the mother, professor, scientist, student and pigeon-raiser tells them, “and don’t let anything stand in your way.”
“I think all of the things that I have done in life has been because I’ve been curious about something,” Stevens said. “That really is the hallmark of a true scientist, to be able to just have that natural wonder about the world and to always want to learn more.”
USD professor Kandy Noles Stevens talks the science behind homing pigeons. Lauren Soulek | The Volante
Pigeon fun facts:
When you see dove releases at weddings or funerals, they are actually white homing pigeons. Doves don’t know how to come home like pigeons do. This is what the Stevens family raises their pigeons for.
Pigeons were used to send messages back and forth from the field to headquarters in both of the World Wars. Multiple pigeons, including Blackie and GI Joe, were awarded medals of honor for their service.
Pigeons mate for life and can breed up to eight times a year, having two babies each time.
The pigeons you are probably most familiar with as bopping around town or hanging out on farms are called either barn pigeons or feral pigeons.
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Pigeon in New York City (file / credit: STAN HONDA/AFP/Getty Images)
EOGHAN MacCONNELL
HAND-REARED live pigeons were coated in poison, tethered to the ground and used to kill two wild buzzards near the Tipperary-Offaly border, according to BirdWatch Ireland.
BirdWatch volunteers were horrified to discover the two dead buzzard chicks beside three poisonous tethered pigeons near Roscrea.
BirdWatch Ireland Development Officer Niall Hatch said the banned insecticide Carbofuran used to kill the buzzards is so toxic “a quarter of a teaspoonful is enough to kill a fully grown adult”.
“There is a really serious public safety issue here as well,” he said, “whoever is responsible for planting the poison took a real risk themselves”. Had the pigeons been found by children who attempted to rescue them, “you could be reporting on an even worse story today,” he added.
No motive has yet been established. Buzzards eat rabbits, crows, magpies, rats and mice. They will occasionally feed on a dead lamb, but are incapable of killing a lamb, said Mr Hatch.
An indigenous bird, the buzzard was absent in Ireland from the late 19th century until 1933, when a pair bred in Co Antrim. The species has spread slowly down from the north through the 20th century and is now established in almost every county in Ireland.
BirdWatch Ireland say this was a particularly abhorrent incident.
The live hand-reared pigeons were tethered to the ground as bait, their bodies coated with poison and their wings clipped to prevent any chance of escape.
A day after the dead buzzards were found last month, another live, poison-coated pigeon was discovered tethered in the same area.
The buzzards’ nest in Roscrea was being monitored by two young volunteers from BirdWatch Ireland’s Raptor Conservation Project since early spring. They had been charting the progress of the three young buzzard chicks.
One volunteer said: “we had been watching them all summer and it was sickening to see them killed like that for no reason”.
The farmer on whose land the birds were nesting said: “they have not caused me or any of the other farmers in the area any problems whatsoever. I gave nobody permission to come on my land and lay down poison, and whoever did so was trespassing,” he said.
In October 2010, laws were passed making it illegal to use poison to kill birds or animals, with the exception of rats and mice.
An investigation has been launched and anyone with information is urged to contact the National Parks and Wildlife Service on 057 91 37811 or Birr Garda station on 057 91 69710.
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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Kandy Noles Stevens holds a homing pigeon outside her home in Marshall, Minnesota. Stevens commutes to Vermillion once a week to teach physical science for elementary in the School of Education. Lauren Soulek | The Volante
Though a theory on why homing pigeons know how to navigate over vast distances, some scientists say they use earth’s magnetic field as a guide.
