Sussex Police have arrested two people for criminal damage offences.
Police received reports of two people near Railway Approach, East Grinstead, on Tuesday 13 March allegedly shooting pigeons on the roof with catapults. Officers attended the scene and arrested both suspects.
A 21-year-old man of no fixed address was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, possession of an offensive weapon in a public place, conspiracy to destroy or damage a property and having an article with intent to destroy or damage property.
A 17-year-old boy of Edenbridge, Kent, was arrested on suspicion of criminal damage, conspiracy to destroy or damage a property and having an article with intent to destroy or damage property.
Both have been released under investigation and the investigation continues.
Anyone with information is asked to report online or call 101 quoting reference Operation Compound.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The days of Redruth residents being aerially bombarded by pooing pigeons are now over after a ‘humane’ solution was found.
Last year it was reported that one fed-up resident complained how the pooing birds were putting lives at risk.
The Bond Street Railway Bridge, adjacent to Alma Place, has been a popular nesting place for pigeons for a number of years and the birds living there could regularly be seen splattering the pavement below and those who dared walk by.
A local man, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “They nest under the bridge and poo on the pavement, street signs and pedestrian crossing push buttons.
“People are at risk of health from infection from the faeces and, in wet weather, slipping on the pigeon mess, which is slippery, and they could end up in the road and run over by passing traffic.
“So the situation is not being dealt with and only the road sweeper cleans the pavement on odd occasions.”
However it now appears a solution has finally been found, according to Redruth town councillor Mike Chappell.
He posted on his Facebook page: “RAILWAY BRIDGE PIGEON PROBLEM FINALLY SOLVED!
“The railway bridge over Bond Street, Redruth, at its junction with Station Hill, is finally clear of pigeons and the mess they make on the pavements below following the completion of a programme of works to mesh off the underside of the bridge.
“Major cleaning has been required down the years in order to ensure public safety on the pavements.
“This humane way of dealing with a longstanding environmental and public health issue followed receipt of many complaints from the public and subsequent inter agency work between Redruth Town Council, Network Rail and the Highways Department with Redruth Town Council part financing the work.”
Town and Cornwall councillor Barbara Ellenbroek said previously that following town council discussions, Network Rail revealed that it felt the issue wasn’t a health hazard and therefore if Redruth Town Council wanted to do anything it would cost in the region of £10,000 due to associated road closures.
However despite the previous concerns it appears that the issue has now been resolved.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Video footage showing dozens of pigeons lying dead on the ground and others limping was released Friday by an animal rights group that secretly filmed members of the Alabama Forestry Association taking part in a live pigeon shoot.
The video, which was shot legally from a drone, shows a man taking pigeons from a cage and throwing them into the air as participants circled the field waiting to shoot. Footage taken from the ground after the event was over shows close ups of pigeons limping, crawling, as well as many dead.
“We rescued as many as we could before nightfall,” said Steve Hindi, president and founder of Showing Animals Respect & Kindness (SHARK), an animal rights group based in Illinois. “It was heartbreaking to leave knowing so many more were out there suffering. These birds are not eaten. The wounded are left to die slow, painful deaths from their wounds, predation or starvation.”
“The people from the Alabama Forestry Association aren’t hunters – they’re sociopaths,” added Hindi.
The Alabama Forestry Association, which is an education and lobbying group, did not respond to messages from AL.com asking for comment.
D.J. Schubert, a wildlife biologist at the Animal Wildlife Institute in Washington D.C., said that in these types of shoots, that have no meaningful purpose, the pigeons often experience excruciating deaths after being wounded. “Many die from infection in the worst way,” said Schubert, who used to protest live pigeon shoots in Pennsylvania. “Hunters should be worried about their image because they look like thugs. Killing defenseless animals from close range for sport is not a good look.”
SHARK first heard about the pigeon shoot after a flier was given to them advertising the event, which was aimed at raising money for the Alabama Forestry Foundation, which is the education arm of the association. Tickets cost up to $1,000 a person.
SHARK collected the pigeons from the field in West Mobile and left them on land at the Alabama Forestry Association. It’s unclear what happened to then after that.
While there are a many Alabama laws that deal with cruelty against animals, it appears as if pigeon shooting is not illegal. There are also no federal laws that prohibit pigeon shooting. There are some laws that prohibit the killing of birds, but pigeons are exempt.
“Our argument, however, is that this does violate common decency as it causes extreme cruelty to living beings and is killing just for the sake of killing,” said Hindi. “If it isn’t illegal, it certainly should be.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
It turns out, Rick Leimann wasn’t just driving through the water for the fun of it. He wasn’t shouting “wahoo!” as he took his truck off road. He was desperately trying to save his 300 exotic pigeons from the rising flood.
“I know in my brains…that I didn’t do the right thing,” Leimann said. “But in my heart, I did the right thing because I had to get to my birds.”
Leimann keeps four breeds of exotic pigeons. He enters them in contests similar to dog and cat shows, but for pigeons. He even judges international shows for one Indian breed he’s had particular success with over the years. With another breed, Leimann has worked for 20 years to create a color he said is unique to his pigeons. Leimann’s pigeons aren’t just any old birds. After he took an interest in his neighbor’s pigeons as a boy, he said his parents bought him a pair of exotic pigeons as a confirmation gift when he was 13. He’s been raising and breeding exotic show pigeons ever since, for 41 years.
“If the water got in here, I couldn’t replace the breed I have. That’s why I had to get in here,” Leimann said. “Besides, I love them as my kids. They’re living animals, and I would sacrifice myself for my animals.”
While Leimann enjoys keeping the exotic pigeons as a hobby, he acknowledged it can look like a business, too. Buyers from the Middle East or China are sometimes willing to pay thousands of dollars for a show-winning bird. Leimann said he once sold a Grand National winner for $10,000.
Leimann was working on another sale Sunday morning as the flood waters rose. He’d been out at his Sayler Park boathouse (he owns a boat service business) checking on things at about 7 a.m. When he left, he estimated there was a foot or so of water on the road. No problem for his Ford F-150 pickup truck with 20 inch tires.
But Leimann lost track of the time. He ate breakfast while negotiating a pigeon sale. He had picked out some birds for a Chinese buyer while judging a show in Bahrain. Two or three hours went by. The Ohio River was just a few hours away from cresting at its highest point since 1997. When Leimann returned to the boathouse, the water had risen several more feet.
Leimann was worried about his birds. He wanted to move them upstairs. He didn’t realize how much deeper the water had gotten, he said.
“I thought I’d be all right,” he said.
At first, briefly, it was all right. But as the water rose higher and higher around the truck, Leimann figured it was already too late to stop. The water was coming over the hood. He pressed the gas in an effort to push through, but then the truck hit a boat trailer that was hidden under the murky water. It blew one of his tires and stopped the truck’s forward momentum.
“What made me realize I really messed up here is that, when the truck stopped, I’m bouncing, I’m floating like a piece of Styrofoam,” he said. “And water started coming in. I’m looking around the truck like, ‘What to do?'”
The truck was dead. Water was pooling around Leimann’s feet. He couldn’t get the door open.
“I’m sitting here and I’m looking around and I’m thinking, ‘Try to focus. Don’t panic,'” he said.
But the water continued to rise in the truck. Luckily, the window was open. When the water was up to his lap, Leimann took off his shoes (his grandpa taught him they’d weigh him down swimming), put his wallet in his mouth and slipped feet-first out the window.
Outside, Leimann clung to the door. The 6-foot-3 man was in chest-deep water. He could feel the current pulling the truck toward the harbor.
“When I came out I thought, ‘Man, I’m really in trouble,'” he said.
Leimann tried to pull the truck forward onto the dry land, but it wouldn’t budge. Soaking wet and barefoot, he ran for his Bobcat and an anchor rope. He tried to tow the truck with the Bobcat, and was able to pull the truck over the trailer. But a utility pole was in the way. He tied the other end of the rope to his gate and went inside to check on his birds and dry off.
“It scared me,” Leimann said. “I’ll never drive through the water again.”
After crossing and warming up, Leimann was able to secure his birds and his customers’ boats. When the water receded, his truck was still there, but it was totaled.
As a reminder, Cincinnati police have repeatedly warned to avoid flooded roads. According to the National Weather Service, 6 inches of fast-moving flood water can knock over a full-grown person. A foot of rushing water can carry away a small car, and 2 feet of water can float almost any SUV or pickup truck.
Leimann said he knew it was a dumb thing to do, but he’d do it again to save his birds.
“I love them like they’re my kids.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Have you ever been to Patan Durbar Square during morning hours? If you have, you must have noticed huge flocks of pigeons enjoying seeds offered by denizens of Patan and visitors. There are several positive aspects to it but more recently it is increasingly becoming an issue of public health, a nuisance and something that seriously warrants our attention. In this article I’m going to analyze pigeon feeding from different aspects. Analyzing something that is closely related to human behavior and recommending changes to such behaviors could be controversial but it is always rational to analyze and come up with a conclusion to contribute to wellbeing of the city, its landscape and people.
Cultural sides
Feeding birds has become a routine practice to many people in Nepal, especially in Kathmandu Valley. This behavior is inspired by culture and religion, mostly Hinduism and Buddhism that has altruism at its center and driven by the notion that human beings are most superior and hence caretaker of planet and its beings. Thus the practice is connected with different customs in Nepali culture. It is a dedicated routine of visitors in different temples like Krishna temple, Sankata, Mahankal, Indrayani, Kal Bharav and several other holy places.
Feeding birds has great psychological advantage. You feel connected to nature and it makes you feel happy. It is like a psychotherapy session for feeder and it helps them relieve stress. There is no specific data to quantify this, but it has definitely helped in maintaining a healthy psychological demeanor in people.
Health hazards
There are several public health related issues that need to be carefully analyzed. The droppings of pigeon are connected to several zoonosis that mostly affect people with weak immunity and patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, cancer and pneumonia. Three major diseases are associated with pigeon feces: histoplasmosis (an illness caused by fungus that grows on pigeon droppings), psittacosiss (caused by bacteria found in droppings of pigeon and other birds) and cryptococcosis (a respiratory ailment caused by a fungus that grows and is found in pigeon droppings). Since most of these diseases afflict a small fraction of people (the ones with very weak immunity), it remains overlooked. Although there are no researches on number of pigeons in Kathmandu Valley, there has been noticeable increment in their population in the recent times.
In many countries pigeons in urban settings are considered as feral and source of health hazards. Several cities have banned bird feeding. Singapore, for example, fines whooping 500$ if you are found guilty of feeding birds. One of the major reasons for taking legal action against bird feeders is that it is very difficult to control birds since they are air borne the only way we can control their movements is by modifying our behavior.
Kathmandu valley is known for its ancient architectures but they are not well taken care of. Apart from earthquakes that caused severe damage to historical structures and buildings, the feces of pigeons are reducing the beauty of these artifacts. Pigeon droppings are acidic in nature and our ancient monuments that are mostly built of stones are subject to some serious and irreversible damage from this. It is also accelerating process of soiling (accumulation of soil) in the very complex artistic stone carvings, which in turn support vegetation on the top of the monuments. All this will cause severe damage to these monuments.
Feed them less
It is our duty to help make city more habitable. Limiting bird population is in hands of people of Kathmandu valley. We should start feeding them less often and feed lesser amount. Let them search their food on their own. Mother Nature has given them skills to do so. The abundance of food and shelter are major reason behind increment in their number. They can breed year round and hence their population keeps increasing.
While designing house we should not leave enough platforms and spaces where these birds can reside and breed. We can also use spikes or other means to avoid them in certain areas. Reducing the amount of food and removing shelter ground for these birds can help limit their population. Durbar Square management committees and temple management committees can also play an important role. Feeding pigeons is part of our culture but it warrants serious attention from people of Kathmandu Valley.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius) once numbered between 3 and 5 billion and may have formed up to 40 % of North America’s total bird population. In fact, in the mid to late 19th century, passenger pigeons were so numerous that explorers and settlers of the time wrote of infinite multitudes taking hours to fly overhead. But by 1914, there wasn’t a single bird left. How did this species go from being one of the world’s most abundant birds to extinction in just 50 years?
It’s all in the genes
It had been generally accepted, based on earlier studies, that widely fluctuating population numbers led to low genetic diversity in the passenger pigeon and played a role in its rapid extinction. However, a recent paper published in the journal ‘Science’ contradicts these findings.
A team of researchers, one of whom drew on work carried out under the EU-funded GENETIME project, have analysed 41 mitochondrial genomes and 4 nuclear genomes from passenger pigeons. Data obtained from the species’ mitochondrial genome confirmed that the bird’s genetic diversity was indeed low given its population size. But a closer look at the entire genome yielded surprising results. Genetic variations didn’t occur evenly all along the chromosomes as the scientists had expected to find. Instead, the middle regions had low diversity and the edges higher levels. This is likely because of strong genetic selection throughout the bird’s history.
Further analyses also ruled out demographic fluctuations and showed that population numbers had actually been stable for the past 20 000 years. Having eliminated population instability as a possible reason for the species’ overall low genetic diversity, the scientists turned to natural selection. To investigate the impact of natural selection on the passenger pigeon, the team compared the bird’s genome with that of its close relative, the band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata). Given that the latter’s only true difference from the passenger pigeon is its significantly smaller population size, the scientists could use these comparisons to determine the evolutionary consequences of a big population.
The fate of the passenger pigeon
Through natural selection, the passenger pigeon evolved genetic traits that would help it survive as a species as long as its population was large. In fact, the bird’s considerable numbers seem to have helped it to remove harmful mutations from its genetic make-up much more quickly. This led to a significant loss of genetic diversity.
Had the changes to its environment been gradual, the passenger pigeon would have been able to adapt. However, low genetic diversity made survival more difficult with the mass slaughter that ensued when the European colonists began to hunt it for commercial reasons. So, ultimately, it was humankind’s unchecked hunting practices that tolled the death knell for this now extinct bird.
The GENETIME (GENETIME: An interdisciplinary training site in Ancient Biomolecules) project studied the molecules of ancient organisms in order to provide insight into the histories of both extinct and living species. The work done during the project’s lifetime is still shining a light on the processes of extinction, revealing that a sudden environmental change may bring about the extinction even of species with large and stable population sizes.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The historic pavilion housed at the Gawler Sport and Community Centre is temporarily closed to enable the ceiling to be replaced and repair work to be undertaken in the roof cavity.
This unplanned repair work is a result of a recommendation from a contractor engaged by Gawler council to inspect the roof cavity after council staff noticed pigeons causing damage to the pavilion’s ceiling.
“Council’s contractor undertook a detailed site assessment, including cutting entrance holes into the roof cavity and entering via an elevated work platform,” Mayor Redman said.
“This assessment uncovered a high level of contamination due to pigeons roosting in the roof cavity that needs to be appropriately treated.”
The contractor’s recommendation calls for the removal of the suspended ceiling, closing all points of pigeon entry, stabilisation of the roof and ceiling structure generally and reinstatement of a false ceiling.
The pavilion, which was built in 1881, is one of council’s oldest buildings and is a local heritage listed building.
The removal of the ceiling sheets will require specialist treatment associated with the age and condition of the ceiling materials.
“Although this closure will be frustrating for users of the pavilion, the Gawler Central Sporting Association and Council Staff, it is necessary to ensure a safe environment for patrons of the Gawler Sport and Community Centre and our community,” Mrs Redman said.
Council is currently working with the various community groups who have had access to the hall for their many varied activities.
Of the nine groups impacted by this temporary closure, five have already been provided alternate accommodation options.
Council will continue to work with the remaining four groups to find alternate options to minimise the impacts of this temporary closure.
The work is expected to take about six weeks and is funded from within council’s existing facility maintenance budgets.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The first time I gave any thought to the term was when I watched some of the great old film noir movies about gangsters. It seemed like almost every gang was victimized by one.
I am referring here to that old nemesis of crime, the “stool pigeon.”
The first “stool pigeons” were literally that. In the early days of colonization here and prior to that in England, pigeons were a source of meat (tastes like chicken).
Pigeons by nature are not very large birds. If you shoot one anywhere but in the head, you’ve spoiled the good eating portions — trust me on this one, I know from experience on the farms.
Hunters noted that pigeons are not the sharpest birds going and that they would tend to fly down and check out another of their species. Thus, the clever hunter would use a captured pigeon, usually tethered to a stool or perch as a decoy to lure his wild cousins into range of a net or snare.
This technique came into prominence in the early 1800s when a form of it, “stool-crow,” was used in 1811 as a version of “decoy.”
This came into common usage as “stool pigeon” (crows were not tasty, scratch the “four-and-twenty blackbirds” pie thing) so “stool pigeon” replaced that term.
By 1830, “stool pigeon” had entered the slanguage as a means to describe a criminal who was used as a decoy or informant by the police to capture other criminals.
The term is considered an Americanism although it may have been originally derived from the Old English word “stale,” meaning “a living bird used to catch others of the same species.”
Unfortunately, the use of “stool pigeons” may have led to the extinction of species like the passenger pigeon due to “flock shooting” with large fowling pieces.
Setting all that aside, I derived a certain amount of pleasure from seeing a tough guy gangster played by someone such as James Cagney or Edward G. Robinson snarl about a “stool pigeon” in the gang.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
According to El Nuevo Herald, living conditions at the Vista Hermosa prison in Bolivar – a Venezuela state – are so poor, some inmates are falling sick from eating raw rat meat. 41-year-old Alejandro Manuel Mago Coraspe was taken to hospital last week after eating dead rats he found in the rubbish.
“We cooked them, but they were still raw,” Mago told NGO Window to Liberty. “We at them anyway. I think they were poisonous and that’s why I fell ill. I normally kill them myself.”
He revealed to the non-government organisation that he regularly eats rodents out of “need and hunger”. Mago is serving eight months in the prison after attempting to steal a car. Doctors said he is suffering from malnutrition and inflammation in his legs.
He underwent surgery to remove an obstruction from his intenstines at the Ruiz y Paez Hospital in Ciudad Bolivar. The bones and cartilage of the rats had “obstructed his intestines”.
Mago’s family has in the past brought him food to survive on however they live five hours away by car and cannot visit regularly.
In May last year, a Venezuelan NGO accused the Venezuelan government of feeding inmates raw pasta with feces. Reported by Breitbart.com, “at least 15 prisoners said they were forced to eat raw pasta with human excrement (the agents had applied power used to make tear gas on their noses, forcing them to open their mouths to ingest”.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
This is the hilarious moment a young toddler girl in central China teaches a pigeon a lesson for stealing food.
Mobile phone footage shows a white bird landing on a mother’s hand and pecking on a bag of snacks. A toddler girl can be seen grabbing the pigeon’s neck and taking the food back.
The mother was shocked as the girl put the snack straight into her mouth after.
This is the first time the one-year-old toddler feeding pigeons at a plaza in central China (left). A pigeon landed on her mother’s hand and ready to take the snacks from the bag (right)
The scene was captured at a plaza in Puyang, Henen Province on February 24 when a mother took her daughter to feed the pigeons.
‘It’s her first time feeding pigeons. There were a lot of children at the plaza doing the same as well,’ the mother told Pear Video.
She did not expect her one-year-old daughter to grab a pigeon’s neck with bare hands.
Video shows the girl pulling the bird close to her before snatching the food from its mouth and ate it.
‘We are all shocked when she suddenly did that,’ said the mother.
Behave! The girl would not let the pigeon to eat her snacks and snatches it from the bird’s mouth (left). Quickly she puts the snack in her mouth and eats it straight (right)
The mother told the girl to ‘spit it out’ but it was too late and the girl had already swallowed it.
The video was widely shared among Chinese social media and later picked up on 9GAG and Imgur.com.
Web users commented that the toddler ‘is a savage’ with so much aggression at young age.
‘Pupuka’ joked: ‘Don’t mess with Yukuza!’
However, some web users worried that the girl might catch a bird flu.
‘This is how people get bird flu, she literally eats it from the bird’s mouth,’ said ‘shagoon’.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Local county councillor Caroline Page has warned that the swallows and house martins that have nested in the station buildings for generations have been forced out by its redecoration and the installation of anti-pigeon measures like metal spikes and netting in the roof.
She said the swallows’ nests had been removed during the redecoration of the station and their departure had prompted the pigeons to move in.
She added: “It’s really sad and actually something needs to be done and it needs to be done now. In 160 years I don’t think they (the swallows and martins) have caused any damage.
“It’s a natural joy that is being taken away from us. It must be done at once. The birds are flying back from Africa now.”
She said the sight of the swallows and martins swooping over the station during the spring and summer was a real bonus for rail passengers – and feared their departure would be missed by many rail users.
Bird experts doubt that the disappearance of the swallows led pigeons to colonise the station – saying the species can co-exist quite happily. However they also doubt the effectiveness of anti-pigeon measures.
A spokeswoman for Greater Anglia, which operates the station, said they were working with the RSPB and local wildlife groups to make the station more attractive songbirds and species like swallows, martins, and swifts.
She said: “We are planning to put up bird boxes and if there are nests we can install for swallows and martins we will do that – we are looking at changing the netting so they can use the station.
“But we have to do something about the pigeons. We have had an infestation of the birds and their droppings are very unpleasant.
“Not only do they look and smell very nasty, they are unhygenic and they are very acidic so they can cause considerable damage to the fabric of the station that has only recently been redecorated.
“We have to do something to reduce the problems they cause.”
Greater Anglia supplied pictures showing the mess that had been left on station furniture and equipment – and said it was impossible to keep it clean all the time.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
LOS ALTOS — From the street, you’d never know what was hidden behind the tall fences and lush foliage of a large suburban Los Altos home. After walking through the garden gate, though, you know that Pandemonium Aviaries comes by its name naturally.
Amadeus, the one-legged Amazon Parrot, sings hello. Olivia and Ferguson, big ostrich-like birds called East African crowned cranes, screech a racket. African Greys, macaws, parakeets, rare doves and fancy pigeons each call out in their own language, above the rhythm of hundreds of fluttering wings.
Michele Raffin — a Stanford Business School graduate, entrepreneur, writer and stay-at-home mom — never intended to become a self-described “crazy bird lady.” Twenty-two years ago, she opened up her backyard to rescued birds. Her mission pivoted toward endangered bird conservation and breeding.
“The birds changed me,” Raffin said. In the business world, she said, there’s much pushing and striving. The birds have shown her that it’s more important to connect and help others. “Who I was as a person became more important than external achievements.”
Now, she’s looking for the next generation of stewards to offer a new home for her flock of nearly 400 birds.
Shortly after, she responded to an ad seeking a home for another white dove, then found herself with a half dozen.It all started with an injured white dove — the type released at weddings — discovered on the side of a road. Raffin wasn’t sure she even liked birds, but she doesn’t want any animal to suffer. Thinking it had been hit by a car, she took it to the vet and visited the bird every day until it succumbed to its wounds, which she learned had been inflicted by a hungry hawk.
Raffin didn’t know the first thing about birds, so she met people who could teach her. She befriended a bird breeder in Sebastopol, who gave her some birds that needed a home. At his Christmas party, she met a whole brood of elite breeders and birders. Later, Raffin went to zoo school in West Virginia to learn what she could about bird husbandry.
Her goal was to take in birds that nobody wanted, find them mates, and provide species-appropriate housing. Housed as pairs or flocks, they’re never isolated. “Who wants to be all alone?” Raffin asks.
The death of a female green-naped pheasant pigeon led to an epiphany: The urgent need to restore populations. The bird’s mate started crying and wouldn’t stop, yet when Raffin tried to find him a new companion, she discovered that there were only 32 birds, worldwide, left in captivity. Tribal feuds and land rights issues make it too difficult to initiate conservation in their native New Guinea.
“I had no idea there were so few left,” she said.
Raffin already had a number of these colorful pigeons given to her by zoos, breeders, agricultural societies, and fish and game conserves. So she decided to use them to build a species “bank” — like a crop seed bank — to ensure that there was enough genetic diversity to support a healthy population. If the species became extinct in the wild, these captive-bred birds could help restore it, she dreamed.
In 2009, Pandemonium Aviaries stopped taking in strays and converted to a nonprofit devoted to conservation-driven breeding. It specializes in six species of endangered birds from New Guinea and the Philippines.
Her project has successfully bred birds even after they’ve been pets, and it has shown that captive birds can raise their own.And those green-naped pheasant pigeons? After solving some challenges, Pandemonium now has the largest flock in the world — four generations, with 14 distinct bloodlines. They thrive under Raffin’s care.
But the achievement hasn’t come easy. It takes four hours a day to feed the birds. Pandemonium depends on major donors like Whole Foods and Costco to provide outdated produce. The food — strawberries, blueberries and papaya — must be sorted and chopped, then doled out with seeds and grains, so each flock gets its ideal diet.
Raffin doesn’t treat them as pets, preferring to retain the birds’ knowledge, culture and integrity. A sign in the aviary reads: “You were wild once; don’t let them tame you.”
Carol Stanley, president of the Avicultural Society of America, said Raffin “has brought awareness of the plight of the birds in the wild to the public.”
“Michele Raffin has put her heart and soul into increasing numbers in the endangered species she works with at Pandemonium Aviaries,” Stanley said. “She is focused, tireless and steadfast in Pandemonium’s mission.”
But Raffin never expected to house the birds this long. She had hoped to reintroduce them back into their native environment in New Guinea but it has been mostly destroyed by mining and agriculture.
It’s not the ideal way to conserve, she knows. In the past, breeders tried to establish colonies in their native habitats. But Raffin’s birds were destined to be pets or zoo animals, which is why she created a U.S.-based conservation. And it worked.
Although New Guinea is not safe for her pigeons now, Raffin is confident the nation will someday discover ecotourism, and native habitats will improve.
Her dream is to someday see them fly in the wild.But, until then, they need to go somewhere, she says — somewhere with lots of room to fly. Her organization is seeking corporate or institutional sponsors to continue the conservation effort, preferably someplace warm like southern California or Puerto Rico, where solar panels and heat lamps wouldn’t be needed.
The Amazon Parrot in her native Puerto Rico offers inspiration: Its numbers plummeted to just 13 in 1975 after decades of forest clearing, but have since rebounded after captive breeding and release.
“People do want to protect animals,” Raffin said, “but the best way to do that is to protect their habitat, the environment.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
There was a time when photographer Nicolas Tanner could comfortably say he knew very little about pigeons.
“My knowledge of pigeons was from the [HBO] show The Wire,” he said in an interview.
But that changed in the spring of 2011 when Tanner spent a month with a group of pigeon racers in coastal Maine.
“You meet these guys, and you’re meeting their friends, and all of sudden you’re involved in this community that is welcoming because they love what they do,” he said.
“I definitely did not expect to find the sort of community I did. It was very … cute. Not in a pejorative sense, just in a really … in the way they care for each other and the birds.”
The pigeon racers are part of the Biddeford Racing Club. They are a small group of older men who had spent their lives working outdoors all around Maine. They had grown up racing pigeons, attending bird auctions, and raising the birds in backyard coops.
The men Tanner met were rugged in the sense that working outdoors weathers the skin. But they showed incredible, and surprising, tenderness when it came to their birds.
Tanner spent a lot of time with a man named Marcel Letellier, who, nearing 80, was the oldest member of the Biddeford Racing Club. Letellier’s backyard was dotted by three small coops that, to Tanner, were filled with the same brownish-beige birds. But to Letellier, each was distinct.
“He had names for every single bird in his coop,” he said. “He was very closely connected to the inner and outer lives of the birds. He knew which bird was about to give birth and how to handle tiny chicks.”
“Visually that struck me — the juxtaposition between really weathered hands and burly looking men and watching them handle these shiny, often very beautiful, delicate-seeming creatures. And … they’re cooing [to the birds.]”
Pigeon racing relies on the natural abilities of the Racing Homer — a breed of domestic pigeon that has speed and enhanced homing instincts compared to other domestic pigeons. Training begins as soon as the bird is weaned and can fend for itself — about a month after hatching. When the birds are young they are exercised daily within the coop. But as they grow more familiar with their surroundings, they are given a longer and longer leash to fly away from the coop and return home.
For races, competing birds are tagged and taken to a location between 60 miles and more than 1,000 miles away from home. The birds are released from the same location and are supposed to fly back to their various coops. The time and distance are recorded and the fastest bird is declared the winner.
The sport dates back to the late 1800s, after homing pigeons were imported from Europe. The first official racing club was formed in 1872, with the larger umbrella organization — the Federation of Homing Pigeon Fanciers of America — following in 1886. Through the early 1900s, newspapers and monthly magazines dedicated exclusively to the sport sprung up to meet demand.
But between increasing restrictions on the keeping of pigeons and the fading interests of younger generations to take it on, the sport of pigeon racing is a dying tradition. And the Biddeford Racing Club is no different. In 1965, the club had 250 members. Today, just 35 members race their birds every Sunday from May through September.
Tanner got the chance to watch several Sunday race days. On one of those days, all the birds were trucked up to a location 150 miles away and released at dawn. The distance was short enough that the owners stayed at home. Some gathered together on one lawn, others waited dutifully by their own coop, but all keep their eyes to the skies anxiously scanning for the first set of wings.
When Tanner asked Jim Peck, one of the Biddeford racers, what he thought made the birds find their way home, he admitted he didn’t know. “They just want to come home,” Peck told Tanner. “Just loyal little creatures. That’s all.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A purple poppy symbolises all animals who have died during conflict.
To mark the day, a New Zealand War Animal Memorial was unveiled at the museum.
The project is the result of work by the Australian War Animal Memorial Organisation, AWAMO which was set up to honour the animals that served alongside New Zealand and Australian troops abroad.
Since the New Zealand Wars, and through to WW1 and beyond, animals have played a major part helping service men and women.
These include horses, donkeys, camels, dogs, pigeons, the occasional cat and even glow-worms, which were used as a light-source in the tunnels of Arras in the WW1.
The head of AWAMO, New Zealander Nigel Allsopp, said while the focus was often on the cavalry horse, other animals have also played their part.
“The heavy horse like mules, donkeys and Clydesdales carried all the equipment up to the front-line and carried the wounded back”.
He said the pigeons carried messages to make the attacks possible.
Mr Allsopp said one pigeon in the First World War was shot and wounded and fell to the ground, where it was gassed and then wounded by shrapnel from a grenade, but that did not stop it.
“The pigeon was still able to walk the three kilometres back to headquarters to deliver its message and where it died in its handlers arms.”
Of all the animals that served, it is the dog that is still the most active in a modern military.
A New Zealand War Animal Memorial was unveiled at the National Army Museum in Waiouru. Photo: RNZ / Andrew McRae
During the First World War canines were used as messengers and for taking medical supplies out to the wounded in no-mans land.
Nowadays, they are used for security and tracking, but also as explosive sniffing dogs, which New Zealand troops used in Afghanistan.
Alan Inkpen is the Working Dog Capability Manager (Land) for the New Zealand Defence Force.
He said it had been proven that the work dogs do, can not really be replicated by technology and explosive detection dogs were a prime example.
“To try and find the amount of target odours the dog can find you would need almost one piece of equipment each time to find that.”
Mr Inkpen said the most important thing about military working dogs was to reduce the risk to human-life.
It is estimated that in the First World War alone, about nine million animals serving in the military died.
Birds had an important role in war, carrying messages. Photo: Supplied – NZ National Army Museum
Nigel Allsopp said the time was right to mark their sacrifice.
“We obviously never forget the sacrifices of our two-legged heroes, our soldiers, however, it’s time to perhaps to just pause of thought that also four-legged soldiers served.”
He said the animals were not volunteers and were drafted.
“It’s just a way to acknowledge how they helped us.”
The National Animal Memorial at Waiouru is sculptured by American, Susan Bahary, who attended Saturday’s unveiling.
The National Army Museum plans to commemorate Purple Poppy Day each February 24th and it hopes the idea will catch on nation-wide.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Maned, or Nicobar, pigeon (lat. Caloenas nicobarica) is one of the most beautiful representatives of the family columbidae, and the last survivor in the same kind of Barbary doves. His business card – the sparkling emerald and azure necklace of long feathers that form around the neck something like a multi-colored mantle.
In the most favorable light, his plumage looks under the bright sun, shimmering with all the colors of the rainbow. In the shadows, the colors become more subdued, giving the bird more grey everyday.
Homeland ruffed pigeons – small Islands East of India: from the Nicobar and Andaman to the Solomon Islands and New Guinea.
They live in small flocks or in pairs in the jungle, giving preference to the uninhabited Islands of Malaysia, Cambodia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines. A solitary life on a remote island, where it had virtually no natural enemies, has left its mark on the appearance of the Barbary dove.
This heavy, weighing up to six hundred grams of poultry, growing almost forty centimeters in length, not very fond of flying. And although flocks of pigeons ruffed can often be seen plying between the Islands in search of food, most of the time they spend on the ground.
Nature has given these birds a powerful, sturdy legs, outstanding experienced walkers. Only danger can make ruffed pigeon to leave familiar ground and seek refuge in the branches of trees. During the day, gathering in flocks of several dozen individuals, ruffed pigeons fly from one island to another, leaving their attention and mainland Southeast Asia in search of seeds, berries, fruits, nuts and insects.
A special device stomach allows them to digest the nuts from the shell is so strong that to break it with a hammer.
Unlike other species, the Nicobar pigeons fly with columns, and to navigate in the pack, they help the white tails serving as a kind of beacon for flying back. With the beginning of the breeding season, ruffed pigeons fly into one of the outlying uninhabited Islands covered with dense tropical vegetation.
Like most doves, they are monogamous and choose one mate for life. But a longtime acquaintance does not exclude courtship and mating dance that can last for several days.
The basis of the wedding ceremony, all kinds of bows with bright tints lifted up the mantle. After the official part, the time of mating – the male selects a suitable nest location a few meters from the ground and collects firewood from which the female builds comfortable and stable nest. Delayed egg hatch both parents take turns every two weeks. Hatched Chicks are weak and helpless, and are under guardianship of adults for the first three months of his life.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
Manchester Airport’s £1bn revamp is aimed at making life easier for passengers – but the construction project has attracted some unwelcome visitors.
According to the airfield’s wildlife team, the demolition phase of the Terminal Two transformation attracted ‘feral pigeons’ in search of food among the rubble.
This has meant extra work for the ‘bird scarers’ whose job is to prevent bird strikes on aircraft.
Anthony Clarke, wildlife control manager at Manchester Airport , said: “Part of our job is to look at what’s going on in the environment around the aifield, on areas such as buildng sites. The demolition of Terminal Two created a big dinner plate for birds.
“The first few metres of top soil on a site like that are a good food source. This attracted feral pigeons. It’s something we’ve had prior experience in and it’s petered out now because the buildings are going up now.”
Bird scaring is one of the many jobs carried out by the environmental team at Manchester Airport.
Officers take it in turn to be ‘scarecrows’ and use a number of techniques to get the job done.
These include blasting bird ‘distress calls’ from speakers to encourage birds to move away.
There’s also a long grass policy – with a length of between seven to 10 inches said to deter birdlife.
The team also analyse data to spot trends to help them fight the flocks – sometimes firing flares into the air as a deterrent. But sometimes the more traditional shouting and hand-waving is all it takes.
The strangest wildlife sighting for Anthony was a pink flamingo.
“I got that phone call on a Sunday evening, that was a surprise, it was night time on Terminal Two and we had to use a police thermal imaging camera to track it down”, he said.
Bird scaring is just one part of the vital work of Manchester’s airfield officers – who handle aircraft marshalling, safety audits, runway inspections and more.
“I don’t think passengers fully realise all we do to keep the runways safe. And I think it’s only with incidents like the bird strike on the Hudson River that people think about it”, Anthony said.
“We’ve got a good team on the airfield”, he added. “I feel lucky in that my job isn’t tied to the airfield – it’s about 13.5km around it too. We investigate planning applications – if anyone’s building a golf course – for example.”
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The illegal Kabutarkhana (feeding place for pigeons) erected by real estate tycoon and local BJP MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha using his MLA fund, was demolished by the Collector of Mumbai Sampada Mehta, on Friday morning.
The kabutarkhana had become a major bone of contention between the Shiv Sena and the BJP. This was the second time the kabutarkhana was demolished, earlier the BMC had demolished it in October. However, this time the Collector office got involved as the seashore where it was constructed falls on collector land.
However, the demolition didn’t go well with Lodha, who protested outside the office of the Mehta, along with his supporters. He claimed that kabutarkhana was constructed in 2005 with all required permissions. However, debunking Lodha’s claim, Local Member of Parliament of South Mumbai, Arvind Sawant said, “Lodha is lying, there can be no kabutarkhana construction on the seashore, and Lodha is trying to give it a political colour for his wrongdoing. The action is collector is appropriate and hence the kabutarkhana was demolished today.”
The report of superintendent of City Survey and Land Records, Mahesh Ingale, filed in the High Court further proves that the structure was illegal, “On the direction of the collector, the deputy collector encroachment issued a notice dated February 17, under section 53 of the Maharashtra Land Revenue Code and a hearing was given to the concerned parties, following which the said structure has been removed.” says the submission.
Meanwhile, the issue also came up in the High Court, where the petitioners for Adarsh Chowpatty Pragati Mandal, which is the High Court appointed committee also raised the issue of illegal Kabutarkhana and mentioned that, how it posed a health hazard for visitors and locals.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
The locked house of Jheurheri sarpanch Gurpal Singh in Mohali. (Express Photo) The locked house of Jheurheri sarpanch Gurpal Singh in Mohali. (Express Photo)
Kabootran wala sarpanch (sarpanch who keeps pigeons) is how 32-year-old Gurpal Singh, the sarpanch of Jheurheri village is identified when one asks for direction to his home near the international airport. Gurpal was booked by the Vigilance Bureau along with Mansa Additional Deputy Commissioner and two other officials for the land scam on Tuesday.
When Chandigarh Newsline visited Jheurheri village on Wednesday, Harpal’s house was locked. His neighbours said the family had left on Monday evening. Narata Singh, who lives close to Gurpal’s house, said the latter used to keep around 350 pigeons in specially designed cages. When one visited the place where the pigeons were kept, it was also locked.
“The entire village knows that Harpal Singh fed his pigeons with dry fruits. If you go inside the house, you will find packs of cashews and almonds. He owned around 25 acres in Patiala which he bought after his land was acquired for the airport. Harpal was a normal farmer. How can he keep costly pigeons and feed them costly stuff? He even installed CCTV cameras where he kept the pigeons,” wondered Narata.
Narata also said that recently Gurpal gifted four buffaloes, gold chain and a Royal Enfield bike to one of his masters, who taught him the art of training pigeons for competitions. “We came to know that he gifted all these items to one Ballu at Mauran village near Bhawanigarh in Patiala district. Gurpal bought the land in that area. He used to hold competitions of pigeons and spend money on such activities,” said Gurnaib Singh, one of the complainants in the case.
Gurnaib said Gurpal became sarpanch in 2013 and he always courted controversy for some reason or the other. “Gurpal once sold a small piece of land in the village in 2012. When the matter reached the police, I was the one who helped him. Since he was not the sarpanch, no case was registered against him,” he stated. Gurnaib informed that around 17.5 acres of land were owned by some farmers. Though the land was acquired for the airport, Gurpal got the compensation issued in the name of Bhag Singh and Kesar Singh.
“That money belonged to us. He cheated us following which we lodged a complaint against him and the accused officers in 2017. When we last lodged the complaint in 2016, nobody was ready to accept it. But, we are happy that these people have been booked finally,” he added.
Some of the panches were allegedly kept in the dark by Gurpal and his accomplices about the purchase of land in question. Somnath, one of the five panches, said Gurpal never discussed with them that the panchayat was going to buy land in other villages and added that they were never called to the meetings. “He came to me once and asked me to sign on a resolution. When I refused, he said he would lodge a complaint against me,” said Harinder Singh, another panch of the village.
Amarjeet Kaur, also a panch, said she was never told by Gurpal about any purchase of land. Gurpal, along with relatives Darshan Singh, Surinder Singh of Mulepur, Fatehgarh Sahib, and other accused Mohamad Sohel of Sector 79, Mohali, and Swarn Singh of Tiwana village in Fatehgarh Sahib are all on the run.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
No one disagrees with that assessment by Pine Island Mayor Rod Steele, but how the city deals with the issue is another matter.
Mary and Tom Bollman along with Nathan Tiarks, who own the buildings at 222 and 218 S. Main St., in Pine Island, asked the city council Tuesday to help them pay to get rid of the birds — a flock of pigeons — that roost on the buildings and foul the structures and the sidewalks below with their droppings.
“We had a few before,” said Mary Bollman, who owns a three-story building frequented by the birds. “But nothing like now.”
Bollman said the city should help the building owners because the problem with the pigeons grew worse around 2007 when road work and bridge replacement drove the birds into town.
“We can hardly keep after it,” she said, adding that the pigeon excrement has become a health hazard, requiring the city’s help. “You can slide right by our building sometimes, It’s really nasty.”
Bollman said she and her husband, along with Tiarks, engaged a pest-control expert to remove the birds for $970. The exterminator will trap the birds and poison the ones that can’t be trapped.
“We’ll take any support that we can get,” Bollman said.
Tiarks said the pigeons are creatures of habit, traveling back and forth between the downtown buildings and the city’s grain elevator. He said the goal is to get this group of pigeons out of the city and hope a new group doesn’t replace it anytime soon. “If we just push them down the block, does that really accomplish anything?” he asked.
The flock of about 25 birds leaves a big enough mess that he frequently shovels the excrement up from the sidewalks, Tiarks said.
Steele said the money is a small amount for the city.
“I know just about every city has some bird issues, but this is a precedent-setting decision,” he said. “We’re kind of locked into that forever.”
Steele asked the Bollmans if they thought it was good city policy to hand out money for pest-control issues.
“We wouldn’t have come to the council if we didn’t think it was a good idea,” Tom Bollman said. “I can go up on the roof and shoot ‘em, but I don’t think that’s legal.”
Mary Bollman said the request is similar to the one Rochester made to battle the crows downtown.
However, Steele said the difference was a large group of citizens bringing forward an issue in Rochester compared to two building owners asking for help in Pine Island.
“Where does all this stop?” he asked.
The council declined to make a contribution to the anti-pigeon efforts.
Tom Bollman said he and his wife, along with Tiarks, will pay for the removal of the birds, with or without the city’s help.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
A hungry hawk feasting on pigeons at the entrance of a Syracuse area bank has been upsetting the staff the past couple of weeks, a bank official said.
Joseph Mathlin, from the M &T Bank’s property management department at the bank’s DeWitt office, reached out to NYup.com recently seeking guidance on how to deal with a Cooper’s hawk “that’s using the entrance of our building as its cafeteria.”
Mathlin said he first was notified about the hawk feeding on a downed bird on the sidewalk at the building’s entrance on Feb. 7. There have been two other incidents since, he said.
“Just looking for a little guidance as to how we can encourage the bird to choose another location to feast,” he said. “Needless to say, the staff at the branch are terrified, and the mess that is usually left behind also doesn’t go over well.”
He said the bank recently put up a large fake owl near the entrance to scare the hawk away.
Jay McGowan from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, said he doubts the fake owl will be effective in frightening the hawk, but added it could possibly reduce the numbers of pigeons around the entrance. “It won’t hurt,” he said.
He advised that the bank should just let nature take its course and eventually the hawk will find another place to perch and feed.
An adult Cooper’s hawk is a medium-sized raptor, about the size of a crow. A unique trait of this bird is that it captures its prey with its feet and kills it by repeatedly squeezing it.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
