Fire crews from Sunderland and North Moor were called at 3.31am to the fire at a cree within an allotment in Hollycarrside Road, in Sunderland. Eight fire fighters used three jets and one hose reel to extinguish the flames, but 100 pigeons perished in the blaze. The cree was also 100% destroyed. Crews left the scene at 5.30am and say the cause of the fire is unknown but they are treating it as suspicious.
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 threat to cyber security is a problem the world is facing right now, and it appears Donald Trump may have come up with a solution: courier deliveries.
The president-elect expressed his doubts about the security of online communications his administration is likely to use for everything from day-to-day planning to international relations, saying “no computer is safe” when it comes to keeping information private.
He told reporters during his annual New Year’s party that he believes in writing out important messages and having it delivered the old-fashioned way.
He said: “You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”
And of course, the internet had only one thing in mind: Make carrier pigeon great again!
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.
Chennai: Being a resident of Chennai, one knows very well about the thousands of pigeons that are being fed every day at the Marina beach.
It is a humane initiative by a Rajasthani family that shows its benevolence towards every living being on the planet. Standing there amid the thousands of birds is surreal. It is a photographer’s paradise and a magical experience for every child.
But you don’t have to trek all the way to Marina for this experience. On the small terrace on top of a serene apartment at Ramasamy Salai, K K Nagar, Ashok nagar, Chennai, K Harish Kumar feeds hundreds of wild pigeons every morning. The reason, he says, is that it simply makes him happy and the rest of his day is made.
Harish has been a resident of K K Nagar for the past 40 years. As a landscape consultant by profession, he is an admirer of nature and every living being on earth. His ideas, such as the ‘Birthday Trees’, wherein a person would plant a tree every birthday, was a way to help and care for nature.
While commuting to places, he always carries a packet of biscuits for his four-legged ‘friends’ on the streets. “There isn’t a street that is without dogs that come to play with me and expect the biscuits I have in the bike,” smiles Harish.
What started as a handful of wheat for a couple of pigeons, which sat on his balcony, has now became several kilograms of wheat for almost 500 pigeons every day. During his childhood days, Harish raised pigeons, which made him very fond of them.
Even though he is unable to create a loft and have homing pigeons on his own, he is more than happy just to feed feral pigeons (Columba livia) that come to his terrace. “It gives me peace when I see about 500 pigeons fly around the terrace and have their fill,” he reminisced.
He has been observing their flying pattern and behaviour even as he feeds them. On the day Cyclone Vardah hit Chennai, the pigeons cramped together in any crevice they could find. And when the rain and wind stopped for a while, the birds flew haphazardly, unlike the synchronised flying formation they indulge in on normal days. This, he says, is because of the tremendous stress the birds underwent during the storm.
Almost 10 kg of wheat is used on a single day. Harish, who gets the grains by spending from his own pocket, says that he has been buying around 300 kg of wheat every month. “Nothing goes waste. Every grain is polished off by the pigeons,” laughs Harish.
A pitcher of water is regularly filled several times in a day, which is actually a birdbath.
Along with his spouse, Harish hopes to never let any animal, bird or plant go without proper love and care. Any injured or sick animal is given asylum in his house and he takes care till they are cured.
He jests, “The only drawback of 500 pigeons eating 10 kg of wheat every day is the menace they are to the neighbour’s cars!”
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.
Police do not actively pursue them despite complaints
A rash of racing pigeon thefts across the city have left many breeders high and dry. Having lost their expensive birds to theft, many say that police seldom pay attention to their ‘pigeon theft’ complaints.
For years now breeding of exotic birds has been lucrative business for professional breeders. However, of late, protecting these birds from thieves has become a difficult task.
Many instances over the last few weeks had shown that there was very little help from police in rescuing the birds, breeders said. According to them, police authorities have their hands full with law and order cases and seldom show any interest in recovering the stolen birds.
R.T. Venkatesh, a resident of Marai Malai Nagar, has been a bird enthusiast and a breeder for several years. Recently, he had been shocked to find over 20 of his pigeons — many of which were prized one — missing. He said that although the police took his complaint, he was unable to get much help from them as they had other ‘pressing’ matters to attend to.
R. Murugan, another pigeon breeder residing in Perungalathur, had a similar experience. Over 100 of his racing pigeons had been stolen and when he had approached the police, they had asked him for photos of his pigeons and also sought information about persons he had his suspicions on.
M. Karunanidhi, a retired Superintendent of Police, said such kind of thefts would be registered under cattle and poultry theft. But cases where the stolen birds were in large numbers, it is considered a serious crime.
He said even if the police were able to apprehend the thieves the victim’s task of proving that the robbed birds belonged to him/her is onerous.
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.
Bath’s Pigeon Man is back doing his act just 10 days after telling magistrates that even a prison sentence wouldn’t stop him feeding the birds.
Paul Charlton appeared at Bath Magistrates’ Court on December 19 having been convicted of three charges of failing to comply with a community protection notice ordering him to stop feeding pigeons.
Despite the court threatening him with a £2,500 fine, Charlton was back today (December 29) by the Pump Room in the centre of Bath, balancing pigeons on his arms, head and shoulders and offering members of the public a chance to pose for photos with his winged friends.
He told the Bath Chronicle: “This has been my job for the past four years. It is how I pay my rent and my bills. I make a living out of it.
“It’s my occupation whether people want to see it as an occupation or not.
“It makes people happy.”
The 42-year-old is fighting an attempt by Bath and North East Somerset Council to stop him performing.
At court for what was meant to be Charlton’s sentencing hearing on December 19, a barrister acting on behalf of B&NES Council argued the defendant’s act caused “quite a lot of inconvenience” to cafés in the centre of Bath.
Carrie-Ann Evans told the court: “Essentially the notice asked him [Charlton] to stop giving grain to members of the public to feed the pigeons and stop giving grain to the birds himself.
“This is causing quite a lot of inconvenience for neighbouring cafés who have birds flying onto their stock
“As a result quite a large amount of stock has to be thrown away.”
But today Charlton told the Bath Chronicle the city has a pigeon problem without him and that his act can be good for business.
“One of the cafes says it is good for business and the other says it is bad for business,” he said.
“If they leave food out on the tables, they are going to have a pigeon problem anyway.”
When Charlton appeared in court he told magistrates: “You can put me in prison for as long as you like but when I come out I will go back and feed the pigeons.
“I’m being treated like a criminal here and I haven’t done anything wrong.
“I have done what I have been asked to do by the Government.”
His case was adjourned until January 23 pending the preparation of a psychiatric report. Charlton was granted unconditional bail until then.
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.
Superb Story can add the totepool Hogmaneigh Handicap Hurdle (2.50) to his big Cheltenham Festival win at Musselburgh.
Young Skelton pulled off a fine training performance to bring him back from a lengthy lay-off to prevail in the ultra competitive County Hurdle at the big meeting, but suffered the reverse side of the coin when the gelding had to be pulled up in the Galway Hurdle in the summer.
Given plenty to of time again to recover from those exertions, Superb Story is back in great heart and connections have long targeted this valuable objective. He still looks well handicapped despite a big weight and he’s the type to continue to improve in readiness for a return trip to Prestbury Park in March.
Vyta Du Roc was not beaten that far in the Hennessy on his return to fences five weeks ago and he looks to have found a good opportunity in the Watch Live Racing On BetBright.com Handicap Chase (12.50) at Cheltenham.
Henderson opted to give the Welsh National and a return bout with Hennessy hero Native River a miss with the eight-year-old in favour of this less demanding test and the move should pay dividends. A smart novice last season, he is back in A1 nick at home.
Whisper is a difficult horse to read at times, but he seems on great terms with himself at the moment and should maintain his unbeaten record this season in the BetBright Dipper Novices Chase (1.25).
Henderson has had plenty of problems with this high-class staying hurdler over the past 12 months, and he was only hopeful he might prevail on his chasing bow at Exeter on this day 12 months ago. However, Whisper never fired at all. Once again, expectations were not that high on his return here last month, but that was only down to a lack of peak fitness.
Under a fine ride from Davy Russell, he jumped nicely and overcame the pre-race fears by galloping on strongly up the hill to notch his first win over larger obstacles. He took some useful scalps along the way and the Seven Barrows shrewdies are now looking for him to step up another level, especially after an accomplished schooling session under Noel Fehily on Mandown in Upper Lambourn on Friday morning.
Stablemate O O Seven will also go well but the Nicholls-trained Clan des Obeaux should be the toughest nut to crack.
Lough Derg Leader can emulate former stablemate Singlefarmpayment and win the Betbright Casino Handicap Hurdle (2.35) for Tom Lacey.
The six-year-old has made great strides north in the ratings so far this season and should be more than able to overcome a lumpy 11lb hike in his assessment for an impressive win at Doncaster last month.
The concluding EBF Stallions & Cheltenham Pony Club NH Flat Race looks a fascinating renewal, with some of the top trainers around represented, but perhaps Newmarket mayor John Berry will be able to strike a blow with White Valiant.
The son of Youmzain overcame odds of 80/1 to win on his racecourse bow at Huntingdon, scoring in great style under Daryl Jacob.
Jacob is required to ride Daphne Du Clos for Henderson and Potensis Bloodstock on Sunday but Davy Russell is an eyecatching booking for Berry, who looks to have a very useful tool to go to war with.
The very much in-form Fehily forsakes Cheltenham for the delights of Haldon Hill and Exeter, and he should kick the afternoon off on the right note with the highly-rated and impressive bumper winner Neon Hill in the opening Passage House Inn Topsham ‘National Hunt’ Novices’ Hurdle (12.40).
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 was one of those trees that one sees and still does not see, hiding in plain sight. I had walked near it many times and often glanced at it when scanning the landscape, but never actually looked at it. Perhaps its size was the reason. It was small for a banyan, barely two stories tall, standing behind a shack at the corner of a village crossroad near a cluster of tea shops. On one side were small patches for growing vegetables, followed by a bamboo grove. On the other side, a rapid descent into a rectangular plot where the earth had been dug out neatly. Underneath the banyan grew smaller trees, weeds and tall grass. Tucked away at a neglected corner of the road to nowhere in particular, the banyan never gave me reason for a second look.
I would have continued ignoring it were it not for a village boy. One day, when I was searching for birds in the village, he appeared at my side. “What are you doing?” he asked.
“Looking for birds,” I replied.
“Did you check out that bot tree? It gets many birds.”
“That one?” I pointed. He nodded.
I looked at the tree carefully now, top to bottom, side to side. Nothing was moving in the thick round crown of deep green.
“But it is empty,” I said.
“You just have to visit it at the right time of the day, and look carefully.”
“What is the right time then?”
“Oh, I don’t know… mornings, but afternoons also, and some days at noon…” he said unhelpfully, “but, you can see lots of pigeons in that tree – green pigeons.”
After that conversation I was more attentive to the banyan. One afternoon, I was in the neighbourhood, looking for a coucal – a dark-red bird that looks like a cross between a chicken and a crow – that had ran into a roadside bush. Unexpectedly, I heard the loud flutter of wings and looked up to see a flock of green pigeons descending on the banyan.
I was thrilled. I had been trying to photograph these yellow-footed green pigeons (horials) for a long time. Here they were, playing in the tree, swaying and jumping from branch to branch, gobbling up the banyan fruit. Their meal lasted for a few minutes and they took off, all together, in search of the next fruity tree.
Spending more time at the banyan since that day, I discovered that its fruits attract coppersmith barbets, doves, bulbuls and many other birds in addition to the horials.
One afternoon, while waiting for the horials, I saw something move in the bushes underneath the tree. It was a brown shrike, here for the winter from colder places, hunting for insects. And while I was watching it, a cuckooshrike landed on a plant right in front of me. It hopped around looking for its own insects. Then a drongo appeared – it was probably hunting in the fields – and buzzed the cuckooshrike repeatedly, trying to drive it away. But the cuckooshrike persisted, jumping from branch to leaf to grass, and kept hunting.
And so life played out its ever mysterious moves in and around the banyan. If there is a banyan near you, this winter might be a good time for a closer look.
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.
In the waning hours of 2016, Donald Trump issued a statement that sensitive and classified information should not be transmitted using computers. To back up his claim, he cited the expertise of his ten-year old son.
“It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe. I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe. I have a boy who’s 10 years old. He can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.”
As Trump is due to be sworn in as the next President of the United States in January of 2017, it is important that scientists look toward a way of implementing his preferred standard.
Thankfully, the Internet Engineering Task Force, the organization that sets the standards for the Internet has already released such a protocol, and they did it back in 1990.
RFC 1149, or A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers, was the first draft of a protocol that addressed the reliability and speed of carrying data traffic via avian carriers, or homing pigeons. The protocol demonstrates that high delay, low throughput, and low altitude service can be accomplished with a point to point topology. Even though there is individual low throughput with individual carriers, multiple carriers can be used because they operate in a three-dimensional space, as opposed to the one-dimensional space used by current internet standards.
Other benefits of RFC 1149 are that the packet carriers are self-regenerating (albeit at a very slow rate), and that they self-generate auditing trails, usually found on logs, cars, and the occasional unfortunate person underwing. Unfortunately, transmissions made via RFC 1149 are subject to dropped packets, and the transmissions are extremely vulnerable to storms. When used in tactical environments, the packets should also be encrypted to avoid data interception.
Because nothing in the world of communication is ever static, the RFC was revisited and a new experimental protocol was issued. RFC 2549, or IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service, was issued in 1999 and served to amend RFC 1149.
RFC 2549 introduces new service levels for Internet Protocol over Avian Carrier (IPoAC). The levels in decreasing order of speed and reliability are Concorde, First, Business, and Coach. Using this network allows the user to also gain frequent flyer miles as well as bonus miles if Concorde or First classes are chosen. An alternate carrier that has a greater bulk capacity was also introduced, but ostrich delivery is slower and requires bridges between domains.
The protocol stresses the advantages of IPoAC, as they will avoid standard tunneling or bridging, enabling them to avoid long queues. However, when they deal with web traffic, spiders are often absorbed into the packet carrier and ejected in a more compact form. If data encapsulation is required or requested, standard saran wrap can be used. Alternately, encapsulation of the data carrier in a hawk has been known to occur, but the data is often mangled and irretrievable.
The protocol has been tried in numerous real world applications. The first test occurred in 2001, when the Bergen Linux user group tested out the Carrier Pigeon Internet Protocol (CPIP) over a three-mile test distance. There were 9 packets transmitted but only 4 packets received, resulting in a 55 percent packet loss. The ping was an atrocious 5222806.6 ms, however.
Another test occurred in 2009, when CPIP was used with a data carrier named “Winston” raced against a Telkom SA ASDL line. The test was to send 4 GB of data over 60 km. The CPIP beat the ADSL transfer handily, completing transmission in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 57 seconds. The ASDL line had only completed 4 percent of the required data transmission at that point.
While some may lambast President-elect Donald Trump for not being computer savvy, his awareness of this little-used Internet Protocol actually shows great awareness of the evolving conditions of technology. Here’s hoping that President Trump is able to find a way to fund RFC 1149 and 2549 so that American state secrets can remain even more secure in the future.
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.
Children or tourists feeding pigeons in Istanbul’s famous Eminönü district is an iconic scene of the city. On weekends, there is another place where pigeon fanciers from across the city come to see or buy pigeons at a bazaar in the city’s Edirnekapı quarter, which is sure to amaze expats
Many of the less fortunate tourists in our fairy city of Istanbul miss the more interesting things, perhaps, because they are not in the right place and the right time. Sultanahmet features various transport links, including a tramway and a big bus route, and is only a fifteen minute walk from a train station and a dock — it also has fairly good publicity. A vast visitor’s infrastructure draws in the tourists and keeps them there with ice cream, Turkish tea, hookah and köfte (meatballs).
If you wind your way to the outskirts of the old city, the limits of historic Istanbul, you will find a less-trafficked but no less impressive site: the Theodosian Walls. The Byzantine emperor Theodosius rebuilt his city’s fortifications — as even the oldest things in city had to be rebuilt — in 447 after they collapsed in an earthquake.
Currently, the walls are used by nearby cafe owners the same way they use canopies or heat lamps. Along their entire 7-kilometer length, only a few displays and signs are present to orient visitors. No ice cream, no hookah and no Turkish köfte can be seen, but only a few cafes — and of course you can find Turkish tea. The old city walls are an under-visited (and let us not forget, entirely free) area, where you can spend an entire Saturday afternoon. Next to them, the street markets of Balat and Fener offer a different atmosphere to the jaded stroller of the Istanbul neighborhoods.
One of my very favorite day trips is to go to a section of the venerable standing stones and clamber all over them or explore the neighborhoods lying in their shadow. My university friend Zoey was in town and I was determined to show her a slice of the city often missed by big-ticket tours. We selected Edirnekapı because a few weekends ago my friends Orkun, Harriet and I had explored the other half of the walls all the way down to Yedikule.
Unknown to us, Yedikule was closed, so though we were able to walk through the cemetery near the Kazlıçeşme metro stop to get to the seven towers, we found the iron door bolt shut. We peered in through the gaps and saw a courtyard littered with gravel and a few upside down “Giriş” (Enter) signs. We walked around to the opposite side where a Roma neighborhood had been erected against the walls. Then, an old man emerged with a long branch. He hunched at the end of the road and encouraged us to leave. We walked across a bridge and found the Yedikule Dog Park, where the city takes care of dogs, providing shelter and vaccinations.
So, we decided to go to Edirnekapı. I used to work out at a music school near the Chora Church, and so we formed a loose plan to wander on top of the walls, pop by the church, and round off the day with a stroll through Balat and Fener. We hopped off the metrobus at Edirnekapı, where an enormous cemetery surrounds the highway.
Why are there always cemeteries in between the bus stop and the walls? Commuters streamed through the sacred grounds. We had to scramble across a highway to get to Edirne gate, but finally we emerged. It is strange, as an American, to see this ancient stone structure incorporated into the trappings of daily life, side by side with cafes and small houses, with stacks of firewood and construction materials leaning against it.
We began our walk alongside the Theodosian Walls. I was disappointed to discover that they had fenced off the stairs to the top. Several years ago I was able to climb to the top and get a panorama view of the city. This is, however, probably better in terms of historical preservation. We walked down the street, keeping the tall yellow stone on our left. We got to a soccer field where a few old men were hanging around selling songbirds. They asked me if I wanted to go in.
“Where?” I asked.
“To the bazaar,” they said. “It’s 3 liras.”
I paid for three tickets for all of us. Inside was a hundred men, only men, wandering between rows of brown cages on stilts. Everywhere, pigeons. Pigeons on strings, pigeons preening, pigeons stretching, pigeons scrambling for seeds, pigeons with squat fluffy feet, pigeons with lascivious pink beaks, pigeons with floofy necks, pigeons with different splotches of color on the tips of their wings, pigeons that looked like dwarfs, pigeons that looked like giants. I had no idea there were so many varieties of pigeon in the world.
One man with a thorny white beard thrust a pigeon at us. “This is a Baghdadi pigeon,” he said. I’d forgotten the word for pigeon in Turkish, which is “güvercin” and it snapped me out of my reverie.
“What do you use them for? Do you eat them” I asked. No, no, he shook his head. But he also didn’t answer the question. We stopped in front of a row of cages staffed by a fat kid. “It has to be really expensive right,” Zoey asked. “Right?” I asked how much it would be for one of the boy’s slender white pigeons with the purple neck.
“Ten lira,” he said, every inch a businessman. We all looked at each other, and I forked over 10 lira. He forked over a pigeon. What do we do with it? The old man next to the fat boy found it immensely funny that three foreigners, two of them women, had bought one of his pigeons. I found it immensely funny as well, but also immensely weird.
We left the cage of the bazaar in the soccer field. We named the pigeon Geronimo. What were we going to do with it? My friend, Harriet observed that the pigeon’s wings hadn’t been clipped, so we decided to find a good spot and set it free. We walked through a bunch of local streets where kids in dirty clothes played soccer in the street and pink shirts had been hung out to dry in every window. Geronimo seemed sedate, very zen about the whole experience of being clutched.
We let Geronimo go near a mosque and he flew to the top of the minaret. All of us tried to process the experience. I still have no idea why dozens of men breed pigeons (They probably have a serious devotion to them) and sell them on Sundays near the Edirnekapı exit of the city walls. But I can tell you often, tourists miss the more interesting things.
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.
Scottish Parliament hawks to remain to control pigeons Hawks at the Scottish parliament. Picture: PHIL WILKINSON 10:11Monday 02 January 2017 1 HAVE YOUR SAY SCOTTISH Parliament bosses look set to carry on flying hawks and falcons at Holyrood to scare away pigeons – even though they accept the number has come down as much as it is ever likely to. Birds of prey were brought in eight years ago as a deterrent after other measures such as bird wire, netting and anti-roosting spikes all failed. A year ago, the parliament said the £16,000 a year contract was due to be reviewed and the Evening News revealed Holyrood bosses were considering ending it. Monthly monitoring had shown there were between 11 and 18 pigeons regularly on the Holyrood campus and officials felt it may not be possible to reduce it any further. But no review has yet taken place and now the parliament says the future of the contract with NBC Bird and Pest Solutions will only be looked at when the bigger high-level maintenance contract, of which it is a part, comes up for renewal in October 2017. And despite the previous suggestion that the use of birds of prey would probably come to an end, parliament officials now say it is likely to continue. But MSPs questioned why Holyrood should carry on paying out money if the hawks have now done their work. The pigeon problem plagued the Holyrood building right from the start with its many nooks and crannies proving attractive perches. Muck and feathers were blown through vents on to researchers’ desks and some birds even got into MSPs’ offices. Monthly monitoring reports for the past year, released under freedom of information, no longer give average totals for the number of pigeons counted at the Holyrood campus but do highlight hotspots, particularly the MSP block. Some of the politicians working there urged a review. Lothian Tory MSP Jeremy Balfour said: “If the contract runs out this year, it is a good time to review the whole situation. Just to renew it automatically would be a mistake. “It’s quite a lot of money and if we have reached the optimum number [of pigeons] and the situation cannot be made any better, it is not the best use of public money. I will write to the chief executive and seek clarification of the position and ask if we have now got as much as we can out of it.” And Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone also urged a review. She said: “It’s important we know how effective this spending is. We should not continue with a contract that costs £16,000 a year unless we are clear it is proving effective. “The evidence base must be available and I would welcome site of it to help parliament come to a decision as to whether or not this ongoing expenditure should be continued.” A parliament spokeswoman said there were no plans to end the NBC contract early. She added: “Like many buildings in Edinburgh, a small number of pigeons visit regularly. We are aware the problem can never be fully eradicated and it is likely we will continue with the current approach.”
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.
ABOUT 300 Colchester racing pigeons were involved in secret service work in Occupied Europe during the Second World War, a little-known fact faithfully reported in Hervey Benham’s book Essex at War which recorded what happened between 1939 and 1945.
This remarkable aspect of the war is described by Mr Benham as follows: “Let the pigeons’ part not be overlooked.
“Twenty-two Colchester pigeon fanciers played behind the scenes their part in the winning of the war.
“Prior to 1939 these men trained their birds for show purposes and for racing, but when in April 1943 a Special Section Carrier Pigeon Service was formed, efforts were wholeheartedly turned towards war.
“Mr Arthur A. Finch, of 12 Speedwell Road, Colchester, was appointed Pigeon Service Officer for the Colchester Section, and Colchester fanciers supplied approximately 300 birds for special secret service work in Occupied Europe.
“Several were used by the Maquis and gave the exact position of flying bomb sites.
“Several of the 300 birds never returned, many being wounded.”
The “Maquis” was the name given to members of the French Resistance against the Nazis. Pigeons would be smuggled into Occupied Europe in boxes dropped by parachute at pre-arranged locations.
These would be picked up by the Resistance who would then put messages in small containers fitted to the legs of pigeons which would then fly home to their loft in Britain, 22 of which were in Colchester.
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.
If one thing was vital to the the new kind of modern warfare in the First World War, it was communications.
The Industrial Revolution had brought wireless transmission of signals with it and the huge armies of World War 1 needed to be in contact constantly to be successful in the field.
In this special episode we introduce you to the birth hour of modern military communication and signals.
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.
Summary: Having lost their expensive birds to theft, many say that police seldom pay attention to their ‘pigeon theft’ complaints. A rash of racing pigeon thefts across the city have left many breeders high and dry. But cases where the stolen birds were in large numbers, it is considered a serious crime. Many instances over the last few weeks had shown that there was very little help from police in rescuing the birds, breeders said. Even if the police manage to apprehend the thieves, the task of proving ownership of the birds is onerous.
Even if the police manage to apprehend the thieves, the task of proving ownership of the birds is onerous. — File photo | Photo Credit: R_Shivaji Rao more-in A rash of racing pigeon thefts across the city have left many breeders high and dry. Having lost their expensive birds to theft, many say that police seldom pay attention to their ‘pigeon theft’ complaints. For years now breeding of exotic birds has been lucrative business for professional breeders.
However, of late, protecting these birds from thieves has become a difficult task. Many instances over the last few weeks had shown that there was very little help from police in rescuing the birds, breeders said. According to them, police authorities have their hands full with law and order cases and seldom show any interest in recovering the stolen birds. R.T. Venkatesh, a resident of Marai Malai Nagar, has been a bird enthusiast and a breeder for several years.
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.
In the waning hours of 2016, Donald Trump issued a statement that sensitive and classified information should not be transmitted using computers. To back up his claim, he cited the expertise of his ten-year old son. “It’s very important, if you have something really important, write it out and have it delivered by courier, the old-fashioned way because I’ll tell you what, no computer is safe. I don’t care what they say, no computer is safe. I have a boy who’s 10 years old. He can do anything with a computer. You want something to really go without detection, write it out and have it sent by courier.” As Trump is due to be sworn in as the next President of the United States in January of 2017, it is important that scientists look toward a way of implementing his preferred standard. Thankfully, the Internet Engineering Task Force, the organization that sets the standards for the Internet has already released such a protocol, and they did it back in 1990. RFC 1149, or A Standard for the Transmission of IP Datagrams on Avian Carriers, was the first draft of a protocol that addressed the reliability and speed of carrying data traffic via avian carriers, or homing pigeons. The protocol demonstrates that high delay, low throughput, and low altitude service can be accomplished with a point to point topology. Even though there is individual low throughput with individual carriers, multiple carriers can be used because they operate in a three-dimensional space, as opposed to the one-dimensional space used by current internet standards. Other benefits of RFC 1149 are that the packet carriers are self-regenerating (albeit at a very slow rate), and that they self-generate auditing trails, usually found on logs, cars, and the occasional unfortunate person underwing. Unfortunately, transmissions made via RFC 1149 are subject to dropped packets, and the transmissions are extremely vulnerable to storms. When used in tactical environments, the packets should also be encrypted to avoid data interception. Because nothing in the world of communication is ever static, the RFC was revisited and a new experimental protocol was issued. RFC 2549, or IP over Avian Carriers with Quality of Service, was issued in 1999 and served to amend RFC 1149. RFC 2549 introduces new service levels for Internet Protocol over Avian Carrier (IPoAC). The levels in decreasing order of speed and reliability are Concorde, First, Business, and Coach. Using this network allows the user to also gain frequent flyer miles as well as bonus miles if Concorde or First classes are chosen. An alternate carrier that has a greater bulk capacity was also introduced, but ostrich delivery is slower and requires bridges between domains. The protocol stresses the advantages of IPoAC, as they will avoid standard tunneling or bridging, enabling them to avoid long queues. However, when they deal with web traffic, spiders are often absorbed into the packet carrier and ejected in a more compact form. If data encapsulation is required or requested, standard saran wrap can be used. Alternately, encapsulation of the data carrier in a hawk has been known to occur, but the data is often mangled and irretrievable. The protocol has been tried in numerous real world applications. The first test occurred in 2001, when the Bergen Linux user group tested out the Carrier Pigeon Internet Protocol (CPIP) over a three mile test distance. There were 9 packets transmitted but only 4 packets received, resulting in a 55% packet loss. The ping was an atrocious 5222806.6 ms, however. Another test occurred in 2009, when CPIP was used with a data carrier named “Winston” raced against a Telkom SA ASDL line. The test was to send 4 GB of data over 60 km. The CPIP beat the ADSL transfer handily, completing transmission in 2 hours, 6 minutes, 57 seconds. The ASDL line had only completed 4% of the required data transmission at that point. While some may lambast President-Elect Donald Trump for not being computer savvy, his awareness of this little used Internet Protocol actually shows great awareness of the evolving conditions of technology. Here’s hoping that President Trump is able to find a way to fund RFC 1149 and 2549 so that American state secrets can remain even more secure in the
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’s Christmas party season for stables up and down the land – some with much to celebrate, and others with cause to wish 2016 away as quickly as possible.
Ryan Moore made a welcome appearance at Sir Michael Stoute’s end-of-year bash after hotfooting it back from Hong Kong earlier this week, with The Tack Room restaurant at the new National Horseracing Museum the destination of choice for a number of functions in the town.
Poor Marco Botti is still looking for the British Group One success he craves and deserves, having gone closest when Euro Charline was caught close home in the Lockinge, but it won’t be long before he gets that monkey off his back and he can at least end the year on a high when Grendisar takes the Listed Betway Quebec Stakes at Lingfield.
He was very much in need of the run on his recent return to action at Wolverhampton but that defeat might just help ease his price out a fraction here. All of the evidence from his homework on the all-weather says he’s as good as ever and although he was narrowly beaten in this race 12 months ago, he won in 2014 and the balance of his Lingfield form over the last couple of years ought to make him very hard to beat.
Adam Kirby is banned, meaning George Baker takes over. Kirby also misses the ride on the Jeremy Noseda-trained Novis Adventus in the Download the Betway App Handicap earlier on the card, having been quite positive about the horse when riding him last time out on his debut for the trainer. Martin Harley (who some would have expected to have been aboard Grendisar for that matter) is on board and Novis Adventus is expected to appreciate this slight step back in trip.
Limonata can finally come good on her second start for Harry Whittington in the Betway Handicap at Lingfield. Henry Candy would have hoped to have won a race with this half-sister to his stable star Limato, but she proved just a little frustrating and she has moved on to his close neighbour with the hope that a change of scenery will do her good.
Although beaten into fifth on her debut for the Sparsholt trainer, she was not beaten at all far, and connections are now trying their luck with cheekpieces for the first time. She has pleased at home since and, with the headgear in place, she looks worth one last chance.
Somethingthrilling has improved steadily this year and should go close in the Stallions Breeding Winners Conditions Stakes. She has progressed steadily as a four-year-old for David Elsworth and it was interesting that he also entered her in the Listed event on this card over a mile and a quarter. It did not looks her best trip however, and she is better judged on her win over this course and distance on her previous start.
Consul de Thaix is arguably the least-exposed horse in the line-up and could well make the most of his light weight in the Wessex Youth Trust Handicap Hurdle at Ascot.
Nicky Henderson has long held this valuable prize as a prime target for the four-year-old, who showed very obvious promise during his first season before going down by only three-quarters of a length to stablemate Brain Power, having been set plenty to do, on his reappearance at Sandown two weeks ago.
Connections are confident there is much more to come with the benefit of that outing behind him and he is fancied to turn the tables on Brain Power, even though he is also expected to progress from the run. Modus is another who commands respect, and those looking for a big outsider might want to risk an each-way investment on the former John Ferguson-trained Chesterfield.
The Druids Nephew is reported back to something like his best and is just preferred to Triolo D’Alene in the Lavazza Jolie Silver Cup Handicap Chase.
A very useful performer for Andy Turnell in his youth, he has been a grand servant for Neil Mulholland, and won a big handicap for the Limpley Stoke trainer at the Cheltenham Festival in 2015. Despite a couple of sound performances when underfoot conditions were right last season, he has slipped down to a mark just 2lb higher than his Festival win, and the going will again be to his liking here.
Walt can beat former stablemates Minstrel Royal and Ballinure in the Foundation Developments Novices’ Handicap Hurdle. Bought by Mulholland after showing promise in a typically light early campaign for Nicky Henderson, he has come on for his debut effort for his new trainer at Ffos Las just over a month ago and looks the sort to progress further.
Andy Kelly can put an early unseat on his return from a lengthy spell out at Kempton firmly behind him and is worth an interest in the BGC Partners Handicap Chase. Emma Lavelle has always thought highly of the seven-year-old, but connections have had to be remarkably patient after he sustained another setback following an impressive debut win over fences at Plumpton just over a year ago. He was none the worse for his spill at the Sunbury course, and deserves a change of luck for a stable in better form than has been the case for some time.
Ut Majeur Aulmes can step up on his pleasing comeback effort in a good class event at the Newbury Hennessy meeting and win the Stockton Brook Handicap Chase at Haydock. Victor Dartnall’s charge has a fair bit of chasing experience but seemed to take a significant step forward when winning his last two races of the 2015-16 campaign. Although beaten into fourth at the Berkshire course, he stuck on to good effect behind Ultragold and looks nicely handicapped here with useful claimer Ciaran Gethings taking off 5lb.
Tearsofclewbay is held in high regard by Philip Hobbs and can give some of her more experienced rivals a scare at a price in the Listed Abram Mares Novices’ Hurdle. She produced a smart turn of foot to beat a decent field at Worcester on her latest start, and looks ready for this step up in grade despite a two-month racecourse absence.
Nicky Henderson’s runners at Fakenham are always worth a close look and Argante will be fancied to send punters home happy in the closing Independent Racecourses Maiden Hurdle on Sunday. He threatened to be involved in the finish until meeting serous traffic problems on his comeback at Ascot last month, and should be the one to beat in what looks an interesting heat.
Looking forward to next Wednesday, James Fanshawe has his sights on a raid at Newcastle, featuring Star Storm in the fast-track qualifier over two miles. A talented type on his day, he was given a midsummer break to have his wind tweaked and has come back in decent form since, being the only horse to give the smart Western Hymn a proper race in Listed company at Kempton in October.
Two miles is utterly uncharted territory, but he has the ability to switch right off in his races and it would be no surprise to see him relish the move up in distance. Singapore Sling, set to join Star Storm on the lorry up the A1, should take some beating in the maiden too.
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.
7 auctions closed this Sunday, raising no less than 492,350 EURO in total. The highlight of this weekend was the auction of Gevaert-Lannoo, which raised an impressive 221,925 EURO.
Freialdenhofen & Sons – 18 pigeons – 1,964 EURO/pigeon
Father Freialdenhofen and his sons Heiko & Dirk have been one of the top players in the extreme long distance. As every year, they sell a group of young birds of their best breeders in an exclusive PIPA auction. They sold 18 young birds at an average of almost 2,000 EURO per pigeon. The most expensive pigeon was a youngster of Forrest Gump, which goes to The Netherlands for 3,400 EURO. The auction raised 35,350 EURO in total. A remarkable number of Chinese and Taiwanese fanciers joined the bidding, as 12 out of 18 extreme long distance pigeons were sold to these two countries. The pigeons were sold to Taiwan (6), China (6), The United Kingdom (3), Slovakia (1), Russia (1) and The Netherlands (1).
Van Toor Brothers – 130 pigeons – 1,442 EURO/pigeon
This auction marked the end of the Las Vegas dynasty, as all the pigeons (minus a round of unflown youngsters) were sold today, raising no less than 187,425 EURO, with an average of 1,422 EURO for 130 pigeons. The most expensive pigeon are Olympic Tamara x Olympic Santa Ana, which were sold for 13,400 and 11,400 EURO respectively, to a Chinese and a Belgian fancier. Some Taiwanese fanciers have been quite successful with the Van Toor pigeons in recent years, which explains why no less than 36 pigeons will be shipped to Taiwan. The 130 pigeons were eventually sold to China (43), Taiwan (36), Belgium (9), The United Kingdom (9), France (6), Slovakia (5), USA (5), Spain (3), The Netherlands (3), Poland (3), Germany (2), Serbia (2), Japan (1), Bangladesh (1), The Philippines (1), and Sweden (1).
Gevaert-Lannoo – 54 pigeons – 4,110 EURO/pigeon
The eye-catcher of this weekend and also in previous weeks was the auction of the Gevaert-Lannoo racing team. They had potentially their strongest season ever in 2016, and they decided to contact PIPA to sell their entire racing team, along with a small group of unflown youngsters, or 54 pigeons in total. The 2 stars of this auction were sale 1 and sale 2 of part 1. The first is a hen that won 4 provincial or zonal second places, the second is a cock that won the title of 6th Nat. Ace Pigeon KBDB longer middle distance young birds last year. Bidding for sale 1 (Princess 95) started at 16,000 EURO Sunday morning, and the bidding continued until 2 hours and 30 mins after the official closing time. No less than 13 fanciers placed a bid, and the pigeon eventually got sold to a Chinese fancier for 39,000 EURO.
Sale 2 (Prince 26) was even more remarkable, with a start price of 10,4000 EURO on Sunday morning. The bidding continued until 3 hrs and 30 minutes after closing time, with 12 fanciers trying to win the bid. Another Chinese fancier eventually placed the winning bid of 39,000 EURO. The other pigeons were very successful as well, with sale prices as high as 17,400 EURO, 10,800 EURO, 10,400 EURO, and 9,600 EURO. The 54 pigeons eventually raised 221,925 EURO in total. The pigeons were sold to China (33), Taiwan (9), Belgium (6), Germany (2), Italy (1), Japan (1), Poland (1) and Romania (1).
Jo Bauters – 7 pigeons – 1,914 EURO/pigeon
It was the first time that Jo Bauters organised an online auction on PIPA, and it was a successful one with an average of almost 2,000 EURO per pigeon or 13,400 EURO for 7 young birds. The two most expensive young birds are a brother and a sister of the 1st National Ace Pigeon KBDB longer middle distance YBs 2016, which were both sold for 3,400 EURO to China and Portugal respectively. The 7 pigeons were sold to Taiwan (4), China (1), France (1) and Portugal (1).
Thibaut-Boons – 10 pigeons – 1,490 EURO/pigeon
This has been one of Belgium’s strongest middle distance combinations for years, and they will be joining the upcoming Olympiad as well with their 1st Olympiad Pigeon Cat. B. This time they only sold a group of young birds, which raised an excellent 1,500 EURO on average or 14,900 EURO for 10 young birds. The most expensive one was a daughter of Victor, which goes to Taiwan for 2,600 EURO. The 3 most expensive pigeons will be going to China & Taiwan. The 10 pigeons were sold to Belgium (7), China (2), and Taiwan (1).
Philippe Brantegem – 9 pigeons – 1,283 EURO/pigeon
Philippe Brantegem had his very first online auction as well, and it was quite a successful event with an average of 1,283 EURO per pigeon or 11,550 EURO overall. The most expensive pigeon was sale 2, which goes to a Belgian fancier for 1,800 EURO. 8 pigeons will be shipped to Belgium and 1 to Taiwan.
Mark Evans – 5 pigeons – 1,560 EURO/pigeon
Just 5 pigeons in this auction, with most notably a youngster of Mr. Blue x Special Blue (sale 1), which goes to France for 5,600 EURO. The 5 pigeons raised 7,800 EURO in total, and will be shipped to France (1), China (1), Belgium (1), Taiwan (1) and the USA (1).
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.
Marshall Rauch made a name for himself as the first Jewish senator in North Carolina. Before that he played basketball for Duke, fought in World War II, helped integrate Gastonia, and was the largest producer of Christmas ornaments in the world.
Host Frank Stasio speaks with Rauch about his legacy and how his faith played a key role in everything he did including the Christmas business.
Interview Highlights:
On growing up in Long Island during the Great Depression:
It’s nothing like it is now. [I] grew up in a little town comparable to maybe Belmont, or Mount Holly, North Carolina, at this time. It was a great place to grow up, we were one mile from the Atlantic Ocean. Lots of youngsters, lots of open fields to play pickup football or baseball on.
On participating in the lesser known sport of pigeon racing:
I was just attracted to it right away. The purpose was to raise the pigeons and then race them. We had a club and they would take the pigeon on the train, I remember, maybe 100 to 200 miles away, turn ‘em loose and then the idea was to have the first pigeon that would get back to your coop.
[It] could have been an expensive hobby. But what we did is we would go out in a park with a wooden box, a stick, and a string. You put corn under the wooden box, you keep it raised with a short stick, and you got a string on the short stick and you get far away. When the pigeon would go in there to eat the corn, pull the stick out, and you captured yourself some adult pigeons. Then we were able to buy eggs from a fella who had some really good pigeons, I mean, I believe we paid like 35 cents for pigeon egg, brought it home […] When they had eggs, you could put other eggs in there with them and they raised them. Eventually you’d get a nice flock of really good pigeons and [we] had a lot of fun with it.
On attempting to bring the one-handed-shot to his high school basketball team:
When I played basketball in High School, now you’re talking about ‘38, ‘39, and ‘40, we shot fouls underhand and set shots were with two hands. They even frowned on one-hand passing if you could have done it with two hands. And that was the way it was, we accepted that […] Stanford came to Madison Square Garden and we heard about this one-hand shooting, they were the first ones to bring it on. So we went to Madison Square Garden, watched them do it, came back and tried to do it on our own team. And the coach would have absolutely none of that…
On fighting in World War II:
They put me into the infantry after that, and I had an exceptionally fortunate career because I was in combat for about a year and a half, and thank God I never got scratched […] We went over in a big convoy, and I was on a troop ship, the George Washington. I don’t know how many thousands of us were on there, but there were a lot. And I didn’t like it down in the hole, and I was sea sick. I came up and was allowed to walk around. I go to the front and see the big guns, but they were made of wood. The guns on that troopship were made of wood. And of course that gave me great confidence.
On integrating businesses in Gaston County:
That is something that is still dear to my heart. Gastonia was just like every other small Southern city. You had two water fountains, I think it said coloured and white, and you had separate bathrooms and you couldn’t even eat in the same restaurants let alone stay in the same motel. School were not integrated. And I was asked to be Chairman of the Human Relations Committee that was going to attempt to integrate Gastonia. Well it was a great committee, we had great fellas on the committee and we were able to accomplish the integration of Gastonia without incident.
On being a Jewish man in the Christmas business:
I’ve had my buddies tease me about that and still do. Took me a few years to get the right answer, but the answer I give [is] ‘No, I belong in the Christmas ornament business. One of our fellas started 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.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday marked his 74th birthday anniversary by releasing 74 pigeons, and observing a special parade and inspection of the guard of honour mounted by the Nigerian Army.
The low-key event, which took place at the fore-court of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, witnessed the Inspection of Guard by the president.
The guard brigade, headed by Musa Yusuf, the commander, brigade of guards, also performed a special birthday silent drills, accompanied with special military birthday song in honour of the president.
President Buhari also cut a cake and released 74 pigeons from a cage as part of the activities marking the anniversary.
President Buhari also signed birthday anniversary register where he wrote: “I am impressed with the special drills presented by the Guard Brigade”.
Service chiefs, Ibrahim Idris, inspector general of police; some ministers, including Lai Mohammed and Muhammad Bello of the FCT; Abba Kyari, chief of staff to the president; Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, presidential spokesmen, attended the event.
Gabriel Olonishakin, the chief of defence staff, who briefly spoke with state house correspondents, congratulated the president on his 74th anniversary.
“We are celebrating with the President and we wish him well and good health. We wish him all the goodness of God as he pilots the affairs of our nation to greater heights,” he said.
Tukur Buratai, the chief of army staff,who also spoke to the correspondents, described President Buhari as “a great man and we are very pleased with his accomplishments over the years.
“He is a good leader”.
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.
In 1810, 24-year-old attorney Henry Marie Brackenridge traveled down the Ohio River to Ste. Genevieve, Mo., and what was still known as the French Illinois Country. Upon passing Louisville, his party encountered the unrivaled natural spectacle of the passenger pigeon, once the most abundant bird on earth.
“In part of the river where the vision extended at least ten miles down … the whole heavens to the edge of the horizon were covered and concealed by a flight of wild pigeons and remained so for upwards of two hours,” Brackenridge later wrote. “During the whole day immense flocks continued to pass.”
Brackenridge, a reliable observer of the American frontier, estimated the size of the principal flock at 10 miles wide and 120 miles in length. This staggering account was no exaggeration, squaring as it does with many 19th century observations, including those of ornithologist James Audubon.
Passenger pigeons — which as late as the mid-19th century numbered in the billions — were found in the forests of North America’s eastern half. Although Central Illinois was mostly tallgrass prairie, the timber along its rivers and streams and in its scattered groves was enough to sustain, at times, prodigious numbers of these birds. In this part of the state they would appear in great abundance several weeks in the spring and then again in the fall.
William B. Carlock, born in 1842 in a log cabin about 12 miles northwest of Bloomington, recalled the “great flocks of wild pigeons” that would pass through McLean and Woodford counties in the spring. He also mentioned the communal pigeon stews and fries held by the early pioneers.
The Rev. John W. Denning, the longtime minister of First Methodist Church of Normal, settled in the area as a young boy in 1849. “Wild pigeons were so numerous that, in their flights, they darkened the sun,” he said. “They congregated in such numbers at their roosting places that large branches were broken off the trees. People did not waste powder and shot on them in those days; they simply killed them by knocking them off their roosts with long poles.”
A network of railroads began linking Central Illinois communities in the early 1850s, speeding the demise of the passenger pigeon. Railroads everywhere gave hunters the means to travel considerable distances to the site of large roosting colonies. And with railroads came the telegraph and the ability to make known the location of colonies to interested parties both far and wide.
These twin revolutions in transportation and communication made possible a rapacious, unsustainable exploitation of what was, after all, a limited resource. Hunters interested in passenger pigeons for market or sport, along with families and sometimes whole communities, would congregate under the colonies with traps, nets, poles, firearms and whatever else would further the slaughter. The scale of violence entailed in these large-scale “harvesting” operations remains shocking, even to those well-versed in the blood-soaked history of the Euro-American advance across the continent.
Even more tragically, the nestlings were highly desired by hunters for their tender meat. This selective targeting decimated successive generations of squabs and contributed greatly to the subsequent population crash.
McLean County resident E.L. Rodman remembered “wild pigeons beyond number” in the 1850s and 1860s. He said that Thomas Bolby, who lived in Old Town Township east of Bloomington, would use a “stool pigeon” (or decoy) and net thousands of birds at a time. “He would take them to Bloomington by half-wagon box loads and I think that one load would have been sufficient to supply one (bird) to each person in the town, for it was not a large place then,” noted Rodman in a 1922 reminiscence.
As if this wanton slaughter wasn’t enough, hundreds of thousands of pigeons were taken captive so sportsmen could organize shooting contests using live birds.
“A pigeon shoot will come off LeRoy Friday this week,” reported the April 20, 1875, Pantagraph. “Five hundred wild pigeons have been secured, and a good time may be expected. Lovers of the sport are invited.”
In early October of that same year, the Bloomington Shooting Club received 2,000 live passenger pigeons for a two-day program at the old west side fairgrounds. The carnage included “world-renowned exhibition shot” Adam H. Bogardus killing 50 birds in eight minutes, all the while loading his own gun. “This will be by far the largest shooting tournament in Illinois this year,” boasted The Pantagraph, “and nearly all the best shots in the West will participate.”
The slaughter in Illinois continued into the 1880s, at least in the larger forested sections of the state where the bird could still be found in sufficient numbers. “Hunters report immense quantities of wild pigeons around Havana (Ill.),” noted the March 15, 1882, Pantagraph. “One man got 900 in one day, and killed as high as 20 at a single shot.”
By the mid-1890s, the days when millions upon millions of passenger pigeons passed through Illinois were gone, never to return. “Wild pigeons are rapidly becoming extinct in this country,” reported the Nov. 13, 1895, Pantagraph. “They made biennial visits to this locality several years ago in large numbers, but have been decreasing in numbers each year of late until very few of these birds are ever seen here now.”
Twenty short years later, wild pigeons had disappeared from not only Illinois but from the entire North American continent as well. “Martha,” the last known passenger pigeon, died at the Cincinnati Zoo on Sept. 1, 1914. “From billions to none in less than a century,” it was said of this appalling tragedy.
There are passenger pigeon taxidermy mounts and specimens in universities, museum and various research institutions in the U.S. and elsewhere. The John Wesley Powell-Dale Birkenholz Natural History Collections at Illinois State University include three “stuffed” pigeons, two of which are mounted. The third, a “study skin,” is dated May 26, 1877, and originated from Warsaw, Ill., a Hancock County community along the Mississippi River. The two mounted pigeons came from R.H. Holder, a Bloomington resident and amateur ornithologist.
Back in the fall of 1914, word of Martha’s passing was cause for somber reflection among some in Central Illinois.
“There is a touch of sadness in this announcement to those who still remember the millions of these beautiful birds that used to sweep in migratory flight across this country,” reflected The Pantagraph. “Every man who was a boy in those days can still picture to himself the long extended and graceful lines in which they moved, column after column, for hours and even days.”
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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.
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A ROSS-SHIRE MP has told PM Theresa May that mobile phone coverage is so poor in some parts of the Highlands that people would be better using carrier pigeons.
Challenging the Prime Minister to take mobile infrastructure in the Highlands more seriously, Ian Blackford said coverage needs improved across Scotland.
Speaking in the last Prime Minister’s Questions session of 2016, he said that results just published by the Government’s own infrastructure watchdog put the UK behind even countries like Romania for coverage – making this one of the poorest served areas in the world.
“In the Highlands it is typical to get the message ‘no service’ and it would often be better to use carrier pigeons.”
Carrier pigeon better bet than mobile phone in some areas, claims MP Blackford. Picture: Fotolia
Will the Prime Minister recognise this is not acceptable and take responsibility for improving the mobile infrastructure. It is time to connect the Highlands to the rest of the world!”
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.
In 1810, 24-year-old attorney Henry Marie Brackenridge traveled down the Ohio River to Ste. Genevieve, Mo., and what was still known as the French Illinois Country. Upon passing Louisville, his party encountered the unrivaled natural spectacle of the passenger pigeon, once the most abundant bird on earth.
A ROSS-SHIRE MP has told PM Theresa May that mobile phone coverage is so poor in some parts of the Highlands that people would be better using carrier pigeons.