The fence looks like it belongs in a maximum-security prison – but was in fact designed by Tiggly the cat’s neighbour to stop the feline straying next door.
A cat-hating neighbour has devised an extreme solution to stop next door’s feline walking on a wall.
The neighbourly dispute began over fears poor Tiggly the cat would damage a car by jumping onto it from a shared wall.
But it ended with the wall looking like the border of a maximum-security prison – complete with barbed wire, sharp studs and three-inch spikes.
Read more: Dog rescues cat and her kittens left to die in sealed cardboard box
Tiggly’s upset owner Bea Upton, of Chandler’s Ford, Hampshire, said the cat has already become stuck in the wire and spikes while trying to get to the ground.
The clerical worker, 46, said: “It’s awful. Tiggly got stuck in it and neighbours had to rescue her.
“The neighbour has put all the barbed wire just to stop Tiggly. It prevents her living a normal, happy free life.
“I have complained to the RSPCA but they say they cannot get involved because people are allowed to put up pet deterrent.”
Previously the black and white cat would come out of an upstairs window, drop down onto a tiled roof before dropping down to the wall to then jump to the ground at the house two doors down from its home.
Ms Upton added that Tiggly has to use the window to get out because she is too frightened of Miss Upton’s two dogs to use a ground floor cat flap.
The neighbour, Valerie Pollard, declined to discuss the barbed wire and spikes.
A spokesman for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals said: “Although the law does not state that adding barbed wire to a fence is illegal, it may become so depending on the case and what happens to an animal as a result.
“Deliberately injuring an animal and causing unnecessary suffering is a criminal offence and we take that very seriously.
“There are more humane methods of deterring cats and other animals from your garden such as automatic water sprays or introducing natural, prickly shrubs to cover surfaces.”
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.
Chinese authorities placed live rabbits, pigeons and chickens near the Tianjin blast site in an effort to calm the public who were worried about the presence of poisonous chemicals in the area. The animals and bird were alive for more than two hours, Reuters reported.
Images of rabbits, pigeons and chickens in brightly-coloured cages are being shared among Chinese citizens as part of the government propaganda to dispel fear of contamination in the region.
Since the massive explosion at the warehouse owned by Ruihai International on 12 August, there has been much concern, especially after it was found that deadly cyanide had leaked into underwater drains. Cyanide was also found in the air.
Also Read: Thousands of Dead Fish Wash Ashore Tianjin Lake Days After Warehouse Blasts
Amid rising fear, another development on Thursday further spread panic among Tianjin residents. Thousands of dead fish washed ashore from a lake located six kilometres from the explosion site.
However, local officials, who are still investigating the “mysterious death of the fish in the Tianjin lake”, claimed that it had nothing to do with the explosion.
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.
Much goes into maintaining the grounds and operations of a major airport that typical travelers don’t see. One of those is managing bird populations.
On Friday, a Tampa resident tweeted a photo of pigeons confined in a cage on the roof of Tampa International Airport’s long-term parking garage. Susan Gail Taylor, a social media manager and copywriter for RME360, a direct-marketing company in Tampa, tweeted, “Are there really pigeons being trapped there and held outside in this oppressive heat?”
For the past three weeks, a pest control company contracted by the Tampa airport has been trapping pigeons on the property and euthanizing them to help reduce the bird population, said Emily Nipps, an airport spokeswoman. Pigeons and other birds present unique safety issues at airports, as they can interfere with aircraft that are taking off and landing. It’s not uncommon to read news reports about flight delays and cancellations because of collisions with birds.
“The problem with pigeons is we can’t trap them and release them somewhere else because they’ll always come back to where they came from,” Nipps said.
After Taylor’s tweet, the airport was answering questions from travelers about the birds on social media and through emails Friday. The traps also were removed from the parking garage.
The airport has been trapping pigeons periodically for years when the populations get too great. Nipps said the pigeons are attracted to the high buildings at the airport.
“They present significant health and safety concerns,” she said.
The pigeons are removed from the traps daily and euthanized. They have access to water while they’re confined, she said.
The airport also uses other measures to control the bird population such as shooting loud cracker shells to scare them away from runways and cutting the grass at a certain angle to not attract too many bugs.
“The population gets worse every couple of years,” Nipps said.
Taylor, who tweeted the photo, said she didn’t take the picture but received it from a friend. Officials with the Tampa airport responded to Taylor’s tweet on Twitter. She was encouraged to call Nipps, who told her she is a bird owner herself.
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.
Hygiene concerns have prompted the Parkes Shire to expand its pigeon control program.
The Council says the birds have moved from an old open cut gold mine near Peak Hill, into the town centre.
The spokesman Stephen Campbell says it is a health concern and many of the eradication strategies previously available are no longer approved.
He said the council would now focus on how many pigeons were at the old water treatment facility.
“It’s just hygiene and maintenance, I guess,” Mr Campbell said.
“They block gutters and other problems but it’s common to a lot of areas and the measures of actually treating the problem are limited, nearly limited to trapping, so it’s a painstaking exercise.”
Mr Campbell said trapping programs would continue.
“We’d be all looking for an easy answer to this problem because I think a lot of towns are suffering from pigeons.
“Out at Peak Hill the re-working of the old mine diggings, I guess, stirred up the pigeons that were roosting there and they’ve sort of moved into town, so over the last few years we’ve been working with a company to try and reduce the problem.”
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.
Hoards of pigeons are damaging homes and creating havoc in Makkah, according to the city’s residents.
Spokesman for Makkah Municipality Osama Zaytooni said a number of residents are complaining that pigeons are ruining their crops and trees, and leaving their droppings in backyards and across rooftops.
“There are pigeons in great numbers almost everywhere you go,” Zaytooni said. “Although some might enjoy the beautiful bird and feed them as they are passing by, most people are fed up with the mess pigeons leave behind.”
He added that the municipality is also struggling with the problem, as they are creating a mess in Makkah’s streets and parks.
“Every day, we send workers to clean the streets as pigeons leave their droppings, dirtying the streets and ruining the grass in the parks,” Zaytooni said. “It is costing the municipality a lot of money.”
He also said some people have taken matters into their own hands and begun killing pigeons, but the municipality does not condone acts of animal cruelty.
“Some people have set up electric wires on their windowsills to prevent pigeons from nesting there,” Zaytooni said. “Others simply shoo them away and some have hired exterminators. Some would even drive through the middle of a pigeon herd and run over whatever obstructs their way.”
Zaytooni said the municipality has contracted a company to capture the pigeons and not kill them.
“Even though their numbers are destroying the nature of the city, they are still animals and they have their rights.”
Zaytooni said the municipality plans to capture a good number of pigeons to reduce their density and are also investigating a reproduction control strategy to ensure the problem doesn’t recur.
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.
EAST… PEREGRINE STORY… MONDAY 16th NOVEMBER 2015 Pictured is Claire Jenkins who received a littering fine for feeding birds in Swansea city center.
FORT MCMURRAY, Alta. — The Alberta Energy Regulator says it is investigating reports that approximately 30 blue herons have died at an oilsands site.
A news release from the regulator says it has sent staff to the Syncrude Canada Mildred Lake mine site, north of Fort McMurray, to assess the situation.
The cause of the deaths is still under investigation.
Will Gibson, a spokesman for Syncrude Canada, said the company is co-operating with the energy regulator as well as with provincial fish and wildlife officials and Environment Canada.
“We’re investigating this incident to determine what happened,” Gibson said Saturday.
The energy regulator’s incident report web page says Syncrude notified it that the birds were discovered at an “abandoned sump pond” on Friday.
The birds were found near a pump house, but Gibson wasn’t able to say what the pond contained, or whether the birds were coated in oil.
He said 29 birds were found dead. One additional bird was euthanized on the order of Alberta Fish and Wildlife.
Gibson said the bird deterrent system at the facility was fully operational at the time.
The regulator said that wildlife deterrent programs, including those at the Mildred Lake, are inspected regularly to make sure they’re working following previous bird deaths at oilsands facilities.
More than 1,600 ducks died after they landed on a toxic Syncrude tailings pond in northern Alberta in 2008, and the company was fined $3 million.
Two years later, more than 550 birds had to be destroyed when an early winter storm forced them to land on waste ponds belonging to Syncrude and Suncor.
Gibson said the deterrent system uses radar to detect birds. It then activates propane-fired noisemakers as well as mechanical falcons to scare the birds away.
There’s also human staff that will respond if birds are observed in areas of open water, Gibson said.
“We’ve worked at continuously improving our deterrent system,” Gibson said.
According to the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s “Hinterland Who’s Who” website, the overall great blue heron population is healthy and scientists estimate there are tens of thousands of them in Canada.
It says the birds stand over a metre tall with their heads outstretched. Both female and male birds incubate the eggs and feed the young.
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.
Mondovi (WQOW) – Tuesday night, Mondovi City Council will consider a problem dotted with pigeon droppings.
News 18 spoke with the City Administrator Dan Lauersdorf on Monday. He said it’s a continuing problem, and that Mondovi has been dealing with pigeon control for the past 28 years he’s been there.
Lauersdorf also said downtown business owners are sick of seeing pigeons perched on their buildings and sick of the droppings they leave behind. It’s been about five years since the city has tried getting rid of them, like poisoning corn kernels, or setting out decoy owls to scare them away, but the pigeons keep coming back and so do the proposals to get rid of them.
“I got one today, a company that has a machine shoots something in the air that’s supposed to make the pigeons not want to come to that area, it’s made from the skin of grapes,” Lauersdorf added.
Lauersdorf also received a couple proposals to live-trap the birds. Tuesday, the city council will consider all the proposals. A final decision may or may not be made.
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 birds were so brazen during last Saturday’s All-Ireland football quarter-finals that a large flock remained on the pitch for most of both games, moving only when play came their way. Even then, they re-assembled close by.
They returned during the second half of the Kilkenny-Waterford game on Sunday and were joined later in the evening by around 200 seagulls.
A hawk was brought in this week to put the frighteners on the birds as the stadium gears up for two minor hurling semi-finals, followed by the Galway-Tipperary senior showdown, next Sunday.
An on-going seeding programme is the attraction for the pigeons, which enjoy lots of roosting space under the nearby railway bridge.
“Croke Park is a McDonald’s for pigeons at present. We are putting grass seed down on a continuous basis and they like to drop in for a treat. They obviously find it very tasty,” said stadium director Peter McKenna.
Nuisance
“They are a nuisance at any time, let alone on match days. We use a range of deterrents but it can be hard to get rid of pigeons. They get used to the various tricks so we have to keep changing them.”
A live, squawking hawk with a sharp eye and a menacing beak is among the top deterrents – hence his deployment this week as Croke Park gears up for seven successive weekends of All-Ireland hurling, football, camogie and ladies’ football action.
Continuous over-seeding is vital at this time of year to ensure the surface retains its lush surface.
Despite the recent Ed Sheeran concert, the pitch is in excellent condition, with McKenna describing it as “possibly the best it has ever been”.
Maintaining it is a major year-round operation, but it has been made easier in recent weeks by the excellent growing conditions.
“The weather has been ideal. We need to get as much growth as possible all the time so that not only is the surface in perfect conditions for the players, but that it also looks well with the various shades of green we can get on it,” said McKenna.
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 a frenzy of homesteading the first summer I lived back here in my grandmother’s house, I planted four small blueberry bushes. The next summer, a couple of them were about three feet tall, and all four began bearing a cup or so of fruit among them. Every year since, in blueberry season, I would go out and check the berries, determining to pick them the next day. Every year, on the next day, the bushes would be stripped clean.
Lilies
Casa Blanca lilies nipped in the bud. Photo by Diane Blanks.
This year, as the berries began to ripen, I swathed the plants in heavy bird netting and anchored the plastic grid-work down with large galvanized metal staples. When I went out to harvest my crop over the weekend, the bushes were stripped clean. Next to them on the ground were two different kinds of animal droppings, like arrogant messages.
So I went in the house and Googled “animal droppings.” After peering at graphic diagrams of various kinds of scat (as we outdoorsy types call poop), I have now determined that my berries were eaten by Both rabbits and deer. But how they got under the netting I haven’t a clue.
They have also, by the way, nipped all the buds off the roses, lilies and phlox. Judging by the height of the plants, I’m sure the deer are the villains there. They’ve evidently been strolling between my flower beds choosing from the buffet. I am now mixing up the super-vile deer/rabbit repellent mixture that was waiting on the back porch for when I’d used up the vile “putrefied egg” repellant. The label on the new stuff says it will repel elk, too, should any wander into my yard to browse. This is Wawah!
Years ago, Mama had eight large blueberry bushes that my then-husband and I had doggedly moved to her field from a doctor friend’s weekend farm; he was thinning out his rows of plants and offered the bushes to us if we would dig them. Being a frugal type, my mother, instead of buying the pricey bird netting, went to a fabric shop and bought yards and yards of hot pink synthetic dress netting, which was on deep discount because absolutely nobody wanted a prom dress that color. For years thereafter, in blueberry season, the field behind the house boasted a huge, meringue-like froth of hot pink, anchored down by bricks. We picked quarts and quarts of berries. I don’t know if the varmints couldn’t penetrate the netting or if they were repelled by the color, but I may be looking for a fabric shop soon.
I hadn’t heard anybody use the word “puny” (meaning “sickly,” for readers from the flatlands) in everyday conversation in years. Heard it the other day and it sounded Good, sounded like my native tongue. Another phrase I have yet to hear, though, was one my mother was prone to use: “plumb hippoed,” meaning “hypochondriac.” Haven’t heard anyone use that one yet, but I’m waiting for the moment.
The rhythms and cadences of the place names of my native land were, and still are, welcome music to my ears. When I hear Deep Gap, Chestnut Grove, Elk Knob, Meat Camp, Cove Creek, Silverstone, Sugarloaf, Matney, Mabel, Triplett and Zionville, I know I’m where I’m supposed to be. I am centered in the Universe.
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 BARCELONA town is waging war on its pigeon population by taking avian birth control in hand.
In a controversial bid to reduce its pigeon count, Badia del Valles’ town hall is scattering contraceptives to curb the spiralling population.
Automatic dispensers will periodically release 10 grams of Ovistop per bird which operates as birth control for the feathered pests.
Pigeons will be put ‘on the pill’ between July and December, the boom season for breeding, and the project has so far been dubbed effective by town hall sources.
The strategy is expected to reduce the pigeon population to 20% of what it is now over five years.
Since just two birds can give birth to up to 50 pigeons per year, overpopulation has been a growing problem.
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.
AvePro Bird Netting was selected as the primary netting product for the new Melbourne Market Canopies project. One of the largest bird netting projects completed to date in Australia, the work was accomplished by AvePro’s Victoria-based installation team in about 10 weeks. Pest IT Pty Ltd supplied the netting for the project.
The installation team consisting of 15 teams of netting installers worked around the clock while AvePro worked at a feverish pace to keep up with the production and the short procurement time.
The massive Melbourne Market Canopies bird netting project required almost 60,000 square metres of AvePro Deluxe 19mm net and hundreds of thousands of stainless steel fittings as well as 13,000 metres of zipper featuring a custom design. Each of the 250-plus stallholder canopy bays has a 33-metre supporting zipper that allows complete access to the roof mounted cameras, fire services, vents and serviceable fixtures as well as the refrigeration appliances on the roof.
A key objective of the project at the Melbourne Market was to create a bird-free zone to meet the requirements for food safety, cleanliness and hygiene while also reducing maintenance. The AvePro system prevents birds from accessing or roosting above the stallholder canopy bays, truck wash areas and loading docks.
Pest IT supplied the materials, training and design to assist the installation team and the client. Stall holders for both the new Flower Market and Fruit and Vegetable Markets will move into their new AvePro ‘Bird-Free Zone’ when the market opens in August 2015
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.
LINDENHURST, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — An effort to protect pedestrians from pigeon droppings is creating quite a mess on Long Island.
As CBS2’s Jennifer McLogan reported, the Long Island Rail Road put up fish netting below overhead rails, but birds became trapped in the netting and died.
Residents in Lindenhurst complain of the appalling sight as live pigeons are entangled in the tough new netting, even laying eggs on it, McLogan reported.
“That’s messed up. They should at least let them fly away first,” said Brandon Diaz.
Below the LIRR tracks, under the superstructure, several of the birds have already succumbed to the lack of food and inability to free themselves. Smelly carcasses have been spotted on a ledge and in a cage, McLogan reported.
“It is a sin. It shouldn’t be happening. It’s cruelty,” said James Abendolla.
Small business owner T.C. Kross contacted the MTA, enraged over what she called animal abuse.
The agency explained it is doing its best to curb droppings and keep pigeons away from passengers, McLogan reported.
Kross said the pigeons, once heralded as military messengers during World War I and II, don’t deserve to suffer.
“Netting over a live animal so they die of dehydration and starvation, that’s not OK,” said Kross.
Locals contacted pigeon experts seeking advice and alternatives were suggested, including spikes and egg sterilization, McLogan reported.
“I’m shocked too because basically we called the MTA in regards to the problem we have with the pigeons,” said Lindenhurst Mayor Thomas Brennan. “They put up these nets, which were horrendous, and now they want us to clean it up.”
The MTA is now accepting responsibility — and getting an earful from residents worried about their health from inhaling dried bird droppings.
“It’s airborne, so you don’t know if you’re gonna get sick or not. We have animals up there that are dying and eating each other and eating their eggs, and it’s just not right,” said Lauraine Ippolo.
The MTA said the pigeons will be released from the netting. A clean up is now underway and a new plan to keep the pigeons at bay is in the works, McLogan reported.
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’S A REASON Woody Allen once dubbed pigeons the rats of the sky. They’re filthy. They poop on everything, and that stuff can carry disease. And they pester you mercilessly, especially when you’re just trying to eat a sandwich. Everyone knows they’re gross.
Well, almost everyone. Photographer Mårten Lange loves them, and says pigeons aren’t the problem, cities are. “Pigeons are dirty because cities are dirty,” says Lange, whose book, Citizen, features striking black-and-white portraits of Columba livia domestica. “So if you find them disgusting, look around you.”
The Swedish photographer, who has made similarlystunning portraits of crows in Tokyo, started photographing pigeons while living in London last year. He was drawn to how they struggle, much like humans, to overcome the challenges of a hostile cityscape. Each day presents a number of dangers: flying into a window, being eaten by a cat, losing a toe to those bits of string that always seem to wind around their feet. “These birds are very often quite beat up, dirty, crippled and just sad, but they never give up,” he says.
Click to Open Overlay GalleryCitizen, Études Books, 2015. MÅRTEN LANGE
Though pigeons typically gather in flocks, Lange shot them individually using a long lens to blur the background and an on-camera flash to make the birds look like cut-outs. Given that pigeons are essentially fearless, getting close was no problem. “The flash would make them twitch sometimes, but they were quite indifferent to being photographed,” Lange says.
The whimsical portraits look like they were made in a studio. Each bird appears surprisingly unique and regal, its eyes and gestures communicating emotions like fear, anger, playfulness, and contentment. You almost expect them to talk. “They are individuals,” Lange says, “just like us.”
Maybe he’s right. Pigeons are pretty smart, after all. And they’re industrious, capable of finding their way home across great distances—a trait that made them particularly useful for communication during the First and Second World Wars. Charles Darwin and Nikola Tesla both loved them. And they can actually be quite beautiful, as Lange’s photographs show. But the photographer isn’t trying to make anyone love pigeons, only appreciate them as something more than flying rats. “I’m just pointing to a correlation between our lives and theirs,” he says. “Our habitat is their habitat.”
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.
Downtown Chicago, where I spend most of my time, has beggars on nearly every corner.
Many of them have regular perches, like fishermen with favorite spots. Others, more creative – and usually more crafty – seem to wander around instead. But except for the licensed sellers of Streetwise and a truly unfortunate few, most of them are hustlers.
The legless Viet Nam veteran whose bare stumps stick out beneath his shorts as he sits, head hung in discouragement, at the corner of Adams and LaSalle Streets is truly unfortunate, a man who gave his legs for a country that turned its back on him when he came home from an unpopular war.
So is the rather lively but elderly fellow who stands outside the Walgreen’s at 200 West Adams Street cheerily chirping “have a nice day’ to all who pass, hoping without asking that someone will slip him a few bucks to help him through the day. It seems likely he is mentally challenged.
But most of the rest I encounter are frauds and tricksters.
Take, for example (please!) the ubiquitous white college-age beggars who prop themselves against lampposts with hand-lettered “homeless” signs while drinking their morning Starbuck’s coffees and reading their Kierkegaard and Karl Marx. If they’re not college students raising beer money or leftovers from the last Lollapalooza, Grateful Dead concert, or “Occupy” protest then I’ll eat the “School of the Art Institute” T-shirts right off their backs.
Some panhandlers are quite creative, even entertaining. A roving trickster most often seen in the vicinity of South Michigan Avenue does quite a good Shakespeare rendition while greeting potential victims with a flourish and a “Greetings, kind sir! Prithee, may I have word with you?”
Perhaps my favorite, for their brazenness and gall, are those who approach with the desperate plea: “I don’t want your money; may I please just ask you a question?” “Sure, what’s your question?” “May I please have some money?” No, you may not.
I’ve been taken in more than a few times, though, because I’m what you might deride as a “compassionate” conservative. Although I truly believe that it’s better to teach someone how to fish than simply to give him one, I’ll sometimes give a hungry person a fish nonetheless. Almost always I regret it later. For the more elaborate the story, the more likely it isn’t true.
A young, tall African-American clad in red and white basketball warm-ups and size sixteen shoes approached me one cold, dark Christmas Eve, tears streaming down his obviously distressed face. “What’s wrong with people in this town?” he lamented. “Everybody sees a seven foot tall black man approaching them and they run away.” I didn’t.
His spiel was that he’d missed the University of Oklahoma basketball team bus back to Norman after a game in Chicago and needed $85.00 to get home for the holidays. Of course, he would repay me once he got there. He was tall enough and wearing the right colors, but when I tried to flag down a passing police cruiser to help out, he bolted. According to that evening’s sports roundup, the Oklahoma Sooners were playing in the Chaminade Classic in Honolulu , 4246 miles away from Chicago.
Another supposed college student, an agitated young white man, insisted one Labor Day weekend evening that his wallet had been stolen when he fell asleep on the CTA. He, too, needed cash to get home, in this case for a train to South Bend to meet his father who would drive him back to Indiana University. He even had a police report documenting the supposed robbery.
I left him with the doorman in my building lobby while I called the local precinct, which verified that a person by that name had indeed filed such a report. A quick Internet search revealed an IU student by that name. Still, I knew almost immediately that I’d been taken from the look in his eyes and the speed with which he fled when he grabbed the $70.00 from my hands. A week or so later a Chicago Tribune columnist wrote about having been taken in by the exact same scam.
I could tell you about the pregnant woman and her husband who’d been burned out of their home (he had scorch marks on his had to prove it) for whom I bought $60.00 worth of groceries, the fellow with the scar on his forearm just out of prison who took me for $40.00 for the magazine subscriptions that never arrived, or the kid with the fake UNICEF ID who scowled when I gave him a check (which never cleared) instead of cash when he came collecting door-to-door. I could even tell you about the construction worker who needed fifty or sixty bucks to get home because his truck had blown its starter – three nights in a row – but I won’t.
Just don’t feed the pigeons when you come to Chicago, especially if they’ve got a story to sell. You might just turn out to be one.
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.
Birds of prey are to be used to scare nuisance seagulls and other pest scavenger birds away from a Galway landfill site.
The problem of seagulls and other pest birds is so great at the East Galway Landfill in Kilconnell, Galway County Council is looking for birds of prey to aid in curbing the nuisance.
The local authority has sought tenders for bird control services at the landfill site near Ballinasloe. The successful bidder will be asked to use deterrents, including birds of prey such as falcons and eagles, “to deter pest bird species form causing nuisance at the landfill site”.
In conjunction with the use of birds of prey, artificial deterrents such as balloons, kites and distress callers will be used to combat the problem of nuisance birds at the landfill.
The deterrents must be used when the contractor is on site, and when the contractor is not on site in order to comply with bird control conditions set-out in the waste licence for the facility.
Using birds of prey is considered an environmentally friendly way of combating the problem of seagulls and pest birds at landfill sites.
Gulls and other birds feeding at landfill waste sites can cause problems for neighbours of the site as well as to people working at the landfill, and flight paths.
According to the County Council, the successful company must fly birds of prey as a deterrent at the site every day that the contractor is present.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, scavenger birds such as starlings, crows, blackbirds, and gulls are most commonly associated with active landfills.
They can be a nuisance, transfer pathogens, litter and scraps to neighbouring areas and also be a hazard to aircraft. The EPA said, in its guidelines, that some birds resident on landfills are protected species and this protection must be respected at all times.
In recent weeks seagulls, in particular, have received bad press. In England, gulls have been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reason and the Prime Minister, David Cameron called for a ‘big conversation’ on aggressive menace gulls, which he encounters at Cornwall.
In Ireland, Fianna Fáil senator, Ned O’Sullivan last year said swooping seagulls were a scourge in Dublin, attacking young people and causing a raucous racket at night contributing to residents’ sleep deprivation.
His party colleague in the senate, Denis O’Donovan, last week called for a cull of seagulls because they were becoming a pest and nuisance.
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 downtown area of the city of Fredericton is missing thousands of feathered residents.
Areas that would normally roost hundreds of pigeons are now empty.
The city says it has not worked to remove the birds and says their absence is concerning.
“I haven’t seen too many pigeons around,” said by-law officer Don Veysey who has worked on the by-laws concerning the birds in the past.
“I’ve been checking a few areas around where we have been having problems with pigeons in the past and I’ve noticed that there is just none around.”
Don Veysey
Fredericton bylaw officer Don Veysey has worked on pigeon bylaws in the past. (Shane Fowler/CBC)
Veysey says to his knowledge there has been no major project to rid the downtown of the birds and it may be something the city should look into.
“That is something to be concerned with,” said Veysey. “Pigeons are a natural phenomenon, they’ve been around here for hundreds of years. It could be something of concern.”
Checks in areas that have been traditional habitats for pigeons such as beneath underpasses, the Fredericton grandstands, and harness racing horse barns all turned up empty for the birds.
Residents have noticed the flock missing from city streets and downtown roofs.
“I haven’t seen any pigeons” said Bruce Newman, a local painter and resident of Fredericton for the last 15 years.
“There are usually lots of pigeons downtown but I haven’t seen any. I think it’s pretty unnatural. Something could be going on, but I don’t know what.”
In the four hours CBC spent trying to locate any of the birds in the downtown only seven were spotted in total.
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 were called to the Strip District Friday morning after a clash between an animal rights activist and a man trapping pigeons.
Todd Glotfelty, who calls himself “the bird man of Elliott,” was trapping birds when he was confronted by a woman.
“She accused me of doing all kinds of evil stuff to pigeons. Pigeons are my life. I love pigeons,” said Glotfelty.
According to a police spokesperson, it is legal to trap birds in the city except in a city park.
Councilwoman Darlene Harris told Channel 11’s Rick Earle that she plans to introduce legislation that would ban bird trapping in the city limits.
“I have no idea what happened, but the lady in question got annoyed or very upset because she saw these gentlemen here are claiming to trap birds for wedding releases but they have feral gray pigeons in their van and she was upset,” said Rebecca Reid, a friend of the woman.
Glotfelty said he uses the birds for weddings.
The woman will not face charges related to the confrontation, but she was warned by police to stay away from Glotfelty.
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.
Guards have captured a pigeon flying cocaine and cannabis into a prison in Costa Rica.
La Reforma prison guards in San Rafael de Alajuela, Costa Rica, captured the bird as it flew 14 grams of cocaine and 14 grams of cannabis into the facility stuffed into a pouch attached to its body.
Paul Bertozzi, director of the police, confirmed reports that at around 2pm on Wednesday jailers saw the pigeon flying of the walls and towards the centre of the prison.
A mugshot of the bird, caught by security officers and taken into custody, was released by Costa Rica’s Department of Justice and Peace as a warning to be vigilant for Narcopalomas.
Narcopalomas, loosely translated as ‘drugs doves’, have been used by prisoners and their accomplices in the past– similar birds have been caught in prisons in Colombia, Argentina and even Bosnia.
Mr Bertozzi said the pigeon was “nothing new” and that drug traffickers were using “unimaginable ways to achieve their macabre atrocities”.
“In the past (the traffickers) have used cats and dogs to pass drugs to prisoners. Now it seems they are using pigeons to carry in their wares from the outside,” he told Spanish news agency Efe.
The latest such example hardly surprised prison authorities though: iguanas, dogs and cats have been used in the past to smuggle illegal substances into the jail.
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.
Croke Park hit the headlines recently when the stadium decided to introduce a hawk to get rid of pigeons on the pitch.
Stadium Director at Croke Park Peter McKenna said recently that they’ve been running an acoustic system for a couple of months and that worked very successfully.
“It mimics a hawks cry and the birds disperse but then they become used to it.
“They’re probably not really pigeons either, they’re more kind of vermin. The wood pigeon which is a beautiful bird and probably very timid but these are a quasi-breed.
“All we want to do is scare them away, hopefully they’ll move across to Clonliffe College or some place like that and nest and roost in the trees there,” he said.
Martha Smithers, Stadium Operations at Croke Park, said that anything that can impact the pitch they take seriously.
“The pigeons are always present on the pitch, but the seed is a field day for them; it’s like dinner for them,” she said.
The introduction of a hawk at Croke Park has had an effect on pigeon numbers, Smithers said.
“The hawk has been flying for a while as a deterrent and as a bird of prey there has been a reduction in the numbers of pigeons on the pitch.
“Other methods we use are flying a hawk kite and noise. We’re constantly reseeding and constantly repairing; reseeding is vital at this time of year with the finals,” Smithers said.
With All-Ireland football matches coming up, blanket defences are sure to deter the pigeons and on September 6 at the All-Ireland Hurling Final there will be cats amongst the pigeons!
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
It may sound like something from a 1960s B-film, but a project in North Yorkshire that uses lasers to deter pigeons is proving remarkably successful.
Gavin Milson, project technical assistant at Stockbridge Technology Centre, Cranfield University and high-tech GPS company Manterra reckon that using laser-based bird deterrents could be a cost-effective answer to dealing with the feathered fiends.
The equipment emits a strobing laser – akin to what you might find at a disco – which serves to scare off troublesome birds.
See also: Suffolk farmer battles pigeons with drones
In a Tru-Nject project – a high-tech study designed to investigate soil mapping and fertiliser application – had been set up to in late July this year, 165,000 pointed cabbage were transplanted at a North Yorkshire farm.
Normally the crop would be netted after transplanting, but the project team used a Dutch Agrilaser Autonomic laser, powered by a solar panel and deep-cycle gel battery.
Mr Milson is delighted with the outcome.
“This novel piece of technology appears to have effectively protected the cabbages.
“Its potential for bird control in field vegetables has generated significant interest and is threatening to emerge as a major, albeit unexpected, output from the project.
“Whilst light bird damage has been noted on selected plants in some isolated areas of the crop, complete loss of any individual plant to birds has not” Gavin Milson, Stockbridge Technology Centre
“Whilst light bird damage has been noted on selected plants in some isolated areas of the crop, complete loss of any individual plant to birds has not.
“Indeed, the vast majority of plants have received no unwanted attention from pigeons at all.”
The Tru-Nject team are now discussing plans to fully test the system in an oilseed rape crop later this year, comparing laser-protected crops to unprotected control crops.
It is hoped that this will provide even stronger evidence that the Agrilaser can function as a stand-alone option to manage bird damage in field crops.
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 fence looks like it belongs in a maximum-security prison – but was in fact designed by Tiggly the cat’s neighbour to stop the feline straying next door.
Chinese authorities placed live rabbits, pigeons and chickens near the Tianjin blast site in an effort to calm the public who were worried about the presence of poisonous chemicals in the area. The animals and bird were alive for more than two hours, Reuters reported.
Much goes into maintaining the grounds and operations of a major airport that typical travelers don’t see. One of those is managing bird populations.
Hygiene concerns have prompted the Parkes Shire to expand its pigeon control program.
Hoards of pigeons are damaging homes and creating havoc in Makkah, according to the city’s residents.
Mondovi (WQOW) – Tuesday night, Mondovi City Council will consider a problem dotted with pigeon droppings.
The birds were so brazen during last Saturday’s All-Ireland football quarter-finals that a large flock remained on the pitch for most of both games, moving only when play came their way. Even then, they re-assembled close by.
A BARCELONA town is waging war on its pigeon population by taking avian birth control in hand.
AvePro Bird Netting was selected as the primary netting product for the new Melbourne Market Canopies project. One of the largest bird netting projects completed to date in Australia, the work was accomplished by AvePro’s Victoria-based installation team in about 10 weeks. Pest IT Pty Ltd supplied the netting for the project.
LINDENHURST, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — An effort to protect pedestrians from pigeon droppings is creating quite a mess on Long Island.
THERE’S A REASON 
Downtown Chicago, where I spend most of my time, has beggars on nearly every corner.
Police were called to the Strip District Friday morning after a clash between an animal rights activist and a man trapping pigeons.
Guards have captured a pigeon flying cocaine and cannabis into a prison in Costa Rica.
Croke Park hit the headlines recently when the stadium decided to introduce a hawk to get rid of pigeons on the pitch.
It may sound like something from a 1960s B-film, but a project in North Yorkshire that uses lasers to deter pigeons is proving remarkably successful.