Pigeons in the News Archives - Pigeon Patrol Canada - Bird Control Products & Services

Bird poo does not destroy your car’s paint… at least not by itself

Every summer we’re stuck with the same dilemma. We can park the car out in the sun, which will inevitably will lead to scorching hot interior temperatures.

The alternative is to park under a shady tree, where birds will undoubtedly poop all over our freshly washed ride.

We usually opt for the sun out of auto vanity,

but at least we don’t have to worry about bird poop messing with the paint.

We’ve heard that acid from the bird droppings is the reason for the doo-doo perforations, but a study by UK car care experts Autoglym reveals that the excrement is only part of the problem.

The real culprit is the sun, which expands and warms the paint on your vehicle.

When the sun hits that bird poop, the poo hardens at the same time the paint expands.

When the sun sets and the vehicle cools, the paint then contracts and forms itself around the hardened crap.

If a bird does his or her business on your vehicle, the best thing to do is remove it, and fast.

A moist cloth will do the trick in most instances, or if you’re not into close encounters of the rectal kind, you could also hit the car wash.

We would go into more detail, but we’re thinking that’s enough excrement talk for one day

About Pigeon Patrol

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.

Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Seagull Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den, Canada bird spikes, Canada pigeon, pigeon control, pidgon patrol, pidgon. Kill pigeons, crow, starling

What’s the deal with Pigeon Poop?

Workers need PPE to protect against all kinds of hazards. Of course, your employees probably don’t need protection against pigeon poop. But since you never know…

City employees need to access a confined space in a pedestrian bridge to work on an electrical conduit. Pigeons have gotten into this space, leaving feces and other debris. What PPE should these employees be provided?

Our high-flying experts informed the questioner that pigeon droppings can expose workers to serious conditions, including histoplasmosis and cryptococcosis. Citing a NIOSH publication, they noted that disposable protective clothing and shoe coverings should be worn whenever regular work clothing and shoes might be contaminated with dust-containing, disease-carrying spores. Wearing such clothing can reduce or eliminate the likelihood of transferring spore-contaminated dust to places away from work, like a car or one’s home.

When spore-contaminated material is likely to fall from overhead, NIOSH recommends that workers wear disposable protecting clothing with hoods. They should also use disposable shoe coverings with ridged soles made of slip-resistant material to reduce the likelihood of slipping on wet or dusty surfaces.

After working in such an environment and before removing respirators, personnel should remove all protective clothing and shoe coverings and seal them in heavy-duty plastic bags for disposal in a landfill.

Using the proper PPE to tackle pigeon poop in a confined space can impede essential sweat evaporation. NIOSH recommends taking precautions to control heat stress in these situations. For example, when protective clothing is needed, wearing a lightweight, cotton coverall would create less of a heat-stress risk than wearing a chemical-resistant suit. Workers should know the symptoms of heat-stress-related conditions and be able to take measures before serious problems develop.

About Pigeon Patrol

Officials investigating the deadly Minneapolis bridge collapse are looking at an unlikely culprit: pigeons.

Thirteen people were killed and 145 were injured in the August 1, 2007, Minnesota bridge collapse.

Image & Story from CNN

Of all the possible causes of the deadly collapse of Minnesota’s Interstate 35W bridge earlier this month– uneven traffic patterns, de-icing salts, faulty construction–the latest is the most surprising: Pigeons. Or more precisely, the waste the birds leave behind. “Pigeon dung can be a serious issue–it’s acidic and will easily eat away almost any metal,” explains engineer William Schutt, president of Matcor, a corrosion protection firm in Doylestown, Pa. “It can wash into and then rust the bolts and rivets of bridges if they’re not cleaned and checked properly.” The build-up of pigeon excrement on the I-35W bridge was substantial enough to be noted in several Minnesota Department of Transportation inspections over the years, pointing to the steel box sections of the bridge as a popular nesting spot. Those sections are crucial to supporting the structure, and in 1999 bridge workers placed plastic screens over openings in the beams in an effort to repel the birds. But the dung continued to pile up. A 2006 inspection of the bridge still reported “severe pigeon debris” on its steel deck truss. Corrosive pigeon dung also made it hard for bridge inspectors to do their work. Three experts familiar with the I-35W bridge told the Minneapolis Star Tribune that some of the impediments to inspections of the collapsed bridge included piles of pigeon dung, poor lighting, road rage (commuters upset with delays were known to insult inspectors and even occasionally throw objects at them) and spider webs that could resemble metal cracks.

About Pigeon Patrol

Pigeon problem

Feral pigeons cause damage to property. Pigeons roost on ledges and sloping roofs.

They:

destroy insulation
deface surfaces
block pipes and gutters with droppings. Their droppings are acidic and eat away at buildings and machinery, which can lead to secondary damage such as wet rot

Pigeons also carry diseases which can prove fatal for humans and pose serious risks to public health, with the young and the old being especially vulnerable, such as:

psittacosis, a type of pneumonia, which can kill
candida albicans which can be the cause of skin diseases
shigella species causes vomiting and diarrhoea
ornithosis, a flu-like disease borne by birds
chiamdiosis, a virus similar to influenza
campylobacter coli, which may cause food poisoning
pigeon droppings and dead carcasses can contain a variety of mites and insects which can cause allergic reactions in humans

A pigeon’s perspective

Although feeding pigeons might appear to be a kind act, it is not. Food such as bread and cake gives them diarrhoea and induces vitamin B and calcium deficiency. Vitamin B deficiency can cause paralysis in pigeons. Pigeons are scavengers and are well equipped to find their own sources of food.

Food supplied by the public leads to the arrival of more pigeons and increased breeding rates. Feral pigeons deprive other birds of food and spread mites and other parasites throughout their ever-increasing number of breeding sites.

Licensed pest control contractors need to be hired to exterminate and control pigeons. The kindest and most economic way of achieving this is to allow pigeons to continue their natural feeding habits by taking away their dependence on food from people.

Rats

When food is left out for pigeons it is also left for rats. As with pigeons, the more food rats have access to, the more they will breed. Rats are a major health hazard. They contaminate human food with:

their droppings
urine
hair

They are the carriers of many diseases eg. Weil’s disease and salmonellosis. Rats also cause structural damage. They burrow under the foundations of buildings and damage drains and sewers. They also gnaw through electrical cables which is a fire hazard.

What can you do?

avoid feeding pigeons and allow them to pursue a natural life of foraging for food
food litter should never be left on the ground
ensure that all food waste is contained within enclosed waste bins
if you wish to feed birds, prepare birdseed and place on bird tables where a variety of species can gain access
it is sometimes possible to scare pigeons away letting them know that a location is not a suitable nesting site. Placing a piece of string with silver foil attached in the allotted area has worked in some instances

Professional pest controllers may be able to prevent pigeons landing on roofs, balconies and other areas by utilizing many of the products available in pigeon proofing.

Bacteriological survey of feces from feral pigeons in Japan.

Some public areas in Japan such as parks and gardens can be highly contaminated with pigeon feces. We examined levels of four bacterial contaminations in fecal samples from feral pigeons in 7 prefectures. We isolated Salmonella Typhimurium and S. Cerro from 17 (3.9%) of 436 samples, as well as Mycobacterium spp. including M. avium-intracellulare complex from 29 (19.0%) of 153 samples. The polymerase chain reaction detected Chlamydia psittaci and C. pecorum in 106 (22.9%) of 463 samples, but E. coli O-157 was not isolated from any of the samples. Our results indicate that pigeon feces are a source of several zoonotic agents for birds, animals and humans.

Pigeons in japan

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.

Elise Stolte: Gleaning wisdom from an ancient approach to pigeon poop

We call them flying rats and we trap, poison or push the nuisance birds away from bridges and the ledges of downtown buildings.

But perhaps pigeons are just misunderstood. At least, that’s what a group of university researchers think. They’re testing a new, er, old approach, really, to the problem of pigeon poop.

By this time next year, they’ll have at least one attractive stone “pigeon cote” to house the birds, attracting them to one place in order to concentrate the poop and use it as fertilizer. It works with nature, rather than controlling it, and aims to restore an ancient, mutually-beneficial relationship that modern society simply forgot.

Yuck. Yes, I know. But intriguing as well. As city council heads into a week full of tough environmental decisions, I wonder if there’s a broader wisdom here that can help.

But first, these pigeons.

Pigeons really are the flying kings of poop. One study found they poop up to 40 times a day, although English researcher Kristine Kowalchuk would put that closer to 10, based on what she saw from a rescued baby pigeon.

She was walking out of the Art Gallery of Alberta one afternoon in the spring of 2016 when she found the tiny bird sitting quietly in the gutter. She picked it up, carried it home and raised it in her spare room until it was too big and messy to keep any longer.

That’s what got her thinking about pigeons, and the many references to squab (young pigeon) and the excellence of pigeon droppings as fertilizer she found littered throughout 17th century cookbooks and farming manuals during her English PhD.

It turns out farmers across Europe and North Africa would create large houses for free-ranging pigeons in fields or above their homes so that the birds would roost in one spot. That way both the young birds and poop could be harvested.

A pigeon cote in the Cottswolds region of England. Researcher Kristine Kowalchuk has been studying the role cotes played in a previous mutually-beneficial relationship between pigeons and humans. KRISTINE KOWALCHUK

Now Kowalchuk and several other University of Alberta researchers (an environmental sociologist, a philosopher and a professor of art and design) are using a $7,500 grant to build their own pigeon cote. It’s being built on a farm near Camrose because none of the five organizations with pigeon problems they contacted here in the city would entertain the idea.

They’re hoping a year observing the cote in action will change attitudes.

“We have so many misconceptions and cultural bias,” says Kowalchuk, citing studies measuring the risk of getting sick from being around the poop as tiny, akin to getting sick from a pet dog or breaking a leg from slipping on a dandelion. The person shovelling it out periodically would simply wear a mask.

Plus, the cote itself doesn’t increase populations; only feeding them does that, she says. “Our parks and flower beds could all benefit. … Another way of looking at pigeons is entirely possible.”

I love the simplicity of Kowalchuk’s approach. I love the way it turns our pigeon problem on its head, resets a relationship.

That’s why I’ll be pondering pigeons as council wrestles with the environment file next week: first with its greenhouse gas reduction targets on Tuesday, then with waste management Thursday and a proposed ban on single-use plastics.

Because pigeon control isn’t the only area where humans expect we can control and build our way out of a mess with technology. We pave large parking lots and wonder why we have flooding. We cut trees and seem puzzled at the heat and dust of the city. We set out one big bag of all our trash and wonder why garbage fees keep rising.

I don’t think a single-use plastic ban will help much. It’s too narrow and complicated to administer. I’d rather see small fees for bags at the grocery store combined with measures that actually change a culture — like neighbourhood-level composting with free soil in exchange for yard waste drop-offs.

As for curbing carbon emissions, city officials have a long list of actions needed, from incentivizing electric cars to expanding district energy. But I don’t think technology is enough to solve this issue, not without a cultural change. Perhaps the lessons of pigeon poop will help there, too.

[email protected]

About Pigeon Patrol:

The pigeon prohibition will come into effect May 2020.

The 3,400 kg chandelier had been affixed days earlier by a web of thin metal cables to the underside of Vancouver’s Granville St. Bridge, a space that has long been an unwelcoming dead zone. Despite its heft, the translucent sculpture looks ethereal against the towering cement bridge supports. A crowd had gathered, not so much to hear renowned Vancouver conceptual artist Rodney Graham thank Isaac Newton for inspiring the piece he calls Spinning Chandelier, developer Ian Gillespie who bankrolled the $4.8 million sculpture or the many crafts people at the artists’ foundry in Walla Walla, Wash. who constructed it from more than 600 polyurethane crystals and stainless steel. They were waiting for the moment when the chandelier would be illuminated, slowly descend and then spin before rising again to its resting spot with lights off: a cycle it will repeat twice a day.

When the switch was flicked, Spinning Chandelier lit up like the 200-year-old French chandelier upon which it was modelled. There were cheers from the well turned out audience, who looked to be mostly neighbourhood folk living in condominiums, many with views of nearby False Creek.

One woman in a full-length fur coat admired the artwork but wondered how they would control pigeon droppings which are the bane of artists world-wide. Claud Brunelle who has lived in the area for more than 20 years applauded the sculpture which will be the centrepiece of an artsy gathering space—eventually photographs will be projected against the bridge struts—edged by shops and cafes. “We never really had anything down here. Now we are getting a grocery store and a London Drugs. This is going to revitalize the whole area.”

Of course, this being Vancouver where the gap between rich and poor is widening, not everyone is as enthusiastic about this or any other move that smacks of gentrification. Backlash against the sculpture erupted before the official unveiling from people, mostly on the political left, who hadn’t yet seen it. In part it was a reaction to the high cost of the sculpture which fulfilled Gillespie’s public art contribution for a luxury tower called Vancouver House adjacent to the bridge. The city requires developers to contribute $1.2 million toward public art for developments over 100,000 square feet, says Erick Fredericksen, Vancouver’s head of public art. In this case, Gillespie was permitted to bundle his art contribution from Vancouver House and three other developments to pay for Graham’s signature piece.

The disapprobation is exacerbated by the location and symbolism of the chandelier—a vision of opulence in the type of space where homeless people seek shelter. When the first photographs of the artwork appeared, Twitter erupted with critiques from Vancouver’s left pointing out the sculpture is only a few kilometres from a downtown park where homeless people have been living in a tent city for more than a year. Among those voices was Carrie Bercic, a city activist and former school trustee. “It really breaks my heart,” she says. “I’m certainly in favour of public art and I’m in no way disparaging the obvious talent of this artist.” But in a city facing an opioid and homelessness crisis, it’s money that could be put to better use, she says. “It looks like a symbol of disparity between the haves and have nots in this city.”

Critics like Bercic are unmoved or perhaps don’t know that in addition to the public art contribution, Gillespie’s company Westbank was required by the city to build 106 units of rental housing and contributed $17 million in community amenity contributions and development cost charges in exchange for rezoning the Vancouver House site. The city can use that money to help pay for social housing, childcare spaces, heritage conservation and cultural facilities, to name a few.

Still, there those in Vancouver who won’t cut Gillespie any slack, regardless of his contributions. A collector of couture gowns who muses poetic about the value of beauty, Gillespie often faces backlash from Vancouverites priced out of the housing market over the past decade. In lefty circles his name is synonymous with the boom in luxury condos, which he unabashedly markets to overseas buyers who in turn are blamed for pushing up property values.

Since 2000, the value of Vancouver real estate has increased by more than 300 per cent. And the benchmark price of a detached home in the city, although lower than it was last year, is still $1.2 million. Although there are plenty of other developers building luxury condos and selling into the same market, Gillespie gets more than his share of the flack probably because he is one of the most successful. He defends his buildings and the art in and around them as beautiful and important cultural additions to the city and blames government inaction, not foreign buyers, for the city’s lack of affordable housing.

Fredericksen points out the city has an art committee that vets public art projects, but the whole process takes a fairly hands-off approach. He says developing the nowhere land under Granville Bridge mirrors an international trend of cities trying to make better use of the unused space under bridges and freeways. New York has been working on uses for space under elevated portion of FDR Drive and Seattle has built dog and skateboard parks beneath an elevated section of the I-5.

There is, he points out, another way to look at the transformative effect the city hopes Spinning Chandelier will have on the space under the Granville Bridge. “It’s a big move to point to this very industrial infrastructural landscape as public realm.” Part of what a chandelier hung under there does, he says, is domesticate the space, albeit in a “really scaled up sort of way.”

About Pigeon Patrol:

A man feeding pigeons in downtown

A man feeding pigeons in downtown Vancouver.

Earlier this year, she had at least three conversations with fellow Councillor Lisa Muri regarding pigeons, according to emails. In July, she asked Muri to pass a bylaw to outlaw them, according to an email obtained by CBC.“I have a pool that pigeons fly over and poop as well as flying and roosting on the rest of my property,” she wrote July 6. A few days later, Muri requested staff ban pigeons from the district.

Staff would later tell council they knew of only one person in the district who had pigeons, Dulay, and only one person had filed a recent complaint, Forbes.

That didn’t stop council voting 4-2 for the ban in November. Forbes recused herself, declaring a conflict of interest, but she still might’ve breached B.C.’s Community Charter that prohibits councillors from influencing council votes, recommendations or decisions.

At a Nov. 2018 council meeting, Forbes made her first public statement regarding the controversy.

“It has always been my intention to act with integrity in the best interest of the district both as a private citizen and as a councillor,” she said. “If I have erred in anyway, I assure council and the community that it was done inadvertently and in good faith with my understanding, as a new councillor, of the conflict of interest rules.”

We feel this is a corrupt way of passing bylaws. Givo Hasko, pigeon breeder

She called for more conflict of interest training for councillors. Droves of concerned citizens also spoke.

“I am passionate about transparency and trying to work things out as neighbours,” said Dulay’s neighbour Krista Page, who came out in support of the family. “I just feel this is very much a misuse of power.” Givo Hasko has been breeding, showing and rescuing pigeons for a decade. He told council “We are here for a love of pigeons. We feel this is a corrupt way of passing bylaws.”

Others were concerned about pigeons causing damage with their frequent acidic poops, and the possibility they could spread disease. Corrie Kost said his parents final years in their lake-side apartment would’ve been more pleasant if it weren’t for the pigeons pestering them.

About Pigeon Patrol:

Kulwant Dulay is pictured in his pigeon coop

Forbes recused herself from the vote because of a conflict of interest. Before being elected, she had made several complaints to staff about the pigeons and said they had damaged her lawn, and in 2017 spoke at a public hearing and said they could impact her property values.

But according to Freedom of Information documents, after Forbes was elected — but before she was officially sworn in — she sent an email to city staff complaining about the situation and asking for action. In recent months she also exchanged emails with the councillor who put forward the pigeon ban motion about the situation.

In praise of pigeons: Enthusiast chirps the praises of ‘troublesome’ birdThe new information has prompted the two councillors who voted against the ban to ask for a reconsideration — which would require a request from either Mike Little or one of the three councillors who voted in favour of it.

“There was clearly some background information we didn’t know,” said Jordan Back.”I’d like to have a better understanding as to why [Forbes] thought it was OK to use her position to bring forward a personal matter. I don’t think it’s appropriate, and I think we’ve heard widespread feedback from the community that they don’t think it’s appropriate.”

Forbes has ultimately declined multiple requests for an interview by CBC News, but through a spokesperson indicated she would make a statement at Monday’s council meeting and speak to the media afterwards.As for Hassko? He says he’ll also be at Monday’s meeting, with a clear message for the district.

“Something does smell fowl here, and it’s not the pigeons.”

About Pigeon Patrol:

Stop the pigeons!

Stop the pigeons! Birds fed birth-control drug at SkyTrain station to reduce population

Pigeons can seem pretty innocuous in the city, but according to TransLink, the birds can cause all kinds of problems along the SkyTrain system. Now, along with the BC SPCA, TransLink is testing a birth control drug on the birds to reduce the population. To start, there’s the issue of poop. CBC News first reported in December that pigeon droppings had dogged the transit authority as it prepared to open a new platform at the Commercial-Broadway station. TransLink has a poopy pigeon problem on its hands at new Expo Line platform

The problems don’t just revolve around the nasty mess. According to TransLink, pigeons can interfere with the transportation system, causing SkyTrain delays when they trigger track intrusion alarms, and automatic brakes are activated. TransLink has tried to discourage the birds from roosting in its stations. The spikes installed along perches didn’t do it. Nor did low-voltage strips or netting. According to TransLink, a falconer has been hired to make the rounds at pigeon-plagued stations to scare off the birds. But according to spokesperson Jill Drews, what’s needed is a long term solution. Along with the BC SPCA, TransLink is testing a feeding system that distributes corn laced with a contraceptive called OvoControl. Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with BC SPCA shows the feeding unit placed at the VCC-Clark SkyTrain station. (Michaële Perron-Langlais/CBC) The drug has to be eaten daily to keep the pigeons from laying fertilized eggs, and its effects are reversible.”We’re going to be working with the SPCA here at VCC-Clark for a few weeks and determine the effectiveness and hopefully roll out the feeders at other stations soon,” said Drews.

‘Disruptive and inconvenient’: Granville SkyTrain station escalator shutdown to last 2 years According to Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with BC SPCA, the drug breaks down in the pigeons’ blood stream and won’t affect any predators that may eat the birds, nor any mammals in the area. “It’s safe; it’s not toxic. It was approved by Health Canada last year. We’ve been waiting for several years for it to come to Canada,” said Dubois. Pigeons seem harmless, but according to TransLink they’re a big problem. Their droppings make a mess of transit platforms, and they can trigger intrusion alarms, causing trains to automatically brake, leading to delays. (Rafferty Baker/CBC) “The goal’s not to get rid of pigeons, the goal is to manage the pigeon situation to the point where it’s not causing problems for TransLink,” she said. Dubois said the results of the pilot program will be carefully tracked, both in terms of whether the birds are consuming the drugged food, but also the number of track intrusion alarms set off by pigeons. Drews said that people are partly to blame for the number of pigeons around SkyTrain stations.

“We would like to tell our customers that we would really like it if they stop feeding birds near our stations,” she said. “It isn’t good for the pigeons — they’re best off to find their own natural food — and it isn’t good for our customers, because it caused delays and unsightly health hazard mess in our stations.” With files from Michaële Perron-Langlais. Follow Rafferty Baker on Twitter: @raffertybaker

About Pigeon Patrol:

An Aerial view The City’s downtown core in Regina,

An Aerial view The City’s downtown core in Regina, SK. on Thursday, August 22, 2013. Salthaven West director of rehabilitation, Megan Lawrence, believes some downtown businesses may be putting out poison to deter pigeons. Several Regina pest control companies contacted by the Leader-Post said they do offer Avitrol, but it can only be administered in commercial and industrial areas and isn’t for retail sale. A trained pest control employee must administer it.

Instead of poison, Lawrence recommends removing structures where pigeons could roost and screen off air conditioning units where they might drink water from. Bristling wires, which prevent pigeons from landing, can also be purchased from a pest control retailer and installed.“If they’re up on the roof and you start seeing them build nest, remove all nesting materials,” she said. “The more times that happens they’re going to realize this isn’t a place (they can) nest.”

Saskatoon woman says people may be using neurotoxin to poison local pigeons

A Saskatoon woman who helps restore injured birds to health is calling on the City of Saskatoon to help curb a trend she says concerns her. Jan Shadick runs Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation. She says that since Jan. 1, people have called her about 35 dead pigeons.

Rate of ‘kidnapped’ baby hares a concern in Saskatoon Based on the symptoms described, Shadick says she “strongly suspects” most of those birds were poisoned.

“The pigeons are convulsing. They’re having seizures,” she said. “One woman contacted me about a dead pigeon in her yard. I think it was in a flower pot and she was concerned because her dog goes out in the yard.” “It’s an animal. It’s a life. And I don’t think it should suffer,” said Shadick. (Guy Quenneville/CBC) Shadick said she believes a particular neurotoxin used to repel birds is to blame. In a public letter to city councillors, she said Saskatoon Light and Power has used that neurotoxin in the past. Brendan Lemke, the acting director of Saskatoon Light and Power, said, “SL&P does not use poison to kill pigeons in or around its substations. “It has, in the past and consistent with best practices, retained the expertise of pest control experts which have used widely accepted chemical repellents for pigeon control, but SL&P has not used those products or services since 2017.” Shadick wants the city to ban use of the product by anyone in the city.

“It’s an animal. It’s a life. And I don’t think it should suffer,” Shadick said Thursday as she grasped a dead pigeon wrapped in a plastic baggie.

Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Environment said it has not granted a permit for the use of the neurotoxin and would only do so “in exceptional circumstances.”

About Pigeon Patrol:

The Pigeon Poop Station Saga

The Pigeon Poop Station Saga: Bird Pooping On Lawmaker’s Head Seems To Catch Local Leaders’ Attention

HICAGO (CBS) — The CBS 2 Morning Insiders got the scoop on the poop heard ’round the world.

Our video showed a pigeon relieving itself on an Illinois lawmaker as he talked about a problem at the Irving Park Blue Line station. It got international attention, but more importantly, it seems to have caught the eye of leaders locally.

CBS 2’s Lauren Victory met back up with Illinois state Rep. Jaime Andrade (D-Chicago) for this latest report. This time, they shot their interview strategically, given that a pigeon pooped on Andrade’s head as they spoke last time.

RELATED: State Rep. Searches For Funds To Clean Up Irving Park ‘Pigeon Poop Station,’ Gets Pooped On During Interview | ‘It Stinks To High Heaven’: No Solution In Sight For Pigeon Poop Problem At Irving Park Blue Line Stop

Victory: “Did you ever think that a pigeon would get you name recognition?”

Andrade: “Not that much. Not at this level.”

At the Kennedy Expressway underpass at Irving Park Road, where the entrance to the Blue Line station is located, the pigeons’ waste, feathers, and filth create a gross hopscotch game for commuters.

Last time, of course, Andrade couldn’t dodge said pigeons. The pigeon pooping video clip made headlines across the city, the country, and even the ocean.

“Farthest place I’ve heard so far is Spain,” Andrade said.

His feces fame is not for naught. Andrade said he spotted men in yellow vests hard at work after our most recent story aired.

“They said they were out here taking measurements from one of the agencies,” Andrade said. “I’ve been trying to get a real cost, price for over a year. You do the story and they’re out here, measurements just within a few days?”

The Chicago Transit Authority said it sent Landmark Pest Management crews to remove garbage from pigeon netting. As to whether they are working on something long-term, the CTA refused to say.

So Victory decided to learn more about Landmark. Its parent company, ABC Humane Wildlife Control and Prevention, is hired by several departments in Chicago and at the state level.

Landmark President Rebecca Fyffe told Victory that a city contract prevents her from speaking specifically about plans for the Irving Park station. But she pointed CBS 2 to her company’s pigeon abatement work at the Lawrence Red Line station in 2010.

Today, that area is fairly clean by city standards.

CBS 2 is told that Ald. James Cappleman (46th) pushed for the project after several pigeon-related complaints. Cappleman’s spokesman said bird poop was also causing CTA equipment to degrade, so the CTA picked up the bill – to the tune of $150,000. When asked if that figure scared him, Andrade said it did not.

“No, no, I hope it’s that,” he said. But Andrade’s problem is that Irving Park comes with jurisdiction issues. The Blue Line station is CTA property, but other parts of the overpass belong to the Illinois Department of Transportation. “Our constituents don’t care. All they want is the situation solved,” Andrade said. “This story has brought attention all the way to the top, so that I know.”

We’ll wait, and so will the pigeons – who are so comfortable along the overpass that even a train won’t make them flinch.

If you have something you want the Morning Insiders to check out in your neighborhood, email [email protected].

About Pigeon Patrol:

Fifteen-year-old Aurora Milbrandt impressed Saskatoon Mayor

Fifteen-year-old Aurora Milbrandt impressed Saskatoon Mayor Charlie Clark with a presentation at city hall on how to deal with pesky pigeons in a humane way.

Milbrandt appeared at Monday’s meeting of city council’s environment, utilities and community services committee to address a request to ban the use of neurotoxins to kill nuisance pigeons.

“Wow,” Clark said after Milbrandt’s presentation. “For a Grade 10 student, that was a very well presented set of arguments and solutions.”

Milbrandt targeted the product Avitrol, saying contrary to what some believe the chemical agent can result in a “very painful death” for pigeons and other small animals that consume it.

She suggested the city consider euthanizing pigeons as a last resort and focus on other measures — educating the public not to feed pigeons, using a birth control product to make female pigeons barren and employing a predator like a hawk or falcon.

The committee heard that the City of Saskatoon no longer uses Avitrol. Clark asked whether any city has banned its use throughout the community, including by private citizens and businesses.

City lawyer Blair Bleakney told the committee the city could enact a bylaw to govern chemical use on private property, but advised against a ban on a specific product.

The committee voted unanimously to direct the administration to study a pest management strategy for the city.

The city contracts out pest management, including pigeon control, to private contractors and Avitrol has been used in the past, a city report says.

The city stopped using Avitrol after Jan Shaddick, executive director of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation, appeared before the same committee in May to request the city discontinue the product’s use, the report adds.

The city hired a contractor this year to euthanize about 1,500 pigeons that had made their home inside cavities in the piers of the Senator Sidney L. Buckwold Bridge, the report notes. In September, the city said 2,300 pigeons were euthanized.

Angela Gardiner, the city’s general manager of utilities and environment, said there is an understanding between city hall and the contractor that animals will be euthanized according to Canadian Veterinary Medical Association (CVMA) standards.

“The CVMA holds that when animals are euthanized, death must be quick using a method that causes the least possible pain and distress,” Gardiner wrote in an email.

She did not know the exact method of euthanasia used for the Buckwold Bridge pigeons. Grating was installed during rehabilitation work on the bridge to ensure pigeons do not return to the cavities.

The company working on the bridge removed about 635 tonnes of pigeon waste from the cavities.

[email protected]

About Pigeon Patrol:

The City of Saskatoon says it has stopped poisoning pigeons

The Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services on Monday reviewed a report prepared in response to a request by Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.

The centre asked the city to stop using the neurotoxin, saying it’s an inhumane way to control pests.

Around 2,300 pigeons put down, 635,000 kg of feces cleaned from Saskatoon bridge

According to a description on Avitrol’s website, the product works by causing “behaviours similar to an epileptic seizure.”

“This may include flying erratically, vocalizing, trembling, dilation of the pupils and other symptoms,” the description says.

Witnessing these behaviours can encourage unaffected birds to leave a location.

“Flocks can be frightened away from sites little or no mortality.”

According to the report, Avitrol is no longer used in other cities including Halifax, San Francisco and New York.

The committee heard how in the past the city used Avitrol to remove pests, but currently there are no sites where the city or its contractors are using the poison.

However the city does not have anything in writing that bans private use of Avitrol.

City hall to pursue pest management strategy for Saskatoon

Concern is raised over the city’s use of neurotoxins to control pigeon populations

PHIL TANK, SASKATOON STARPHOENIX

About Pigeon Patrol:

Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den.

New study reveals deadly bacteria carried by Pigeons

BioMed Central

A sampling of pigeons captured on the streets of Madrid has revealed the bacterial pathogens they carry. Researchers found two bugs that were highly prevalent in the bird population, Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni, both of which cause illness in humans.

Fernando Esperón from the Animal Health Research Center, Madrid, Spain, worked with a team of researchers to analyse blood and enema samples taken from 118 pigeons caught using gun-propelled nets.

He said, “the present study demonstrates the extremely high prevalence of two zoonotic pathogens in feral pigeons in Madrid. At the same time, infection with these pathogens did not appear to be associated with any harmful clinical signs in the birds themselves. This leads to the hypothesis that pigeons act as asymptomatic reservoirs of Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni. These birds may therefore pose a public health risk to the human population.”

Chlamydophila psittaci was found in 52.6% of the pigeons captured, while Campylobacter jejuni was present in 69.1%. Although there have been few reports of disease transmission between pigeons and humans, it can occur by aerosols, direct contact or indirect contact through food and water contamination.

According to Esperón, “Thermophilic Campylobacter species are considered the primary pathogens responsible for acute diarrhea in the world. In fact, in many countries such as England and Wales, Canada, Australia and New Zealand Campylobacter jejuni infection causes more cases of acute diarrhea than infection by Salmonella species.”

About Pigeon Patrol:

“Dirtiest Hotel in America” Looks to Clean Up

Dirtiest Hotel in America” Looks to Clean Up

A day after being dubbed the filthiest in America, a Tennessee hotel is pledging to clean up.

The Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center was ranked the filthiest hotel in America, according to ratings compiled and released by the travel review site TripAdvisor.

The historic Smoky Mountains hotel in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., was graded “terrible” by 161 of 224 reviewers on the site. Twenty-six called it “poor” and 15 gave it an “average” grade.

But CEO and General Manager Nicky Darrell Chaney said he has already fired one manager, hired a new maintenance manager and new head of housekeeping, and is in the process of using a new sanitizer to clean the rooms, reports CBS affiliate WVLT in Knoxville.

“We knew we had some problems, and we’ve started to work on these problems,” said Nicky Chaney, President and CEO of the company that runs the hotel. Chaney took over operations in December and vows to restore their public image.

“I fired one of the managers, I hired new maintenance, and new housekeeper,” he said. “We’re proud of what we’re doing now, and were excited about where we’re going to be in the next few weeks.

Chaney took over just last month as president and CEO of KMS Enterprises, which runs the Grand and several nearby properties owned by hotel magnate Kenneth M. Seaton.

“This is an issue the company is taking very seriously,” Chaney said a statement Tuesday.

Seaton also is a defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging sexual harassment of two former housekeepers hired to work in KMS hotels, the Sentinel reports.

Meanwhile, the Grand will have to keep making changes to stay ahead of negative reviews – and the unwanted spotlight following the TripAdvisor “award.”

“This is a nasty place, would not let my dog sleep there,” reviewer LaFolettePat wrote last week under the headline “health inspector please.”

JordynC’s assessment: “If you are looking for a hotel with: pubic hair stuck to the bathroom floor in some unidentifiable, gelatinous liquid; chewing tobacco spit oozing down the halls and corridors; spiders actively making webs in every corner of your room; carpeting so greasy and dirty you wouldn’t want to sit your luggage down – let alone walk around barefoot; dingy bedsheets and towels as rough and thin as sandpaper; and a room so putrid and smelly it causes a gag-reflex when you walk in… by all means, stay at The Grand Resort.”

About Pigeon Patrol:

CIA unveils Cold War spy-pigeon missions

By Gordon Corera

The CIA has declassified details of its secret Cold War spy-pigeon missions.

The files reveal how pigeons were trained for clandestine missions photographing sensitive sites inside the Soviet Union.

The release also reveals how ravens were used to drop bugging devices on window sills and dolphins were trained for underwater missions.

The CIA believed animals could fulfil “unique” tasks for the agency’s clandestine operations.

Inside the CIA’s headquarters in Langley, Virginia, is a museum, sadly closed to the general public. During a visit to interview the then-director I caught sight of something unusual amid all the bugging devices and spy gadgets.

It was a model pigeon with a camera strapped to it.

The 1970s’ operation was codenamed Tacana and explored the use of pigeons with tiny cameras to automatically take photos, newly released files show.

It took advantage of the fact that the humble pigeon is possessed of an amazing ability – almost a superpower. They can be dropped somewhere they have never been before and still find their way hundreds of miles back home.

In World War Two a little known branch of British intelligence – MI14(d) – ran a Secret Pigeon Service which dropped birds in a container with a parachute over Occupied Europe. A questionnaire was attached. More than 1,000 pigeons returned with messages including details of V1 rocket launch sites and German radar stations.

Experts found that the quality of the photographs was higher than those produced by spy satellites operating at the time. One fear raised during the tests was if a member of the public stumbled upon “pigeon and camera” and assumed that the government was spying on its own, so an elaborate cover story was cooked up.

How many actual missions did the spy-pigeons fly and what intelligence did they collect? That, apparently, is still secret.

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.

tags: Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den.

Twelve pigeons stolen from Buxton loft

a group of pigeons

Liam Barnes – BBC News

Police are appealing for information after 12 pigeons were stolen from lofts in Buxton.

The lofts, on Lightwood Road, were broken into between 16 September and 17 September, Derbyshire Police said.

If the birds get loose somehow, they’re sure to return!

About Pigeon Patrol:

CTA, officials up rally against a determined pigeon feeder at Northwest Side station

By MARY WISNIEWSKI – Chicago Tribune

State Rep. Jaime Andrade has been fighting a losing battle to clean up the mess made by pigeons at the CTA’s Irving Park Blue Line station on the city’s Northwest Side.

The sidewalk by the station is so thickly spackled with droppings that it looks and smells like a chicken coop. Andrade, who represents the district that includes the station, has pushed for state funds to keep the birds away. Earlier this month, he was hit in the head by guano during a television interview.

But Andrade, state and city officials and the CTA are up against someone who is determined to feed and protect birds around the city and visits the Irving Park station often with big sacks of white rice.

Pigeons being fed an individual leaving behind a mess of food scraps and droppings.

“I protect all God’s creatures because this is my mission,” said Young Kang, 67, while at the Hoa Nam Grocery store on Argyle Street in Uptown last week, where she buys supplies to feed the birds. “This is not for my good. God gave this to me. I take care of the birds.”

Kang, who used to be in the restaurant business, said she is a Christian minister and founder of a nonprofit. It has been incorporated as Young Bird Care Society since April 2015 and is in good standing, according to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. Over the past 11 years, Kang said she has spent $300,000 of her own money feeding birds in locations around the city, going out every day and hiring people to help.

She said she also helps the homeless, stuffing money under their pillows as they sleep.

pigeon flock perching on roof

CTA riders interviewed outside the Irving Park station described the pigeon situation as “gross” and “terrible” and wondered why more netting couldn’t be put up in more areas of the bridge. Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Guy Tridgell said the agency can’t do this because it needs to have the area open for inspections and other maintenance.

“We’re happy to continue discussing and meeting with all interested parties to see if there’s some solution,” Tridgell said.

Andrade disagreed with IDOT’s explanation, saying netting could easily be removed for inspections. “The problem comes down to who is going to pay,” he said.

There is some metal netting under the Kennedy bridge, apart from the area around the CTA station entrance, but some of it is in disrepair.

By contrast, anti-pigeon netting is completely installed on the beams under the Union Pacific railroad bridge, above the sidewalk, just west of the CTA station. The bridge carries Metra’s Union Pacific Northwest Line.

Mary Parich of Independence Park said that sometimes the pigeon mess on the sidewalk is so bad that she has to tip-toe.

“They are God’s creatures, but you have to look out for the health of people, too,” Parich said.

Kang said she once lived in the neighborhood, and the birds have always been there, long before she started feeding them.

About Pigeon Patrol:

Dozens of ‘decorated’ pigeons found dead in New Zealand

Pigeon covered in tinsel is investigated

Pigeons and other birds have been found around the New Zealand capital of Wellington with Christmas decorations attached.

Originally By Lisa Jane Harding, CNN

(CNN) Injured and dead pigeons covered in tinsel and other decorations have been turning up in New Zealand, and animal rights campaigners are worried.

The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it received up to 30 calls in recent weeks reporting sightings of sparrows and dead pigeons with tinsel intentionally tied to their bodies.

“Many try to pry the foreign objects off their bodies with their beaks and feet, becoming further entangled and preventing them from eating, drinking and flying.

With others, the decorations are wrapped so tightly it completely cuts off their blood circulation,” SPCA spokeswoman Jessie Gilchrist told CNN.

“Those that do survive and arrive at our center are often in a very bad state, they are so malnourished and distressed that we have had to humanely euthanize them.”

The decorations can prevent the birds from eating, drinking and flying, leaving them to starve to death.

Since 2015, the charity said there has been over thirty cases of “decorated” birds found dead or with injuries severe enough to require euthanasia. Most of them being dead pigeons.

On Tuesday, SPCA officers were called to a house in Kilbirnie, a suburb of the capital Wellington, where they rescued several birds covered in decorations and paint.

The birds were in a distressed but otherwise healthy condition.

“One pigeon had quite bright red Christmas tinsel wrapped around its wings and then the top of its head had been painted with red paint as well as its wings had been tipped with red paint,” Gilchrist said.

While charges have yet to be laid against the owners of the house, Gilchrist said the case “remains an ongoing investigation.”

Sparrows and pigeons — which forage for food on the ground, in shrubs or shallow water — face a number of threats from predators, including foxes and racoons, as well as larger birds and snakes.

But humans are perhaps the biggest threat to the birds. In 2015, New Zealand recognized all animals, including birds, as “sentient” under law, extending protections and making it easier for charities like the SPCA to prosecute people for animal cruelty.

One stated purpose of the law was to “remove uncertainty around the ill-treatment of wild animals by targeting acts of wilful or reckless ill-treatment.”

About Pigeon Patrol: