ANDERSON, S.C. — The Anderson City Council plans to consider Monday how to deal with a pigeon problem in the pavilion at Carolina Wren Park.
The council is expected to vote on whether to hire an animal control company to install a net inside the pavilion, which is downtown.
According to the agenda for Monday’s evening, a “recurring nuisance with pigeons nesting in the rafters” has developed at the pavilion.
“There have been some attempts to cease their interest in the pavilion through cleaning and installing an ultrasonic bird repellent with a strobe light,” according to the agenda. “But those efforts have been unsuccessful.”
City staff said the pigeons and their waste can cause property damage and pose a health risk, and cleaning up after them can be costly.
The city sought bids from pest control companies, to see how much it would cost to install a net inside the ceiling of the pavilion.
Orkin Pest Control bid $28,000, Trehel Corp. bid $16,899 and the low bidder was Animal Control Experts at $11,385.
If the council approves the expenditure, the money to pay for it would come from hospitality tax revenue the city collects.
About Pigeon Patrol:
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor of bird deterrent (control) products in Canada. Pigeon Patrol products have solved pest bird problems in industrial, commercial, and residential settings since 2000, by using safe and humane bird deterrents with only bird and animal friendly solutions. At Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture and offer a variety of bird deterrents, ranging from Ultra-flex Bird Spikes with UV protection, Bird Netting, 4-S Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products four years in a row.
CHENNAI: It may not be the worst idea to carry an umbrella, if you’re at the airport, wearing your Sunday best. After all, you wouldn’t want it soiled with pigeon droppings right before you board an enclosed plane with 180 or so others. Even after trying to get their ‘pigeon hole’ problem sorted out, Airports Authority of India (AAI) officials are stumped at how these birds keep finding their way into the high-rise terminals. A Jet Airways ticketing staff even laughed about how pigeons were always on night-duty and were the first to ‘meet’ them when they enter the terminal at 3.30 am every morning.
Recently, a group of pigeons were seen enjoying the bliss of the terminal near the passenger waiting area, on the soft carpets paid for by AAI. “It was quite funny actually. Some of the sweepers tried to shoo them away, but they just hopped off and continued to preen themselves on the carpet. Maybe they wanted air-conditioning,” said Reena Makhija, who posted a photo of the pigeons on a social networking site. “Personally, I’m not complaining. It was great fun for the kids to watch the pigeons up close,” she added
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After several complaints about how pigeons were dropping their ‘uric acid’ pellets on unsuspecting passengers, AAI decided to deploy nets to cover the openings in the roof — but these were found to cause a different problem. “They are dirtying our floors and carpets as well. But by closing the skylights with nets, the lighting became a problem, so we are working out a solution for the trusses,” said an official. The ceiling was cleaned a month ago and several partial nests were cleared. But this has not impeded the entry and exit of the pigeons.
AAI had even consulted an expert about this issue last year, but we’re unable to find a viable solution. Ornithologist N Sankar pointed out that the openings in the ceiling and the high beams provided a perfect place for birds like pigeons to nest. “In an airport, there are firecrackers on the tarmac nearby used to scare birds away from the planes, so this will seem like a safe place to them,” he reasoned. He added that getting them to vacate after they had nested was a difficult task.
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 Cleveland man has been left angered after his pigeons were savagely attacked in their loft.
Sean Wardle, of Carlin How, visited his allotment just off Westray Street at around 10.30am yesterday to discover four of his tumbler pigeons without heads as well as four chickens lying headless on the grass.
Sean, 45, said: “When I first saw the chickens I thought it must have been a fox.
“Then when I saw that the wire mesh on the front of the pigeon loft had been damaged but the padlock was still on I knew there was more to it.
“I couldn’t believe it when I found the birds lying there with no heads. They were still warm and one of them was still flapping so it can’t have happened long before I got there.”
Sean has maintained the allotment for the past 25 years but has only kept the 45 pigeons their in the loft for the past two and a half years.
Despite never showing the birds professionally, Sean, who looks after the birds with his girlfriend Louise Neate, puts a lot of time and effort into their care.
He said: “The birds aren’t worth a lot but they mean a lot to me. I am doing something for a hobby and not harming anyone. I just can’t understand people.”
Sean Wardle of Carlin HowSean Wardle of Carlin How
Sean shares his allotment with a friend, Ryan Taylor, whose four chickens were also killed during the attack.
Ryan, 18, who only got the chickens about a month ago said: “I couldn’t believe it when I heard what had happened. They had just started laying eggs and I was planning on getting more.
“I also thought about getting some ducks and a goat for the allotment but now I will be thinking twice about it.”
Louise, 36, said: “I think it is an absolute disgrace that somebody could do this.”
Sean added: “The rest of the birds now won’t go back inside.
“They’re obviously scared about what has happened. I just think it is sick and I don’t know what someone would get out of doing this.”
Cleveland Police confirmed that an investigation is ongoing.
Anyone with information should call 101.
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.
Foot deformities are ubiquitous in urban pigeons – why? As you’ll know if you’ve spent any time watching the pigeons of towns and cities, something like one in every ten (or more) has missing or partial toes, or swollen toes, or other pedal deformities of some sort. And then there are really extreme individuals – the ones that are missing feet altogether.
Poor footless urban pigeon, encountered close to Kew train station. The right foot is completely absent; the left one had at least one toe, curled round such that the bird was walking on the toe’s lateral side. Photo by Darren Naish.
I’m talking here about the domestic form of Columba livia, the so-called Rock pigeon or Rock dove. And, while I’ve only noticed deformed pigeons here in the UK, it certainly isn’t a UK-only thing, as continental European and North American [UPDATE: and South American] people will confirm.
The bird in the photos here was able to fly around and feed itself, and it might be broadly described as ‘healthy’. However, note that it’s in pretty poor condition. The feathers on its head and neck looked terrible and its rectrices (the big tail feathers) were frayed and shabby. I reckon this is partly due to an inability to groom and scratch itself: obviously, birds use their feet to reach parts that they can’t get to with the bill.
The impact of this is more than cosmetic, since birds with a poorly maintained or unrepaired plumage are disadvantaged in flight relative to tidier individuals, and less able to keep themselves warm and waterproofed. And a bird that isn’t able to groom parts of its plumage is also at risk of being unable to keep on top of parasites like ticks and feather mites (see the ‘pigeon’s eye view’ Tet Zoo article linked to below). And, as has been demonstrated through various experiments, birds with shabby-looking plumage are less attractive as mates (Clayton 1990), so a bad-looking pigeon is likely to be a non-breeding pigeon. It’s also worth noting that (like many animals), pigeons preferentially use one foot more than the other as goes the way they land and perch and sit and so on (Fisher 1957), so individuals that lose or damage their preferred foot might end up being doubly disadvantaged (imagine being right-handed, and then having to rely only on your left hand for evermore). I don’t know how concerned people are about the emotional well-being of animals like urban pigeons (or how far they’re prepared to go in admitting that non-human animals have feelings and states of mind), but I think we can be fairly confident that the most severely deformed of these birds are – at least at times – miserable, unhappy and frustrated.
Several ideas have been put forward to explain the many foot problems seen in urban pigeons. Some probably lose toes after getting them tangled in litter or anti-pigeon netting, or after they’ve injuries received from anti-pigeon spikes installed on signs and ledges. Fine wire, string, cotton thread and even human hair can all cause problems for birds when caught on or around digits, and some people say that interaction with fine thread and string and so on is the primary cause of pigeon foot damage. It’s also sometimes suggested that the deformities result from infections received after standing on excrement, and also that the birds become damaged through interaction with chemicals used on roofs and building stone. But the ‘chemical injury’ idea is unlikely to be correct, since (A) exactly what sort of chemicals are we talking about here, and why have they been used on buildings in the first place?, and (B) a chemical would basically have to be a powerful acid or alkaline agent (hydrochloric acid, or a very strong bleach) before it might damage a bird’s feet. For completeness, note that hereditary deformities like those reported for some captive populations of other pigeon species (Flach & Cooper 1991) might also explain some of the abnormalities observed in urban pigeons.
Other hazards that might affect an urban pigeon. At left: voracious park-dwelling pelicans! (photo: PA). At right: deceased Wood pigeon (Columba palumbus) following encounter with motor vehicle; note ‘terror-moulted’ lack of rectrices. Photo by Darren Naish.
Pigeons are not, of course, the only birds that end up with damaged feet. You might recall the foot-lacking Rock pipit Anthus petrosus I featured here recently…
I’ve been photographing pigeons a lot lately, but pigeons of a different species from C. livia. More about that another time. For previous Tet Zoo articles relevant to some of the subjects covered here, see…
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.
ANDERSON, S.C. — The Anderson City Council plans to consider Monday how to deal with a pigeon problem in the pavilion at Carolina Wren Park.
The council is expected to vote on whether to hire an animal control company to install a net inside the pavilion, which is downtown.
According to the agenda for Monday’s evening, a “recurring nuisance with pigeons nesting in the rafters” has developed at the pavilion.
“There have been some attempts to cease their interest in the pavilion through cleaning and installing an ultrasonic bird repellent with a strobe light,” according to the agenda. “But those efforts have been unsuccessful.”
City staff said the pigeons and their waste can cause property damage and pose a health risk, and cleaning up after them can be costly.
The city sought bids from pest control companies, to see how much it would cost to install a net inside the ceiling of the pavilion.
Orkin Pest Control bid $28,000, Trehel Corp. bid $16,899 and the low bidder was Animal Control Experts at $11,385.
If the council approves the expenditure, the money to pay for it would come from hospitality tax revenue the city collects.
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.
People who enjoy gambling have something in common with pigeons.
That is according to research, which suggests human gamblers and pigeons are 35% more likely to take greater risks when there is a chance of a big win.
Is it worth the gamble? Credit: Nel Pavletic/PIXSELL
Birds are distantly related to humans, yet we still share the same basic psychology that drives risk-taking. This may be due to a shared common ancestry or similar evolutionary pressures.
When people gamble, they often rely on past experiences with risk and rewards to make decisions. What we found in this study is that pigeons used these past experiences in very similar ways to guide their future gambling decisions. Any big wins we’ve had in the past are memorable and stand-out when we are making our decision to gamble again.
– DR ELLIOT LUDVIG, FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WARWICK’S DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY
The pigeons and human volunteers were testing with four options – two that led to high-value rewards and two that led to low-value rewards. Humans were rewarded with points and the birds were rewarded with food.
The study, published in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, was conducted in collaboration with the University of Alberta, Canada, and part-funded by the Alberta Gambling Research InstituteCredit: John Walton/EMPICS Sport
For each high or low reward level, one safe option resulted in a guaranteed fixed reward, and one risky option yielded a 50/50 chance of a better or worse outcome.
Both birds and humans were found to be 35% more likely to take a gamble on the high-value rewards.
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.
City staff said the pigeons and their waste can cause property damage and pose a health risk, and cleaning up after them can be costly.
e high-rise terminals. A Jet Airways ticketing staff even laughed about how pigeons were always on night-duty and were the first to ‘meet’ them when they enter the terminal at 3.30 am every morning.
