by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 9, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
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The famous statue of ‘Jesus in Jeans’ on the front of St Philip’s Catholic Church, Uckfield is now pigeon-free, thanks to a halo of ‘flames.’
The £355,000 seven-foot statue, by Lewes-based sculptor Marcus Cornish, resulted in controversy and interest from across the globe when it was revealed in 2009. It was unveiled by The Pope’s ambassador to this country, the papal nuncio Archbishop Faustino Sainz Munoz, and the Bishop of Arundel and Brighton blessed it.
But birds soon found the statue a comfortable place to roost so the area below was soon plastered with bird droppings. The droppings are acidic and can damage painted, stone or wooden surfaces as well as making public areas slippery and unhygenic.
The church’s maintenance committee, helped by priest Father Stephen Hardaker, found a firm which could help. Cleankill Environmental Services from South London, which has expertise in controlling pest birds, was called in to assess the problem and came up with a solution.
Director Jon Whitehead, explained: “The sculpture has a hollow back which created a perfect home for around 20 pigeons. They would nest inside and rest on the halo creating an unsightly and unhygienic mess.”
So the firm used a special product called Bird Free Gel which they fixed to the statue at certain points, including the halo. The gel appears as flames to the birds so they are discouraged from landing.
The church’s maintenance head Alan Duncan said: “We are all so pleased that the problem has been solved. We were at a loss as to what to do next. At one point we put anti-bird spikes on various resting places, painting them gold to match the halo. Unfortunately, the pigeons were ‘most comfortable’ with the additions!
“The service we had from Cleankill was excellent and very professional, including many after-care visits.”
Cornish’s sculpture was funded by money left by Winifred Gregory, 87, a member of the congregation who passed away in 2008. Christ wears jeans and a shirt billowing in the wind while his hair and beard are neatly and fashionably trimmed. Marcus Cornish said: “The sculpture is simple and direct and I hope it sums up the feeling that Christ is always with us and that we are not to be afraid. The clothing is loosely contemporary in order to connect Christ to his people now as much as to his past.”
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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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 8, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeons in the News
Pigeons will be culled at Mawson Lakes in Adelaide after businesses hired a professional shooter to manage the feral population.
Pest controller, professional shooter and experienced cleaner Sean O’Shea said northern suburbs residents were worried because the birds’ droppings were “very corrosive and very toxic”.
“Some people say it’s more deadly than asbestos,” he said.
“It’s not just the health issues … it continues to damage air conditioners, roofs, et cetera.
“It’s also damage to buildings, slip and trip hazards as well.”
Department of Environment and Natural Resources animal welfare manager Deb Kelly denied the State Government was “sitting on its hands”.
She said the Government was not responsible for dealing with pigeons on private property.
“You wouldn’t expect to say, ‘I’ve got a mouse in my kitchen and the State Government has to go do something about it’,” Ms Kelly said.
Everybody has to do a proper cull of them and make sure they’re removed properly … otherwise they’ll just breed up in the next property.
Professional shooter Sean O’Shea
“It really is the landholders’ responsibility.
“But the big thing is, I think, people have to stop feeding them and have to start putting their rubbish in the bin.”
Ms Kelly said residents needed to be proactive about the threat of feral pests in their area before populations grew to unmanageable numbers.
“People think they’re pretty and lovely until the numbers get big and then they think, ‘I’ve got a problem’,” she said.
“If you want to eradicate any feral pest, you really have to get them while the population is low.”
Mr O’Shea said there were a number of techniques used to control pests such as trapping and shooting, but urged residents to work together.
“Some people do something and the next door neighbour won’t,” he said.
“Everybody has to do a proper cull of them and make sure they’re removed properly … otherwise they’ll just breed up in the next property.”
Mr O’Shea said he was fully qualified and licensed to shoot 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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 7, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
DESPERATE business owners are looking to armed pest controllers to rescue them from feral pigeons that are creating a serious health and safety threat.
After Salisbury Council washed its hands of the problem, restaurants and cafes in Mawson Lakes have turned to professionals cleaners, including one firm which says it can shoot up to 100 birds an hour.
O’Shea’s Carpet and Cleaning Services specialises in permanently removing pigeons by shooting them or installing netting and spikes, and cleaning the droppings. Pigeon droppings are toxic, highly corrosive and can spread disease.
Owner Kirsty O’Shea said Mawson Lakes was notorious for pigeons.
“People should consider prevention to stop the birds from coming in, like netting and spiking, and also to clean the faeces because it is not sanitary to live amongst it,” she said.
“There is also the more controversial removal method of shooting them – we can shoot up to 100 birds an hour, take away the bodies and clean up.”
Ms O’Shea said her businesshad a licence to shoot pigeons, even in suburbia, as long as it informed police before taking action.
Partner Sean O’Shea, who describes himself as a “greenie with a gun”, said he used a precision air rifle to kill the birds as “quickly, safely and humanely as possible”.
Bellezza Gourmet Chicken owner Bob Dahdah said pigeons had invaded the garage of his Mawson Lakes business.
“It is a great issue for us and it always has been because the birds are everywhere, they drop all their rubbish and dropping on the cars below,” Mr Dahdah said.
“Every building in Mawson Lakes has this issue and it’s a big health and safety concern.”
Mr Dahdah asked building management to install netting from the top of the fence in the garage to the roof, but he said it would cost too much.
La Vita Fresh Pasta owner Michael Vannini said pigeon droppings were a concern.
“Droppings around food is definitely a health and safety concern,” Mr Vannini said.
“I also hear it is a problem for one of my customers, specifically, who lives in The Bridges (estate) across from us and has spent a fair few dollars with pest control people to sort out the problem because pigeons have been on their roof with droppings and also dying.”
Salisbury Council says it is not its job to clear pigeons from private properties.
A council spokesman said staff believed the number of pigeon complaints made by members of the public was fewer than 10 each year.
Mayor Gillian Aldridge said complaints about wild or feral pigeons on private property were the responsibility of the landowner, not the council.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 5, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting
A York Township woman is allowed to continue operating a stray cat program that has one of her neighbors booby-trapping her flower bed with plastic forks and knives to fend off felines.
After three hours at a zoning hearing, Karen Stephenson won her appeal against a township-issued cease-and-desist order, allowing her to continue her unofficial trap, neuter and return program to reduce the number of feral cats in her Raylight Drive neighborhood.
Neighbors who opposed Stephenson complained about felines constantly running through the area, an overload of feces and cats settling in on their porches, destroying their flower beds and lounging on and under cars.
Township zoning officer Lisa Frye had cited Stephenson for a violation of “Reasonable Enjoyment of Surrounding Property.”
Forks and knives: Stephenson testified that she now feeds — with the intent of trapping and fixing — about 20 cats twice per day.
Township attorney Steve Hovis asked several residents to testify about the effect the cats are having on the neighborhood.
Some produced photos of cats lounging in numerous positions in neighboring yards and porches.
Resident Pat Landis said she’s unable to leave her garage door up because of the roaming cat population.
Cat feces has completely destroyed her flower boxes, which she must now cover with chicken wire, she said.
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She also has resorted to strategically placing plastic eating utensils — such as knives and forks — in the beds to keep the cats out.
Resident Ann Azeill testified that the cats have destroyed her pool deck and gardens and that the smell of cat urine and feces makes it impossible to enjoy her yard.
She said her dogs get sick from eating the cat feces, although the dogs are kept in her yard.
Azeill said there is always a “parade” of the felines to the Stephenson house around 5 a.m., when she supposed they were being fed.
The parade is on again in the late afternoon, she said.
She added that leaving food out draws potential undesirables, such as skunks and opossums that can carry rabies.
Resident Jane Sentz said she has come out on her front porch to find cats sprawled out on her porch swing and rocking chairs and even lying on her car’s convertible top.
Neighbor George Landis testified that cats constantly running through the streets create danger for drivers trying to avoid them, and also for the cats.
“We’re under siege, and can you please help us out?” he said.
The other side: Resident Amy Nelson testified that she has lived in the neighborhood for about 20 years, and there has always been a problem with stray cats.
“She (Stephenson) didn’t start the problem, don’t punish her for something that isn’t her fault,” Nelson said.
Christine Arnold is founder of Nobody’s Cats, a nonprofit formulated to reduce the population of feral cats.
Arnold testified she has 25 years of experience in dealing with free-roaming cats.
“TNR does not cause the problems; it mitigates them,” she testified.
Once the cat is trapped and spayed or neutered, the tip of the left ear is then snipped off, so anyone can tell which ones have already been fixed.
Stephenson said she began the practice in about 2011 and has continued to lessen the population, but it takes time to get the cats to trust people enough to allow themselves be trapped, she said.
Zoning hearing board member John Myers said that if Stephenson were only feeding the cats and didn’t intend to have them spayed or neutered, that would fall under the township’s “vague” nuisance ordinance.
Board colleague Timothy Salvatore said Stephenson could have done a better job of educating the neighbors with what she is trying to do, but he said the program “provides a greater good than the harm it creates.”
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 3, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
A Monterey school was placed on lockdown as authorities investigated a man shooting pigeons with a pellet gun on a nearby roof, according to the Monterey County Sheriff’s Office.
Around 2 p.m. Monday, students from private York School reported seeing a man with a rifle on a neighboring rooftop, and deputies placed the school on lockdown as they investigated the call.
Units from the Salinas and Monterey patrol areas of the sheriff’s office, a sheriff’s office K-9 unit, a sheriff’s bailiff, the sheriff’s air unit and the Monterey Police Department responded to the scene.
Deputies cleared the parking lot and the offices and determined the building owner at 24560 Silver Cloud Court was on the roof trying to eradicate pigeons with a pellet gun.
The man had left the area before authorities arrived but was compliant once contacted and admitted to using the pellet gun.
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 1, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting
PESKY pigeons could get hot and bothered after gel which burns like chilli was put on roofs to deter the birds.
Witham Town Council called in experts from Rentokil to hear options for shooing the growing numbers of birds away from buildings in the town centre.
Solutions ranged from netting, electrical bird deterrents and special gel with an active ingredient found in chillies to “burn” pigeons’ feet.
The idea of feeding pigeons contraceptives mixed with grain was also put forward by a resident.
The environment committee met to hear suggestions after complaints had been made to the council about slippery pigeon droppings.
Worst hit are the areas outside Greggs, in Newland Street, and outside businesses in Guithavon Street, where pigeons roost on the rooftops.
Sean Byrne, specialist service consultant at Rentokil, told the committee: “The electric deterrent system, similar to an electric fence, gives them a short shock and within five to seven days, the birds don’t land on the building anymore.
“It’s humane and does not harm the birds, but it does work well.”
He also suggested spraying a protective gel on to buildings which causes a burning sensation on pigeons feet when they land.
The gel sits at 9,000 SHU on the scoville scale, making it roughly twice as hot as a jalepeno pepper.
Luke Roberts, a surveyor for Rentokil, told the committee: “It gives the sensation of burning, but doesn’t actually burn.
“As a bird brings up its legs, it touches its genitals and the rest is history. They don’t come back.”
Councillors also made reference to a story in a Barcelona newspaper, brought in by a resident, describing how authorities there had started feeding pigeons contraceptives to stop them breeding.
Lee Fribbins, pigeon enthusiast and director of UK Belgica racing pigeon clinic in Wyncolls Road, Colchester, warned there is only one way to move the birds on.
He said: “Ideally the only scientific approach that will work is to stop feeding them.
“It’s a bit disappointing when people use harmful things to stop pigeons roosting.
“We have had pigeons brought in that have sticky substances on their skin, some have been stuck on windowsills and have had to rip their toes off to move.
“Pigeons get a bad rep if you think what they have done for us in two world wars and they are an important past time for 40,000 people, like myself.”
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.
Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)
