by Pigeon Patrol | Sep 27, 2015 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
The skeletal remains of pigeons seen hanging above a parade of shops are a “disgusting eyesore” which is causing children distress, residents say.
Netting installed to deter birds above shops in The Broadway, Woodford Green, has resulted in pigeons becoming trapped and dying from injury or starvation.
At least two decomposed pigeons can be seen caught up in the netting, and previously birds have been seen dangling just above the shop front signs, shoppers have said.
The netting is the responsibility of several leaseholders and maintenance contractors including Dendale Construction Ltd, based in Highams Park, and Ilford-based letting agency B Bailey & Co.
Louise Woodcock of charity Animal SOS in Snakes Lane East blames poor maintenance.
The Knighton Drive resident, said: “Environmental Health has been down on several occasions.
“Sadly, by the time the RSPCA arrives, the bird is dead.
“Our beautiful Broadway is becoming a dirty, degrading area ruined by the sight of decomposing pigeons above our cafes and eateries.
“I walked past recently with my niece who looked up and started screaming. It was the same dead bird that had been hanging down since before Christmas.”
Resident June Brook of King’s Avenue in Woodford Green, said it was concerning to see such a “disgusting eyesore” in a conservation area.
“The dead birds are just hanging upside down for all to e child walking past with her mother could not stop screaming. It is ruining the aesthetic of the buildings.”
London Wildlife Protection officer and founder of Waltham Forest Animal Protection, Rachel Barrat, is calling for immediate action from the property owners and intervention from Redbridge Council.
“Netting used to deter birds often traps them and causes cruel and lingering deaths.
“We are asking the owners to install it correctly and maintain it regularly, or remove it altogether and use more humane deterrents.”
Vince Cooper of Dendale Construction said the netting above She She She, a clothing store, was necessary.
“It was installed professionally by an independant netting company a year ago to protect the public and the fabric of the building.
“Before, pigeons were ruining our building, blocking out drains with nests and causing floods.
“Unlike next door (above Waite & Sons newsagents) our is maintained regularly and no birds have become trapped.”
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 | Sep 25, 2015 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes
When someone mentions pigeons, the reaction of most within earshot is more likely to be “rats with wings” than “true marvels of the natural world.”
Filmmaker Scott Harper wants to change people’s minds with his new documentary The Secret Life of Pigeons, which rejects the prevailing avian-rodent notion and seeks to re-install the lowly pigeon on the much-loftier perches it enjoyed in centuries past.
The Secret Life of Pigeons, which airs Thursday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. on CBC’s The Nature of Things, is a rather fascinating examination of a creature that was once considered noble and even heroic, but is now more likely to be regarded as a nuisance or simply ignored completely.
Consider the history: it was the pigeon, not the dog or cat, that was the first animal to be domesticated, and this highly intelligent bird has served many important roles in human history. Pigeons were used as messengers in the military campaigns of Julius Caesar and Genghis Khan; they delivered the results of the first Olympic games in Greece; during the 20th century, their keen homing instincts were exploited to transport military intelligence across battlefields, medicines to distant clinics and financial information to Wall Street traders.
These days, however, the urban-pigeon population mostly just takes up space while struggling daily to survive — a tricky proposition that depends almost exclusively on handouts from humans.
Harper interviews several scientists who have become staunch defenders of pigeons, and their input provides some intriguing revelations about the intelligence and natural gifts of the birds.
Among the information offered is a new understanding of what gives pigeons their unique homing ability, along with first-ever footage of a pigeon’s in-flight perspective, thanks to a tiny harness-mounted camera that allows viewers to take to the skies with the bird.
The Secret Life of Pigeons takes its exploration beyond the “lowly” feral-pigeon population, reaching out into realms in which these creatures are beloved rather than detested. Harper visits with several pigeon “fanciers,” who raise showbirds with such exotic breed designations as African Owl, Short Faced Helmet, Voorburg Shield, English Trumpeter and German Beauty Homer.
“We’ve taken it to a whole other level,” says Manitoba cattle rancher Clint Robertson, president of the Canadian Pigeon Fanciers Association, “We’ve developed birds that aren’t even close to what the feral pigeon is anymore. This is an intense hobby of selectively bred birds that have evolved over thousands of years into something that has suited the taste of each individual breeder.”
Equally passionate about pigeons are the folks who breed them for racing — a relatively small-scale pastime in Canada, but a huge industry in other parts of the world, where purses can reach the million-dollar mark (in South Africa) and prize birds can sell for hundreds of thousands.
Most impressive, however, are the segments of the film that outline how intelligent and adaptable pigeons are — Harper includes re-enactments of a couple of scientific studies that show how the birds communicate over vast distances to ensure that available food supplies are distributed equally among the greater pigeon population.
The theory of “ideal free distribution” suggests — and is backed by solid evidence — that pigeons will disperse in a manner that guarantees equal access to food sources.
“You can never feed pigeons more,” says Luc-Alain Giraldeau, dean of science at the University of Quebec at Montreal. “You can just attract more pigeons.”
Rats with wings? Hardly.
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 | Sep 24, 2015 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes
Concerns about a pigeon problem in Warminster town centre are growing with the population of the birds multiplying alarmingly.
And the burgeoning bird flock is said to be caused by people feeding them.
Town councillor Paul Batchelor says the pigeon population has doubled in the last 18 months and birds are not just gathering on the Old Town Hall but on other town centre buildings as well.
Cllr Batchelor, who runs Batchelors Cycles in Market Place, believes people are still not heeding the advice to not feed the pigeons and said he has been approached by several businesses and residents concerned about the issue.
Warminster Town Council has previously looked at drastic solutions to the long-running pigeon problem, including using a Harris Hawk or a contraceptive feed, but the ideas were dismissed by a feral pigeon expert.
Cllr Batchelor said: “It is noticeable that the pigeon population has doubled in the last 18 months and they only multiply according to the food supply they get.
“If the population is doubling then there must be people out there doing a good job of feeding them. I understand that people just think they are harmless creatures, but they carry disease and create a mess on our pavements.
“We do need to make sure the town centre is a safe environment for people, but I can see an increasing number of pigeons on roofs of buildings other than the Old Town Hall.
“It can be someone having a bit of crust leftover and throwing it to pigeons, which may seem harmless, but only makes the situation worse. Traders and people in the town are noticing and have raised the issue with me.”
Warminster Town Council discussed the issue at a meeting earlier this month, where councillors agreed that the pavements are a disgrace, especially outside eating establishments.
Because of concerns that droppings are creating a health hazard, Cllr Batchelor is going to ask the finance and assets committee on November 3 to put forward money for warning signs.
Cllr Batchelor added: “I have asked for an item to be put on the agenda about having signs put around the town to warn people about feeding pigeons.
“We need to educate people about the issue before taking more radical measures.”
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 | Sep 22, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting
HAMILTON HEIGHTS — A domesticated pigeon owner captured a red-tailed hawk who tried to make a meal of his trained pigeons on Monday, delivering the hawk to officials.
Rene Leclerc, 56, who keeps about 15 pigeons in two air-conditioner units he converted into pigeon shelters in the window of his third-floor 138th Street apartment said he saw the hawk divebomb his birds about 10:30 a.m.
The hawk managed to get inside one of Leclerc’s handmade shelters, tearing up the birds inside. When Leclerc saw the “carnage,” he said he opened his living room window to allow his birds a place to flee.
What followed was a chaotic scene when half a dozen birds, followed by the hawk, started flying around his apartment living room, he said.
“He had already killed two pigeons and injured at least four more when I got ahold of him,” said Leclerc, who once held a falconry license.
He used a towel to capture the hawk.
“He flew right into it,” Leclerc said.
After catching the hawk, who weighed a little more than a pound and had a 4-foot wingspan, Leclerc brought the raptor to The Bird Wildlife Fund, a nonprofit that provides medical care and rehabilitation to injured wild birds in the city.
“He seems perfect,” Wild Bird Fund Director Rita McMahon said after examining the raptor. “We found blood in his mouth but we think it was probably coming from when he attacked the pigeons because he was not injured,” she said, adding that the juvenile hawk would be released in Central Park Tuesday morning at the latest.
Leclerc, who used to be in the military, said he has had birds for more than 25 years.
“I’ve always gotten along with animals better than with people,” Leclerc said. “ I like training pigeons. It’s all based on faith and loyalty. I open their cage in the morning and I don’t know if they’re going to come back. I hope they come back but I have no guarantee. It’s all based on trust,” he said.
Most of Leclerc’s pigeons are Portuguese Tumblers and Budapest High Flyers, Leclerc said.
“They’re easier to care for because they’re small,” the bird owner said.
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 | Sep 20, 2015 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
BEIJING — A thousand new facial-recognition cameras are watching for potential troublemakers. Kite-flying has become a jailable offense in some areas. Factories have been ordered to cut back or suspend production. And those are just part of China’s efforts to clear Beijing of dangers, dissent and smog during an international summit deemed the capital’s biggest event since the 2008 Olympics.
Ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum that opened Wednesday, city crews also have replaced 450,000 flower pots, swept newsstands and breakfast kiosks from some neighborhoods and encouraged — or warned — many residents, and especially dissidents, to leave town.
Government workers get a long holiday, and authorities eager to ease congestion are taking the unusual measure of deploying cargo trains to carry the cars of holidaymakers out of the capital.
Though there will be far fewer visitors to the city than there were during the Olympics, APEC will again throw an international spotlight on China with the arrival of top leaders from the Pacific Rim along with their countries’ media.
The forum culminates in a Nov. 10-11 summit of leaders of the 21 member economies, including Chinese President Xi Jinping, U.S. President Barack Obama, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, and authorities are wary of anything that could draw media attention away from the meetings.
The organizer of a Beijing film festival that authorities shut down in August said police have asked him several times to leave Beijing during APEC.
“The police are at my home every day,” Li Xianting of the Beijing Independent Film Festival said in a telephone interview. He said he didn’t plan to leave on principle, and also because he didn’t want to bring trouble to anyone he might stay with.
Qi Zhiyong, a rights activist who lost his leg after soldiers fired on him during the Tiananmen protests in 1989, said he was asked to leave Beijing and told not to give media interviews.
A friend of Zhou Li, who helps ordinary citizens submit complaints to the central government about corruption and other grievances, said Zhou was detained around Oct. 21 so she would not organize any protests during APEC. The friend spoke on condition of anonymity because she had been told by police not to talk to the media.
Newspaper stands and street breakfast vendors have disappeared from some areas of the city, including Chang’an Avenue, the long road that passes Tiananmen Square, the main government offices and hotels where some delegates are staying.
Taxi drivers have been told to be wary of passengers sitting in the back seat to make sure they don’t open the windows and throw out fliers, especially when driving along Chang’an Avenue, said a man in the main office of the Minhanganle taxi company who only gave his surname, Liu.
Chinese counterterrorism expert Li Wei said the gravest threats to Beijing’s APEC meetings are extremists aiming to establish an independent state in the restive western region of Xinjiang.
Several deadly attacks targeting civilians have been blamed on extremists from Xinjiang’s native Turkic Uighur population. Most were in western China, but in October of last year, three assailants drove an SUV through crowds in the heart of Beijing, killing themselves and two tourists.
Hotels have been asked to report to police any guests from Xinjiang as well as Tibet and its neighboring Qinghai province during APEC, said a manager at a Home Inns hotel in Beijing’s Changping district. Tibetans have protested Chinese rule for decades, and since 2009, about 130 have died by setting themselves on fire in protest.
In an anti-terrorism drill Oct. 27, police dealt with simulated terror incidents at two meeting venues involving terrorists driving a car carrying explosives into a crowd of people, hostage-taking and “a gathering of troublemakers,” the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
About 1,000 monitoring cameras with facial recognition functions were being installed in suburban Huairou district, the venue of the leaders’ meetings, according to state media reports. The cameras were to cover business areas, gas stations, schools and other densely populated areas.
People will face detention if they fly their pet pigeons or kites in the vicinity of Beijing Capital International Airport to ensure flight safety, according to notices from the Beijing city government and the Civil Aviation Administration of China. The rule had been in place before APEC but was initially punishable by only a fine.
Authorities don’t want to be embarrassed by Beijing’s notoriously polluted air, so they have ordered some factories to shut down temporarily, demolitions to be halted and cars off the road.Authorities say the discharge of pollutants in Beijing and its surrounding areas is expected to be cut by a third during APEC.
Highly polluting factories were told to cut emissions starting Oct. 1 and some of them are to be shut down altogether for APEC, said He Ruirui, of the environmental protection bureau of Langfang city in Hebei province, from which pollution wafts into Beijing.
The turning on of the winter heating, powered by burning coal, has been postponed until after APEC in an economic and development zone of Tianjin, a half-hour train ride from Beijing, following a notice from the Tianjin government, according to a woman surnamed Zhang from the service line of the Tianjin Taida Junlian Heating Company. Beijing’s heating is due to come on after APEC.
Half the capital’s cars are banned from the roads at any one time for a 10-day period that began Monday and ends Nov. 12. Driving privileges are alternating between vehicles with odd and even license plates. Beijing imposed the same restrictions during the 2008 Olympics, which helped herald blue skies.
Government workers get a six-day holiday from Nov. 7-12, but will be required to work an additional Saturday and Sunday to partly compensate. Schools and kindergartens will close, and people will be unable to register marriages.
People are also being encouraged to leave town.
Beijing’s railway bureau is deploying cargo trains that can carry passenger cars, so that travelers can take their vehicles with them on holiday without clogging up highways out of the capital. The fees will be roughly the same as fuel and tolls for the trip, the bureau said.
Chen Caiyin, of the public relations department of Ctrip, China’s biggest travel agency, said that Beijing’s tourism authorities asked them to tempt more tourists to travel during APEC.
She said the company is offering half-price discounts on 15 percent of their routes.
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 | Sep 19, 2015 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
DERELICT shops in one of the most unattractive parts of the town centre have fallen even further into disrepair nearly 18 months after permission was granted to revamp them.
In June last year Crawley Borough Council approved plans to replace 15-29 The Broadway with dozens of flats and new retail units.
But 17 months on there has been no visible work carried out at the site, which has also become a home for a horde of pigeons, who are covering the inside of the building with excrement.
Appalled by the state of shops, Crawley resident Jeff Herbert has called on the council to put pressure on the building owner to clean up the mess caused by the winged squatters.
The 69-year-old, who lives in Wolstonbury Close, Southgate, said: “These shops have been empty for so long and I think it’s a disgrace that they are being left in this state.
“Crawley Borough Council doesn’t seem to have picked it up, and they are usually very hot on the cleanliness of shops.
“The pigeons have got inside somehow and are pooing all over the place.”
Peter Smith, the council’s cabinet member for planning and economic development, admits the authority cannot do much about the situation.
He said: “The building has got permission for it to be redeveloped so essentially we can do little but wait until the owner decides to go through with that.
“We don’t have the powers that people think we do. It’s all down to the private owner.
“They don’t have to do what the application says and they don’t have to do it straight away.
“Whether we have any powers to force the owner to take action to clear it up, I’m not sure. We would do if there were problems around public health.”
Bob Lanzer, the shadow cabinet member for planning and economic development, was leader of the council for several years and knows only too well the problems pigeons can pose.
He explained: “A few years ago the council hired some sharp shooters (to kill pigeons), which didn’t go down too well with the public.
“Then we started having blocks of wood put in, with pins sticking up to stop the pigeons landing on buildings.
“But I noticed recently when I was walking along with High Street close to The George Hotel, that they had figured out how to remove them and push them onto the ground.
“I was astonished to see them knock one off the building right in front of me, so don’t underestimate them!”
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)
