by Pigeon Patrol | Dec 22, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, UltraSonic Bird Control
Mysterious pink pigeons have left the people of Eastville and surrounding areas baffled.
With a number of theories about how the birds ended up so luminous, people have called the Post, sent in pictures and demanded answers.
But now it can be revealed that the pigeons belong to a family man who lives in Eastville.
After chasing confused residents who sent in pictures and speaking to people who live in the area, the Post has discovered that a Mr Singh, of Glenfrome Road, paints a number of his pigeons pink.
The long-term pigeon keeper from India paints his pigeons to protect them from preying birds.
In Mr Singh’s back garden are close to 100 birds – not all pink – kept in pens with the ability to fly free if they wish.
Mr Singh’s daughter said that the birds can fly away but they always return to their keeper.
The pigeon keeper has been awarded trophies for his hobby of pigeon racing and makes sure that they are in tiptop form by feeding them and giving them a lot of special care and attention.
A number of theories surfaced about the pigeons after a family sent in pictures of the garish birds.
One woman went as far to say that the birds can actually change colour if they eat pink foods.
While others said that there was a possibility that the birds might even be a pink tinted breed known as the Columba mayeri.
But if that was the case, the bird – which is native to Mauritius, over 6,000 miles away – would have escaped from a zoo. The family who originally sent in the pictures said that the bird had definitely been painted.
And Bristol Zoo bird expert, Evelyn Guyett, agreed.
She said: “That is definitely not a pink pigeon. I think the family are right in thinking it is a common rock dove that has been painted pink.
“We have Mauritius pink pigeons on show at Wild Place Project, and they are much larger than our native species, and not quite that fluorescent.”
It was also revealed that in Mr Singh’s native country, pigeon racing is a popular sport.
But although the collector’s intentions of marking his birds might be good, the RSPCA told the Post that painting pigeons is wrong.
This is because if the birds were to ingest the dye, there is the potential that it could be toxic.
An RSPCA spokesperson also said that the pigeons may find being restrained – so the owner can paint them – a stressful ordeal.
But a bird expert from the RSPB said that people often paint pigeons at certain events – such as weddings.
Mr Singh was unavailable for comment.
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 | Dec 21, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, UltraSonic Bird Control
Several pigeons are trapped under netting put up by Primark last week.
Residents in Westgate Street are able to see the rooftop netting from their windows and say the scene is a “real horror show”.
They are calling on the Stall Street business to set the pigeons free and to secure the netting to stop other birds getting trapped.
The netting was erected to cover Primark’s air conditioning units on Tuesday July 28- to prevent pigeons from roosting there.
Paul Beresford has lived on Westgate Street for 16 years and has come to know the birds well, even raising a baby pigeon at one point.
He believes this bird is one of the birds trapped under the net.
The 54-year-old says it is distressing to see trapped birds trying to find a way out, as well as birds on the outside of the netting trying to reach birds inside.
He said: “The pigeon I’m talking about was evicted from somewhere else by the council. I took him on, winged and fledged him, and let him go.
“He has been back to see me and is one of the few birds I have looked after who has done that. He has remembered me and he has now got a mate.
“These creatures mate for life and they are touchingly affectionate parents.
“It’s a real horror show. In one way the pigeons might be better off dead. To be separated from their mate- it’s torture for them.
“It’s distressing watching them in distress.”
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 | Dec 20, 2015 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
You can look at pigeons one of two ways: as pooping, disease-ridden pests, or ambassadors of nature in an otherwise urban setting.
Last week’s news that 100 pigeons went missing from Washington Square Park — after perhaps being lured and netted by hunters — has polarized New Yorkers. Some were happy to say “good-bye to a huge flock of ‘rats,'” as one commenter on our story wrote. Others, like animal activist Tina Trachtenberg, worried about the welfare of “these innocent, trusting, loving pigeons.”
In an attempt to weigh the arguments of both sides, we’ve listed the pros and cons of pigeons, otherwise known as rock doves, below.
THE CONS:
► With so much food to be scavenged from garbage cans and sidewalks, and with humans feeding them, pigeons in the city can spend less time searching for sustenance and more time mating. That leads to overpopulation — and lots of pigeon droppings.
► Pigeon droppings are associated with three diseases: histoplasmosis, a fungal infection that causes flu-like symptoms; cryptococcosis, another fungal disease; and psittacosis, a bacterial disease characterized by a rash and sometimes pneumonia. (Note: the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene says that contact with droppings doesn’t pose a serious health risk; people with compromised immune systems are most likely to contract one of the three diseases.)
► Speaking of pigeon excrement, a single pigeon excretes 25 pounds of droppings a year. Those droppings deface buildings, quicken the pace of their deterioration and add to their costs of maintenance.
► Pigeons are technically an invasive species: colonists brought them to this country from Europe in the 1600s as barnyard animals, raised to be eaten. (Squab — it’s what’s for dinner?)
THE PROS:
► Let’s not forget that pigeons served this country in both World Wars as stealthy message carriers.
► Pigeons do more than eat and poop: they can compete in races. During a competitive pigeon race, competitors are released simultaneously from one location and the pigeon that makes it home to its own coop first wins.
► Some people find them aesthetically pleasing. Photographer Andrew Garn, who snapped pictures of 5,000 pigeons over the course of four years, told New York magazine he finds them “really quite beautiful” up close. And we have to admit, the iridescent green and purple neck of a pigeon can be quite beguiling — when the bird isn’t pooping on us.
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 | Dec 19, 2015 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, UltraSonic Bird Control
A war over some of New York’s smallest and most divisive residents has been brewing for a while now. In the latest skirmish, a 38-year-old man named Luis Rosado was arrested last Wednesday for illegally catching pigeons on Wyckoff Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
Lieutenant John Grimpel of the NYPD told VICE that Rosado was arrested under the Agriculture and Markets Law relating to cruelty to animals. The law makes it a misdemeanor to carry an animal “in a cruel manner,” and in punishable by jail time for up to a year or a fine of $1,000—or both.
But Grimple was a bit mystified by my interest in the birds: Since when did pigeons become a bigger news story than people? he asked me.
As a matter of fact, bizarre pigeon happenings are nothing new in New York. In Greenwich Village’s Washington Square Park, activists and people who feed birds are on a warpath over their beloved avian friends. Last Monday, Washington Square Park Blog reported that someone had pulled up to the western side of the park, thrown a net on the ground, and scattered birdseed on top of it. According to witnesses, hundreds of pigeons were netted and stuffed into the trunk of a car, which drove off before anyone could catch its plates.
The NYPD told VICE that it has opened an investigation and found no evidence that someone stole pigeons from the park. But the local birders at Washington Square Park say they’ve seen a noticeable drop in the number of pigeons they see there.
“It sucks,” said Tina Trachtenburg, an animal activist who’s been feeding the birds in the park for 55 years. “Its really, really heartbreaking.”
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 | Dec 18, 2015 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
A pigeon.
When Brits began posting pictures of pink pigeons to social media, the mystery took flight.
Had the rare Columba mayeri, a pink pigeon unique to the small Indian Ocean island Mauritius that belongs to the same family as the dodo and narrowly avoided extinction itself in the 1990s, suddenly migrated to Britain?
Finally, it seems the riddle has been solved, and the conundrum was in fact much ado about nothing.
The baffling birds appear to be the work of one pigeon keeper in Bristol, who dyed the pigeons pink to protect them from predatorsaccording to the area’s local newspaper.
The Bristol Post cites cash-and-carry worker Sher Singh, 39, as the man responsible.
“I put the colour on because the Falcons will get confused,” he told the paper. “He will see the colours but won’t see the pink so well. I didn’t know if the colour for the pigeons was bad. I won’t colour them again . . . I’m sorry for colouring them, it was a mistake.”
Unfortunately, local experts in Ontario, where falcons have been thriving recently, say the man’s logic is flawed on most counts.
The pink dye would not ward off predators, and it may ostracize the birds among their fellow pigeons, according to Marion Nash, 54, vice-president of The Canadian Peregrine Foundation.
“I don’t see how that could possibly work, it’s nonsense,” she said. “Falcons eat all different kinds of coloured birds. They eat red cardinals, so why would they ignore pink birds?”
Nash doesn’t think the dye would necessarily hurt the birds because the feathers are similar to human hair and will moult quickly.
Her organization has even employed a similar practice, albeit for different reasons. The Peregrine Foundation will dye young falcons’ tail feathers to distinguish and protect them when they are learning to fly.
Where it could have an effect is in the pigeons’ relationship with its own kind.
“Pigeons will avoid others if they see them acting strange or sick,” she said. “They’ll wonder what’s wrong and might attack or avoid them.
“It could make the birds more of a target than before, from fellow pigeons or other animals. It could possibly stand out more because of the pink dye and be more of a disadvantage than an advantage.”
By using dye, the Bristol bird lover might have made it more likely his pigeons will die.
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 | Dec 16, 2015 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
Tram commuters say that a pigeon ‘infestation’ is causing problems at Prestwich tram stop.
The birds have nested at the Metrolink station and surrounding area for several years, but fresh concerns have arisen that their droppings are a health risk and damaging buildings.
Transport bosses installed pigeon netting at Prestwich in 2011 and say that cleaners still sweep the station daily, but passengers and local councillors have called for more action against the ‘rats with wings’.
Tram traveller Billy McCulloch complained to Metrolink for a third time about the issue this week. He asked: “Have reported pigeon infestation three times now at Prestwich, do you know if anything is being done?”
Mr McCulloch also flagged up the problem on Twitter on May 6 and on April 30. Fellow traveller Keith Marks tweeted: “Not sure how but pigeons are now nesting behind the anti-pigeon wire at Prestwich”.
Pigeons at Prestwich Metrolink station
Metrolink say they are not aware of any ‘infestation’ but have asked people not to feed the birds.
Councillor Tim Pickstone, who represents the area and blogged about the problem last year, told the M.E.N: “Both the bridges under the Metrolink at Prestwich are busy thoroughfares and pigeons are causing significant nuisance for both pedestrians and cyclists.
“It is important the Metrolink keep on top of the netting. In recent months, we’ve seen situations where birds have been trapped due to poorly maintained netting, now they’re even nesting behind it!”
Councillor Alan Quinn added: “When I’ve raised the problem of pigeons with Metrolink, they’ve acted quickly. For example they’ve put nets and spikes on most of the bridges in Prestwich that the trams use.
“The problem is made worse by the fact that people keep feeding the pigeons. Food is left regularly in Heaton Park and in areas of Prestwich.
“You’d wouldn’t put food out for rats and pigeons do carry disease that can affect humans, so why people feed these ‘rats with wings’ is beyond me. The droppings left are a health risk and can damage buildings.”
A TfGM spokesperson said: “The Metrolink operator employs contractors to not only control rodents and pests at stops but also to carry out a daily brush and mopping of stop and bridge areas.
“They also install pigeon deterrent measures from time to time in certain locations and Prestwich is one such area. However, we are not aware of any infestation problem.
“To help us maintain clean and pleasant facilities, we would ask customers not to feed any pigeons and avoid eating or discarding convenience foods on stop platforms.”
The M.E.N reported as early as 2011 how pigeons were causing a nuisance on the Bury Metrolink line, with prevention measures installed at several stations.
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)
Mysterious pink pigeons have left the people of Eastville and surrounding areas baffled.
