by johnnymarin | Oct 17, 2017 | Bird Netting
The Miami man convicted last month of murdering a friend over prized racing pigeons has died after a suspected suicide attempt in jail.
Lazaro Romero, 47, was found unresponsive inside his cell at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center earlier this month just as South Florida was scrambling to prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irma. Romero was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died on Sept. 7.
His death is being investigated by Miami-Dade police detectives. Authorities have not disclosed how Romero died, and the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to rule on a cause and manner of death.
It was a tragic end for Romero, who was convicted of the November 2013 stabbing death of Yoan Vazquez in Miami. The killing roiled the small but devoted South Florida community devoted to the sport of pigeon racing. The sport is particularly popular in Cuba, where Vazquez and Romero first learned how racing pigeons.
“All around, this case has been an enormous tragedy,” said his defense attorney, Julia Seifer-Smith. “I’ve only known Lazaro to have an incredible remorse about it having happened. He’s only shown me and my co-counsel kindness and he has an incredible love for his family and overwhelming pride in his sons.”
A Miami-Dade jail spokesman declined to comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors said Romero believed Vazquez owed him 20 prized racing pigeons, and went with his brother to the man’s home to get them back at knife point. Romero and his brother attacked Vazquez in his backyard — while the man’s 6-year-old daughter watched.
Romero did not stab Vazquez; it was his brother, Freddy Romero, who delivered the fatal knife thrusts. Freddy Romero pleaded guilty and is now doing 25 years in prison.
At trial, Romero’s defense lawyers said he never planned to hurt Vazquez — and had no idea that his brother would fatally stab the man.
The jury on Aug. 31 deliberated less than two hours before deciding he was guilty of second-degree murder. Romero had been out on bail before the trial, but was taken back into custody after his conviction.
He faced up to life in prison, and was to be sentenced sometime in the coming months.
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 johnnymarin | Oct 16, 2017 | Bird Netting
Video has emerged of a group of men believed to have been catching pigeons for food in Exeter.
The footage was shot by a man who was in Sidwell Street shopping with his young daughter last month.
The driver says he saw one man scattering seeds then was shocked to see another grab a white pigeon and stuff it into a rucksack.
He caught a few seconds on vide while pretending to be talking on the phone as he was scared to attract the attention of the group, who he says were loud and aggressive.
Afterwards, he went to Heavitree police station to report the men.
He told Devonlive.com the group appeared drunk and were “speaking and laughing loudly”.
“My daughter felt intimidated even just being in the car,” added the man, who asked not to be named but has given police his details.
“The men were sat on the bench – it looked like they were having fun, like it was planned.
Sidwell Street traders’ have spoke of their horror after witnessing street drinkers stuff 14 pigeons into a rucksack in the space of 20 minutes
“They spread the seeds then waited for the pigeons to come. One captured a white pigeon and the other opened the bag and dropped it in.
“That’s when I thought I am going to the police. People were looking wondering what was going on but these guys didn’t look like the sort of people you could ask why there were doing this.
“I thought it was disgusting, to see humans behaving like this in the middle of a city centre. It was very aggressive and they were doing it in front of children.”
Sidwell Street traders’ spoke of their horror after witnessing street drinkers stuff 14 live pigeons into a rucksack – in a cruel act believed to be food-gathering.
PCSO Sarah Giles, part of the city centre’s policing team, described the unbelievable incident as part of ‘blatant pigeon eating’ recognised by police, and has pinpointed a particular group of drinkers responsible.
One anonymous trader said the incident, on August 31, which took place over 20 minutes, was “horrifying” to witness.
She described how she, and passers-by, saw a man known for drinking regularly at the spot, coaxing pigeons with bird seed.
“I was horrified. I know there are too many pigeons and I’ve never been a fan, but how can you be so cruel to an animal? That to me was cruel.
“If I was a bigger person I would have taken the rucksack off them, but it was two strapping blokes.”
“It’s all alcohol related, they sit on Sidwell Street drinking at all hours of the day. There aren’t enough police around.”
PCSO Giles said geese and swans have been reportedly captured by the river in the past, and that it is all down to a particular group of “street attached” drinkers.
It is ingrained issue, one she wishes she could solve.
She said: “They have money to spend on booze, so they have the money to buy food. ”
“Many of this group are housed, in B&B’s, bedsits or small flats.
The incident happened just one week after the murder of a seagull on the same street.
Shoppers, including small children, watched as a woman on Sidwell Street stamped on the head of the bird at 3pm on Friday, August 25.
PCSO Giles believes traders on Sidwell Street need to band together to stamp out the anti-social behaviour which has become commonplace on the key route into Exeter city centre.
She worries it will soon fall foul of the “broken window” theory – that if you leave a broken window unfixed another will break, and the area will soon be disrespected.
“We need to get community cohesion going, we need a sense of identity in Sidwell Street. We don’t have the option to police it every day and a traders group would be benefitial.”
She is also positive the recently introduced PSPO will help combat the problems, offering greater leverage with the drinkers.
“It is still early days, but I am hugely optimistic it will help,” she added.
Police said they were investigating the incident and are currently studying CCTV of the area.
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 johnnymarin | Oct 15, 2017 | Bird Netting
When I informed my wife that I was heading out to join my friend David Hanson for an afternoon pigeon shoot with the new air powered “Wing Shot” air shotgun by Air Venturi, her reply was something like, “Not those little pigeons that hang around city parks? Surely not!”
I assured her the birds we were going after probably had never even been in the city limits of Lone Oak, the nearest “town” to where we were hunting. These were “wild”, feral birds that made their living just like other wild birds, eating seeds and grain around farms in the area. Little did I know just how “wild” these birds really are!
A few days before the hunt, the UPS man delivered my new air shotgun, complete with pre-loaded shot cups with #6 and #8 shot. I’ve been shooting and hunting with PCP air rifles for several years. These are not your grandfather’s air rifles. They charge up to 3,000 psi. of air pressure via scuba or carbon fiber tanks and the big bore rifles have enough power to harvest any animal in North America. I have a .25 caliber that is absolutely lethal on small game. But this Wing Shot air shotgun was totally new to me.
I promptly charged the shotgun to 3,000 psi., loaded it with a shot cup containing a little over an ounce of #6 shot, placed a quarter inch piece of plywood against a safe backstop, stapled a square of paper to the plywood, stepped back 25 yards, centered the shotgun bead on the center of the paper and fired my first shot. With the discharge of the pressure, I knew the shotgun was shooting hard. Upon closer inspection of my target, I was amazed at just how hard!
The pattern from the choke was well dispersed in a 14-inch diameter circle on the paper; the shot had penetrated through the quarter-inch plywood. I was convinced this gun had plenty of power to use on a bird hunt. Air powered guns are not legal on any game animals or birds in Texas with the exception of squirrels. This rules out the use of air on dove or quail or any of the migratory species but feral pigeons aren’t game birds and neither is the exotic dove species such as the Eurasian dove that is becoming common through much of the state.
Hanson had scouted a big hay barn situated in the middle of a cow pasture the day before and asked his “kin folks” that owned the land if we might go out for a late afternoon shoot. We pulled up to within a couple hundred yards of the barn and through binoculars, could see a big flock of feral pigeons setting on the beams that supported the roof. Occasionally, a small flock would fly out to pick grit from a sand pile out in the field or fly to a nearby electrical line. Hanson and I had an ice cooler along for the birds we expected to harvest. We even had a plan for cooking them. Grilled pigeon breast with jalapeno and garlic wrapped in bacon was on the menu and from our vantage point a couple hundred yards away, this should be an easy shoot! Were we about to get educated in the ways of the feral pigeon! These most definitely weren’t the docile “park” birds my wife gave reference to.
The field was wide open and when we approached within a hundred yards of the barn, every pigeon took wing and flew directly to land on a highline wire about 400 yards distant. No problem, we thought. We will just set inside the barn and shoot them as they flew back. There was no mass return flight as we witnessed when we spooked the birds. Occasionally a bird or two would approach well out of range, circle a time or two and return to their highline perch. These pigeons were as wary as any game birds I’ve hunted, actually more wary. A turkey, duck or goose for that matter, can be called within shotgun range. Spinning wing decoys are usually highly effective for bringing dove within range. These pigeons had obviously graduated from the class of “Hunter Avoidance 101.”
About thirty minutes before dark, the desire to roost caused the birds to come back to the barn but much to our despair, they didn’t simply fly inside the enclosure and land on a rafter. No, they circled high and then landed “ON TOP OF THE ROOF!” These birds were smart and we came to the conclusion that to harvest them, we would have to devise a better plan.
Picture this — two grown men inside a big, open hay barn, hidden beside the tires of trailers or tractors, listening to what sounded like hundreds of bird feet clicking on top of the metal roof. These birds were driving us crazy! Only fifteen feet above our heads it sounded as though these pigeons were having a big square dance. We could hear them cooing and clicking up their heels!
Finally a pigeon that had either been consuming too many fermented berries or possibly tired of just being “one of the flock”, hovered outside the roof, contemplating coming in and landing on a comfortable steel beam inside the barn. Hanson jerked the trigger on the Wing Shot and the pattern centered the bird. It was obvious that the power of compressed air in a shotgun generates enough power to cleanly harvest birds but Hanson and I felt a bit cheated by these “super” pigeons. The next time I hear someone use the term, “pigeon brain”, do I ever have a story to relate that might just change their way of thinking about these “dumb” little birds!
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 johnnymarin | Oct 14, 2017 | Bird Netting
PESHAWAR: Amid awareness campaign launched by the provincial government for the dengue-affected people in the provincial capital, the mosquito-borne disease on Sunday infected 310 more people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
According to government officials, 26 people have so far lost their lives as a result of dengue virus in KP. The provincial Health Department reported that sessions were conducted in the government-run schools in the dengue-hit Tehkal and Pishtakhara union councils, where the virus was reported in July this year. The awareness sessions were started three days ago where health experts informed local residents about dengue and its breeding causes and gave them useful suggestions for remaining safe from dengue mosquitoes.
The government is stated to have spent millions of rupees by providing services to dengue patients in the public sector hospitals, conducting larvicide sprays in the affected areas and distributing mosquito nets and repellent lotions among the residents of Tehkal and Pishtakhara.
However, these efforts by the government didn’t help control dengue virus and it has been infecting 300-400 people every day. Health experts are of the opinion that there are still open water reservoirs in different forms in the dengue affected areas where thousands of dengue larvae are breeding.
“Since weather is quite hot therefore majority of the people are using water air-coolers in their houses and work places. These air-coolers are the among best places for dengue breeding,” a health expert at the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) opined.
Pleading anonymity, he said some of the people in Tehkal and Pishtakhara had kept pigeons on their rooftops where water was put into pots, saying they found dengue larvae in air-coolers and in pots from which pigeons drank water.
Meanwhile, the Dengue Response Unit confirmed that 1,527 people were taken to different hospitals where 310 were discharged with dengue. It said of the 310 patients, 120 were admitted in hospitals and 116 were discharged from hospitals their recovery.
Presently, according to DRU, 365 dengue patients are under treatment in different hospitals of the province. Khyber Teaching Hospital, where 917 patients were taken with fever and body ache, 196 of them were diagnosed with dengue. At the moment, KTH is providing services to 235 indoor dengue patients.
Around 42 patients tested positive at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) of whom 28 were admitted in the hospital. The Hayatabad Medical Complex also diagnosed 45 patients with dengue. It had received 156 patients.
The Naseerullah Babar Hospital in Peshawar tested two patients dengue positive. Similarly, Mansehra reported nine dengue positive cases, Mardan eight cases, Buner four and Abbottabad two cases.
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 johnnymarin | Oct 3, 2017 | Bird Netting
PLANS to install netting at an iconic Knutsford building in an attempt to move pigeons on have been agreed by a town council committee.
The window areas of the Gaskell Memorial Tower at the Belle Époque will be blocked by netting, similar to that at The Courthouse, to deny the birds access.
The tower and surrounding buildings have become overrun with ever-increasing flocks of pigeons, furthering the issue of pigeon fouling in the town centre.
Members of the town council’s assets and operations committee voted to allocate almost £6,000 to the project, which would also see blunted spikes installed to prevent roosting.
Town clerk Adam Keppel-Green wrote in a report to members: “The committee has previously discussed the issue of pigeon fouling within the town centre and the environment committee is looking at town centre-wide options to reduce the overall pigeon population.
“It is proposed to install netting to the window areas on the tower, building and side building to prevent birds infesting the area. The netting will enclose the affected area and deny the birds access.
“This will involve installing steel fixings at each corner and at 500mm intervals to which wire and netting is then attached. There are existing areas of netting on the building already. Netting would be translucent to minimise any visual detraction from the listed building.
“Bird point would be affixed to the top ledges of the tower, ledges on the tower and on the piping around the building. The points are blunted and do not harm the birds but prevent it from being able to balance which encourages them to find a new place to roost.
“Whilst installing the netting and bird point existing bird fouling in the areas would be cleaned up.
“The council’s agent would oversee the works and arrange for listed building consent if required by the conservation officer.
“The cost of the works is £5,934.07.”
The council’s environment committee voted last month to explore further the installation of dovecotes in the town centre, with a budget of £2,600.
Installation will follow discussions with businesses and groups, and will allow for easier destruction of eggs to control the population growth.
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 johnnymarin | Aug 20, 2017 | Bird Netting
There are many ways to offer tips about crimes to Smiths Falls and District Crime Stoppers – social media is not one of them.
In a press release, Crime Stoppers say they appreciate all the help and support from the community especially when the tips help solve crimes.
“So far, 2017 has been a stellar year both in terms of volume/quantity of tips that have been received and the financial support that the community has provided in order to pay our rewards,” the release states.
To remain safe and anonymous, they recommend three ways to provide tips and information:
* Phone: 1-800-222-TIPS (8477);
* Online: https://www.tipssubmit.com; and,
* Text Message: text to CRIMES (274637); in the message field, type “tip252”.
Some of the tips Crime Stoppers has received in 2017 have arrived in some unusual forms, they said, and they want to stress how potentially unsafe this may be to our tipsters.
Here are a few examples of tip methods that should never be used:
* Carrier Pigeon;
* Mail;
* Social Media (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc.);
* In Person;
* Anything other than the three methods previously mentioned by Crime Stoppers.
This reminder is being provided so that Crime Stoppers can continue to make sure that our tipsters always remain anonymous. Anonymity keeps tipsters safe.
“Crime does not pay, but Crime Stoppers does,” is their motto.
Did you know that Crime Stoppers does not receive government funding from any level? It relies on funds raised by the board members of each individual program and on donations provided by the public.
Crime Stoppers does make a difference in our community.
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)
