by Ryan Ponto | Jun 14, 2017 | Bird Netting
Q: How did Dothan get rid of its pigeons? It seems like I haven’t seen a pigeon in years.
A: Dothan still has pigeons but not as many as in years past. Mostly likely a decline in food sources and fewer places to nest led to the decline.
Pigeons were introduced to North America in the early 1600s. Domesticated pigeons escaped from breeders and formed feral flocks. Pigeons often live in cities because the ledges of buildings and other structures mimic the sea cliffs and mountains their ancestors inhabited.
When pigeon flocks grow too large, there are humane methods to control their numbers. The Humane Society of the United States lists three steps to solve a pigeon problem.
According to the HSUS, most conflicts with pigeons can be tied at one point or another to feeding, intentionally or otherwise.
“Pigeons get fed plenty of handouts and garbage, but there are also well-intentioned pigeon lovers who regularly feed the birds,” according to the group’s website. “This does the pigeons more harm than good as the pigeons begin to gather in large numbers, often leading to inhumane and ineffective attempts to reduce their numbers.
“When such troubles arise, the best thing for the birds is to reduce feeding gradually over several weeks. The flock will gradually disperse until the remaining number of birds matches what the area can naturally support.”
“Even when not feeding on purpose, we humans are messy, leaving leftovers and dropped crumbs everywhere,” according to the website. “Pigeons hang around town squares, public parks, and other trafficked areas to help themselves to what we leave behind, especially when convenient roosting and nesting sites are nearby. To discourage pigeons from gathering, food attractants need to be cleaned up regularly.
“In suburban neighborhoods, too, homeowners may mistakenly feed pigeons or they may be providing food for pigeons inadvertently when feeding their backyard birds by tossing seed on the ground, rather than putting it in birdfeeders. To discourage pigeons visiting your yard, change the type, amount, and timing of feeding. If most of the pigeons fail to move elsewhere, you’ll need to stop feeding all birds for a couple weeks. (Don’t worry; the birds won’t starve.) When you resume feeding, only put out seed in birdfeeders and keep the ground below them cleaned up.”
Prevent roosting and nesting
“Pigeons look for flat surfaces for roosting and nesting,” according to the website. “Encourage them to do these things elsewhere by making flat surfaces unavailable to them. With the correct application of the right product, roosting structures can be rendered virtually pigeon-free.”
The group suggests a variety of devices that can be used to change flat nesting spots into inaccessible spaces and prevent pigeons from roosting in areas where they’re not wanted, from installing netting and “bird wires” to attaching wood or metal sheathing at an angle over window ledges and other flat surfaces to keep pigeons from landing.
The group says to never use polybutylene gel, a sticky repellent that can harm all birds and any animal that comes in contact with it.
Limit flock size with pigeon birth control
“As year-round nesters, a pair of pigeons can raise a dozen or more young each year,” according to the website. A bird contraceptive know as OvoControl is available that limits growth of pigeon flocks.
The kibble-type food causes birds who eat it regularly to lay eggs that fail to develop.
“In March 2010, OvoControl received landmark general-use approval by the Environmental Protection Agency,” according to the website. “Combined with exclusion and other humane measures to discourage roosting and nesting, OvoControl effectively reduces hatching rates in pigeons, thereby limiting flock sizes and diminishing problems associated with large numbers of 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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 13, 2017 | Bird Netting
Eric celebrated his 80th birthday last weekend and he is still showing the younger guys how to race pigeons.
Last Saturday, the first yearling pigeon races of the 2017 season took place from Vrede (139km) and Paul Roux (180km).
Three pigeons arrived about 16 minutes before the rest from Vrede.
Eric Holder took first and second, with Labusch Lofts third. Eric celebrated his 80th birthday recently and he is still showing the younger guys how to race pigeons.
Tiekie Crouse won the race from Paul Roux.
The winning pigeon from Vrede flew an average speed of 84km/h and from Paul Roux 102km/h.
The full results were as follows:
Vrede: Eric Holder 1,2,25; Labusch Lofts (Lappies) 3,4,7,8,10,11; Lewis Hay 5,12,13,16,17,18,26,27; Mark Clayton 6,22,23; Tiekie Crouse 9,14,19,21; Paul Manuel 24,28,29,30.
Paul Roux: Tiekie Crouse 1,9,15,16; Mark Clayton 2,27,28,29; Eric Holder 3,24,25; Bloodstock Lofts (Pat Emslie) 4,5,6,7,8,11,12,14; Paul Manuel 10,13,26; Jimmy Hanlon 20,21,22,23,27,28,29; Lewis Hay 30.
Over the weekend, the open series continued with races from Middelburg and Bloemfontein.
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 12, 2017 | Bird Netting
Nakrekal: Every morning the pleasant sounds of winged beauties awakens the neighborhood at Padmashali colony located on Musi road in Nakrekal town. It is exhilarating to watch the pairs of exotic pairs like African love birds, Budgies, Cocktail, Finches, Fancy hens, Pigeons,Diamond doves etc.
Bird lover Pradeep’s house looks like a mini sanctuary and as we walk around, Pradeep says, one should always blink in front of a bird . if you stare at it intently, it will freak out just like people. It is his child hood hobby and he is glad to be able to keep his passion alive.
Pradeep, a private teacher by profession, said that as part of bird conservation endeavor he had started rearing birds with two pigeons in the year 2002 and now he has as many as 300 wide variety of birds which are natives of different countries.
Pradeep takes lot of care of the birds and considers them as his children. He feeds the birds with hygienic food which consists of Red millet, Brown millet, Jowar, Bajra, Wheat, Sunflower, Corn, Paddy, Niger seed, Egg shell, Calcium blocks.
He spends Rs. 4000 per month to provide 1.5 quintal food to all the 300 birds and gives them multi-vitamins and antibiotics to protect them from routine and unexpected diseases.
Speaking to the Hans India, he informed that, restrictions of forest department was preventing him from rearing Indian native birds.Once the department relaxes the rules, bird lovers’ like him are ready to breed them with utmost care. He requested the people to conserve the birds to maintain ecological balance.
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 11, 2017 | Bird Netting
When Ron McBride comes to his usual spot at Clover Point, he’s always in good company.
It’s where the 65-year-old from New York has spent the last five years surrounded by hundreds of his closest friends: pigeons.
“I’m out for two to three hours sometimes,” McBride said. “Sometimes all day if I feel like it.”
It’s a change of pace for McBride.
“I had a very high-pressure job for 30 years and I sort of broke,” McBride said.
He decided to retire and turn to nature for a remedy.
“This is what my psychologist said was giving back to nature and I love it, I’ll tell you that,” McBride said.
“It’s just too relaxing.”
Even when the pigeons fly over and land near McBride, he swears by his practice.
“The pressure you have it’s just gone,” McBride said.
“It’s too hard to explain you have to do it to experience it”
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 10, 2017 | Bird Netting
WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) — An outdoor mall in Walnut Creek has brought in a hawk to help with a pigeon problem.
Downtown Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza is a lovely place to visit — unless you’re a pigeon.
“They are called the wolves of the air,” explained falconer Bridget Maguire-Colton as her trained hawk Remmy flapped his wings.
Remmy is a Harris hawk usually found in the deserts of Arizona chasing doves. But now this bird of prey is chasing pigeons away from the suburban East Bay mall.
It seems to be working.
“Have you seen any pigeons today?” asked Maguire-Colton with a laugh.
There were none visible. Maguire-Colton patrols the plaza with Remmy keeping a hawk eye out for any intruders.
Every once in a while, she releases Remmy so he can get a better look from above.
Remmy rarely catches a pigeon. The hawk’s shriek alone usually clears the area for blocks around.
Remmy has also become an instant celebrity. Shoppers at Broadway Plaza are shocked to see the hawk.
“I think it genius! It’s a really cool idea,” said one shopper.
While pigeons may get used to the plastic owls sometimes used on buildings to keep the pesky birds away, experts say they never lose respect for sharp claws and scream of a hawk.
Currently, there are about a half dozen malls using hawks to scare off pigeons but the many sun-drenched outdoor malls in California could push that number higher given the success rate.
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 9, 2017 | Bird Netting
London – He’s a sharp-eyed, no-nonsense killer who rules the roost at Wimbledon and the prestigious tennis championships wouldn’t function without him: meet Rufus, the hawk who makes pigeons’ lives hell.
Up at the crack of dawn throughout the two-week tournament which he has patrolled for 10 years, the sharp-eyed Harris hawk keeps pigeons in their place and makes sure they are not gobbling up the grass seed and fouling the pristine grounds.
Weighing just one pound, six ounces (625g), he has been training at the All England Club in southwest London since he was 16 weeks old.
“You couldn’t do this with just any bird. He’s just so chilled, calm and relaxed,” said his handler Imogen Davis.
“We start at 05:00. We clear the pigeons, if there’s any around, and get ready for the day’s play.
“But we’re here all year round which is when the majority of the work is done.
“The courts are constantly reseeded and the pigeons think it’s a picnic for them. They come in their absolute flocks and eat the grass seed.
“We’re here to ascertain that it’s Rufus’ territory – and it’s not a safe place for them.”
Pigeons would soon wreck the championships for players and spectators alike, Davis insisted.
“As soon as you’ve got a problem, it gets out of hand very quickly,” the 30-year-old said.
“If pigeons cause trouble throughout play, that can make a massive difference to a player, interrupting you when you’re in the zone. And the mess they can cause is pretty outrageous.”
It would be game, set and match to Rufus should any dim-witted pigeon try and take him on.
“If a pigeon wants to fight him, they can hang around and give it a go but ultimately it’s predator versus prey – and they’re going to take off every time,” said Davis.
Technology can be used to deter pigeons but Rufus’ job is safe: the natural terror Rufus instils in the pigeons of southwest London would be difficult to replace with gadgets.
Wimbledon is known for strawberries and cream but Rufus the Hawk prefers a protein-rich diet of chicken, quail, rabbit and pigeon.
Besides the All England Club, Rufus has also been known to do a job at Westminster Abbey, Northampton Saints rugby club and the occasional landfill site.
Rufus was mysteriously stolen back in 2012 but the culprit, who was never caught, had a change of heart and freed him two days later.
Now he is never out of his handler’s sight during the championships and even stays in Davis’s house.
Around 40 000 people a day pour through the gates during the tournament, but Rufus is unruffled by the commotion.
“These two weeks of the year are absolutely crazy. The rest of the year it’s just me and Rufus on the roof,” said Davis.
“He loves to fly and be out. His thing is to be out hunting. It’s all he knows. He’s not a show bird.
“He likes to keep me on my toes. He disappears down the golf club (across the road from the tennis site) and makes me go into the lake after him. But if I don’t go in after him he’ll make himself comfortable and I won’t be able to get him back.”
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)
