by Ryan Ponto | Dec 20, 2016 | Bird Netting
Scottish Parliament hawks to remain to control pigeons Hawks at the Scottish parliament. Picture: PHIL WILKINSON 10:11Monday 02 January 2017 1 HAVE YOUR SAY SCOTTISH Parliament bosses look set to carry on flying hawks and falcons at Holyrood to scare away pigeons – even though they accept the number has come down as much as it is ever likely to. Birds of prey were brought in eight years ago as a deterrent after other measures such as bird wire, netting and anti-roosting spikes all failed. A year ago, the parliament said the £16,000 a year contract was due to be reviewed and the Evening News revealed Holyrood bosses were considering ending it. Monthly monitoring had shown there were between 11 and 18 pigeons regularly on the Holyrood campus and officials felt it may not be possible to reduce it any further. But no review has yet
taken place and now the parliament says the future of the contract with NBC Bird and Pest Solutions will only be looked at when the bigger high-level maintenance contract, of which it is a part, comes up for renewal in October 2017. And despite the previous suggestion that the use of birds of prey would probably come to an end, parliament officials now say it is likely to continue. But MSPs questioned why Holyrood should carry on paying out money if the hawks have now done their work. The pigeon problem plagued the Holyrood building right from the start with its many nooks and crannies proving attractive perches. Muck and feathers were blown through vents on to researchers’ desks and some birds even got into MSPs’ offices. Monthly monitoring reports for the past year, released under freedom of information, no longer give average totals for the number of pigeons counted at the Holyrood campus but do highlight hotspots, particularly the MSP block. Some of the politicians working there urged a review. Lothian Tory MSP Jeremy Balfour said: “If the contract runs out this year, it is a good time to review the whole situation. Just to renew it automatically would be a mistake. “It’s quite a lot of money and if we have reached the optimum number [of pigeons] and the situation cannot be made any better, it is not the best use of public money. I will write to the chief executive and seek clarification of the position and ask if we have now got as much as we can out of it.” And Lothian Green MSP Alison Johnstone also urged a review. She said: “It’s important we know how effective this spending is. We should not continue with a contract that costs £16,000 a year unless we are clear it is proving effective. “The evidence base must be available and I would welcome site of it to help parliament come to a decision as to whether or not this ongoing expenditure should be continued.” A parliament spokeswoman said there were no plans to end the NBC contract early. She added: “Like many buildings in Edinburgh, a small number of pigeons visit regularly. We are aware the problem can never be fully eradicated and it is likely we will continue with the current approach.”
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 | Dec 12, 2016 | Bird Netting
President Muhammadu Buhari on Saturday marked his 74th birthday anniversary by releasing 74 pigeons, and observing a special parade and inspection of the guard of honour mounted by the Nigerian Army.
The low-key event, which took place at the fore-court of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, witnessed the Inspection of Guard by the president.
The guard brigade, headed by Musa Yusuf, the commander, brigade of guards, also performed a special birthday silent drills, accompanied with special military birthday song in honour of the president.
President Buhari also cut a cake and released 74 pigeons from a cage as part of the activities marking the anniversary.
President Buhari also signed birthday anniversary register where he wrote: “I am impressed with the special drills presented by the Guard Brigade”.
Service chiefs, Ibrahim Idris, inspector general of police; some ministers, including Lai Mohammed and Muhammad Bello of the FCT; Abba Kyari, chief of staff to the president; Femi Adesina and Garba Shehu, presidential spokesmen, attended the event.
Gabriel Olonishakin, the chief of defence staff, who briefly spoke with state house correspondents, congratulated the president on his 74th anniversary.
“We are celebrating with the President and we wish him well and good health. We wish him all the goodness of God as he pilots the affairs of our nation to greater heights,” he said.
Tukur Buratai, the chief of army staff,who also spoke to the correspondents, described President Buhari as “a great man and we are very pleased with his accomplishments over the years.
“He is a good leader”.
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 | Nov 25, 2016 | Bird Netting
Autumn again and countless birds are preparing to fly south for the winter, unaware of what their journey will bring. During China’s National Day holiday in early October, volunteers took down two large swathes of illegal bird nets, stretching over 20 kilometres.
Over 8,000 birds were trapped in the nets, with only 3,000 of them still alive. Many Chinese people watching this on the news were unaware of the mass slaughter of wild birds being carried out in the countryside around their cities.
Net gains, net losses
Members of the China National Net Removal Centre have been busy lately. The 300 members of this WeChat social media group are dedicated to taking down bird nets found in forests, reeds, and farmers’ fields. Some are over 10-metres high and 40 or 50-metres long. Wherever nets are found the voluntary teams take them down.
At this time of the year the number of clashes between trappers and activists spikes. A number of important migratory pathways pass through China each year. Populous cities such as Tangshan and Tianjin lie on the East Asia-Australasian flyway, used by around five million birds travelling between Alaska in the north-west and south Asia. Bird trapping is rife along the China-stretch of this path which has become a battleground for removal teams and hunters.
Liu Yidan, China’s best known volunteer bird conservationist, is mainly active around Tianjin, a big industrial city north of Beijing. She told chinadialogue that she has freed 40,000 birds so far this year.
Migratory flyways pass through populous areas, which are often rich in resources and suitable for both agriculture and industry. This can bring people and birds into conflict. Image: WWF China / Li Yiwei, Zhang Yimo
Those concerned about the safety of migratory birds have been able to find each other and connect via social networks. The WeChat forum used by many of the net-removal volunteers keeps its 300 members up-to-date on efforts to save the birds.
Blogs and other online platforms facilitate discussions between the animal rights activists and the public. One volunteer who blogs under the pseudonym “net removal worker” writes in one article about taking down 90 bird nets in six days in the township of Chenjia, on Chongming Island, Shanghai. Chongming is known as a winter refuge for migratory birds.
E-retailers must take responsibility
But the nets are going up faster than they can be taken down. The volunteers have found that online shopping sites have spurred the trade in captured birds. They complain that Taobao, China’s largest online retailer which is owned by Alibaba, has made it easier and cheaper for hunters to acquire tools, meaning disaster for migratory birds and other animals.
A search on Taobao for “bird nets” brings up 5,000 suggested purchases, including one net that is 5-metres high and 30-metres wide for only 30 yuan (US$5). Cheap prices and quick delivery makes acquiring nets simple.
One volunteer, who preferred to remain anonymous, complained that: “Nets, lures; you can get anything you want on Taobao, and the sellers even tell you how to use them. E-commerce has sent the bamboo partridge to the brink of extinction.”
The trade in captured birds is also increasingly reliant on the internet. A 2014 report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Wanted – Dead or Alive, Exposing Online Wildlife Trade, exposed illegal online trading of many CITES Appendix 1 and 2 listed endangered species. In China the online trading of live wild birds takes place on sites like Alibaba’s Taobao, second only to that in turtles and tortoises.
The industry behind the nets
Zhang Yimo, head of the WWF China’s migratory birds network, told chinadialogue that flyways in China are much more densely populated than in other places where migratory birds rest, such as Russia and Alaska. And so the birds come into conflict with people more often, relatively speaking.
The netting of the birds is just one part of a business. Many of the wild creatures are then sold to restaurants in large numbers. In the chat room one volunteer reported large numbers of nets in a Zhejiang tourist spot, with restaurants openly advertising wild-caught game. The Yellow-breasted Bunting, once a common sight, is now as endangered as the Giant Panda.
Also, some Chinese people like to keep birds as pets, and a rare songbird can mean huge profits. According to one volunteer, one Siberian Ruby Throat hummingbird, known for its pleasant song, can fetch as much as 8,000 yuan (US$1,156).
Effects of new law remain to be seen
Zhou Haixiang, head of the Ecology and Environment Laboratory at Shenyang Ligong University, does not think taking down the nets will prevent trapping. He toldchinadialogue that this has no deterrent effect and that efforts should be directed towards catching the poachers.
“A net is cheap, you take one down and they will put another up,” said Zhou Haixiang.
Some of the volunteers are disappointed by the lack of law enforcement. “Net removal worker” wrote on his blog:
“Just taking the nets down simply isn’t enough. If you don’t strike at the people trapping birds, trading birds, eating birds and keeping birds then you can take down as many nets as you like but they will just get put back up.”
The punishment for trapping birds under Chinese law is minor but the potential profits are huge. For many it is worth the risk. Zhou Haixiang explained that in some places farmers make several thousand yuan a year by planting crops. However, you can make more, and faster, by spending a few days trapping birds during the migration season.
Zhou thinks the most effective approach would be to fine anyone caught with a wild migratory bird, regardless of whether they are the buyer, seller, or poacher.
There are differing opinions on whether the new Wild Animal Protection Law, due to come into effect in 2017, will offer much protection to migratory birds. The sale of nets online will be restricted, as the law is expected to ban online trading platforms from allowing the illegal sale of wild animals and hunting implements. It also bans the use of poisons and nets to hunt wild animals.
Xie Yan, a deputy researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology, said that the new law is the first law designed to protect the birds’ habitats and to ban hunting, including on the migratory routes of birds that are not necessarily protected species.
But Zhou Haixiang thinks the law still focuses too much on the protection of rare and endangered species, rather than the ecosystem as a whole.
More importantly, it’s hard to see the new law having much impact if enforcement isn’t improved.
“The question now is how to ensure the law is strictly enforced,” said Liu Detian, head of the Liaoning Panjing Society for the Protection of Chinese Black-headed Gulls. Under the law, the poaching of more than twenty wild animals is to be treated harshly; and one net can easily catch hundreds of birds. Lu thinks law enforcement agencies aren’t doing enough to combat bird netting, and imposing fines just means the poachers trap more birds to cover the costs. He thinks prison sentences are needed to solve the problem.
According to Zhang Yimo, as the internet makes it easy to buy and sell trapping tools and wild animals, there is a need for the authorities in charge of online commerce, businesses and wildlife protectors to cooperate. The roads and railways authorities, including delivery firms, should also work to prevent breaches of the law.
On October 18, the State Forestry Administration launched a 40-day “Net Clearing Action”, intended to remove illegal bird nets and smash the underground networks trapping, transporting and trading trapped birds. So perhaps this migratory season, the volunteers will have a bit more official support and the birds will face less danger. But as Zhang Yimo says, to ensure the long-term safety of migratory birds, “strong law enforcement is crucial, and that will be very hard to achieve.”
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 | Nov 21, 2016 | Bird Netting
Parts of Embarcadero Road leading up to Stanford University will be closed about every night for the next two weeks.
The reason? Pigeon waste.
Hundreds of pigeons live in the beams underneath the Caltrain tracks, causing a “dirty and unsightly problem,” according to a city of Palo Alto news release.
The road and walkways will be closed between Emerson Street and El Camino Real, near the Town & Country Village and Palo Alto High School.
The cleanup and maintenance will take place between 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. from today through Dec. 1 and Dec. 5-8, city officials said.
Detours will be in place and the public should expect minor delays. And, contractors will try to keep noise to a minimum.
The city’s Public Works Department plans on installing bird netting during the closure to deter the birds from roosting in the structure in the future, city officials said in the news release.
The netting is in response to the continual cleanup costs associated with the birds living in the I-beams underneath the tracks.
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 | Nov 20, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting
Avoid pigeon poop because of this emerging disease:
Verotoxigenic Escherichia coli infections in humans cause disease ranging from uncomplicated intestinal illnesses to bloody diarrhea and systemic sequelae, such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS). Previous research indicated that pigeons may be a reservoir for a population of verotoxigenic E. coli producing the VT2f variant.
We used whole-genome sequencing to characterize a set of VT2f-producing E. coli strains from human patients with diarrhea or HUS and from healthy pigeons. We describe a phage conveying the vtx2f genes and provide evidence that the strains causing milder diarrheal disease may be transmitted to humans from pigeons.
The strains causing HUS could derive from VT2f phage acquisition by E. coli strains with a virulence genes asset resembling that of typical HUS-associated verotoxigenic E. coli.
Whole-genome characterization and strain comparison of VT2f-producing Escherichia coli causing hemolytic uremic syndrome
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)
Unsure of how to control a tourist boom that has prompted street protests, Barcelona has at least come up with a way to stop an invasion of the feathered variety: by putting pigeons on the Pill.