by Pigeon Patrol | Jul 9, 2024 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Law, Bird Netting, Bird Spikes
Birth control for bird control? Toronto put pigeons on the pill to fight the flock
A city pilot that put pigeons on the pill to regulate the population costs about $24,000 a year and is listed as a success in this year’s budget.
Toronto’s pigeon problemA city pilot that put pigeons on the pill to regulate the population costs about $24,000 a year and is listed as a success in this year’s budget.
Luis Canseco gets anxious when he walks across the Yonge Street and Finch Avenue intersection because he knows he’s directly in the line of fire.
Not from cars or trucks — Canseco keeps a wary eye on the wires overhead where dozens of pigeons congregate, feather to feather.
Whether he can make it across unscathed has become a crapshoot. “I’ve been hit with liquid three times in the last year,” said Canseco. “Now I cross it with an umbrella, rain or not.”
Toronto’s prodigious pigeon population has long been a frustration for residents who — even away from their excrement-painted balconies — can seem like collateral damage in a war being waged between those who want to feed the flocks and those who want them gone.
Coun. Lily Cheng (Ward 18 Willowdale), whose ward includes Canseco’s intersection, said many residents have complained about the influx in recent years.
“There’s many condo residents who no longer feel like they can use their balconies, which is what precious outdoor space they have,” said Cheng, noting there’s been more signage in her ward imploring people to stop feeding the birds. “It’s just not hygienic and hard to keep clean.”
In an effort to humanely reduce the numbers of feathered bombers, the city has put some of them on the pill, an endeavour listed as a success in this year’s budget. Under the pilot project that began in May 2022, the city has set up feeders in four locations across the city that dispense feed laced with OvoControl — birth control for birds.
Esther Attard, veterinarian and director of Toronto Animal Services, said her department worked with a pest control company to set up automated rooftop feeders: two downtown, one in East York and one in North York. City staff are looking at adding a fifth downtown.
According to Attard, OvoControl has proven to be a humane, successful baby blocker for birds in various countries, including Spain where a recent study showed a steady decrease in the avian population after several years.
The feeders dispense a fixed amount of food that contains the birth control pellets at the same time every day. The flock size is then tracked by a nearby camera, although it’s nearly impossible to get the same pigeons to take their daily dose.
Attard said the pilot costs about $500 per site for a flock of no more than 150 pigeons, or about $2,000 a month for all four sites.
Attard said there has been “some decrease” in the flock size, but she expects to have a better picture of its progress by the summer.
“The bulk of them are domestic, abandoned pigeons,” she said, noting the 2022 bylaw amendment to restrict the number of pigeons residents can keep. “The difficulty has been getting people to stop feeding and conditioning them.”
Canseco said he’s concerned about the health implications of having so much excrement around the city, but Attard noted that while it could carry silicosis or salmonella, the risk to humans is notably low and rarely poses a public health threat.
Vancouver’s TransLink tried a similar tactic at eight SkyTrain stations in 2019. The city’s automated rapid transit was often disrupted by pigeons that ended up on the tracks, triggering intrusion alarms, hard brakes and unnecessary service delays. A spokesperson for TransLink said the project lasted 18 months and returned in 2022 at seven stations. While the pigeon populations have not increased, Thor Diakow said, they also haven’t declined.
Attard said the method doesn’t harm the birds, even if they embrace their greed for feed and swallow more than one daily dose, but it also doesn’t harm what few seagulls and squirrels have gotten into the laced food.
Nathalie Karvonen, biologist and executive director of animal rescue Toronto Wildlife Centre, neither endorses nor condemns the pilot project.
“People tend to ride into two camps: either they are adamant they must continue to feed animals or they’re very upset because there’s too many pigeons,” Karvonen said, adding that as long as it’s humane and fiscally responsible the pilot is better than the cruel practices of poisoning or trapping and killing them.
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by Pigeon Patrol | Jul 8, 2024 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Law, Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Columbidae, Pigeon Spikes
At least one of the protesters’ claims is undeniably true. No one asked 2,000 pigeons if they wanted to have lights strapped to their legs in the name of art.
Nor did anyone ask the birds how they felt about being shooed from their homes at dusk and sent flying up to illuminate the Brooklyn sky.
But whether Duke Riley’s avian-powered performance piece “Fly by Night” constitutes pigeon abuse is a more complicated question.
More than 5,000 people have signed a change.org petition calling for the show, which opened May 7 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, to be closed. At Sunday’s performance, a gaggle of protesters — perhaps several dozen — gathered outside the Navy Yard gates.
Their charges: that the birds are terrified by the flapping plastic flag Mr. Riley waves to keep them flying; that it is unnatural to make pigeons fly at night, when they normally rest; and that between their poor night vision and the distractions of the moving lights, they could become disoriented and crash into the East River.
An artist, Duke Riley, has trained 2,000 pigeons to fly above the Brooklyn Navy Yard with tiny lights attached to their ankles in a performance that will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through June 12. An artist, Duke Riley, has trained 2,000 pigeons to fly above the Brooklyn Navy Yard with tiny lights attached to their ankles in a performance that will run every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through June 12.CreditCredit…Yousur Al-Hlou
“There’s plenty of ways to create beautiful art without using unwilling participants who are forced to perform,” said Nora Marino, who runs the Animal Cruelty Exposure Fund.
Mr. Riley has kept pigeons most of his adult life, and says the birds are not suffering and that they fly when he waves his trash-bag flag for the same reason a dog gets excited when you pull out your car keys. The birds are not forced to fly, Mr. Riley said — every night, some choose to stay in their coops.
The show’s critics say “Fly by Night” disregards the growing sentiment against performing animals. Ringling Bros. is retiring its circus elephants, SeaWorld its killer whales.
Before “Fly by Night” opened, the nonprofit arts group that organized it, Creative Time, asked the director of the Wild Bird Fund, Rita McMahon, to inspect. The fund, based on the Upper West Side, treats more than 2,000 sick and injured pigeons a year.
“Mixing art and animals is a very risky business,” said Ms. McMahon, who is a state-licensed wildlife rehabilitator, “but I was very impressed.” The pigeons were healthy and well fed, their temporary homes beautiful and clean.
“I didn’t see any traumatized pigeons,” she added. “You see them mating, courting, everything, all over the boat. I think that’s a pretty good sign.”
“Fly by Night” runs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays until June 12, and the protesters say they will be out every night for the rest of the run.
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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row. Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 11, 2024 | Bird Netting, Bird Spikes, Columbidae, Pigeons, Pigeons in the News, Sparrows
Prison guards at the Pacific Institution in Abbotsford intercepted a pigeon with a small backpack containing crystal meth Prison guards in B.C.’s Fraser Valley have to be vigilant against drones trying to drop contraband to waiting inmates or someone trying to throw drugs over the walls, but a recent discovery has also caused some concern.
“A pigeon was located at Pacific Institution, inside the walls, and it appeared to have a small package, sort of like a backpack attached to it,” John Randle, president of the Pacific Region for Union of Canadian Correctional Officers told Global News. He said the package contained crystal meth. The incident reportedly happened on Dec. 29 at the maximum, medium and minimum federal penitentiary located in Abbotsford. Randle said the pigeon was found near one of the recreation yards at the institution.
“It was spotted by correctional officers, I believe, and security intelligence officers when the officers were doing their standard patrols around and throughout the unit and institution, that’s when they initially spotted the bird with the package on it,” he said. “And then, of course, I believe there was some creative work – because the bird moved around quite a bit – in order to track it and capture it. But it was just outside one of the unit yards when it was first spotted.” Peruvian police catch “narco pigeon” trying to smuggle marijuana into prison
Randle said they have had issues with contraband in the past, with drones or something being thrown over the wall, but in his 13-year career, he has never heard of birds being used to smuggle something into a prison. “It’s almost like the inmates and the criminals are going back in time and using older technology,” he said.
In November, Mission Institution was locked down for days due to a belief that a drone may have dropped a firearm onto the prison grounds. The lockdown was lifted when no gun was found but officers did locate a drone. Lost pigeon flew the coop, finding her way from France to Calgary Randle said keeping drugs out of the prisons has become a huge part of correctional officers’ jobs every day, not just in B.C. but across Canada. “Especially with drones and throw-overs, the drug problem is growing on a daily basis,” he said. “This pigeon thing adds a new element to that for sure and we’ll be on the lookout for it but definitely drones have been the big thing for us.” He added that right now it is unclear to investigators if someone inside the prison was training the bird or if it was someone outside the institution. Randle said they have increased staff and patrols in order to watch for any potential drops. He said they also have anti-drone technology that works like a radar.
The Correctional Service of Canada and the RCMP have launched a joint investigation into what happened.
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by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 11, 2024 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Law, Bird Netting, Bird Spikes
Staff at B.C. prison bust another backpack-wearing pigeon
Correctional officers say they’ve caught another backpack-wearing pigeon at a B.C. prison.
John Randle, regional president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers, said the bird was captured inside the Matsqui Institution, a medium-security prison in Abbotsford, on Feb. 27.
Unlike a similar pigeon caught on the grounds of the nearby Pacific Institution in December, this pigeon’s backpack was empty. The prior pigeon was carrying a cargo of methamphetamine.
“The best guess, or educated guess I could make right now is that it looks like they were training this one to eventually bring in a package,” Randle said. “They didn’t find anything in the backpack that was secured to the pigeon.” The backpack, he told Global News, was fabricated out of blue jeans and bed sheets.
B.C. prison guards intercept pigeon carrying crystal meth “It’s a huge concern. We’re fighting the drone issue big time right now, almost on a daily basis. And now we’re going to start worrying about wildlife,” he said. “(We’re) searching and watching the skies I guess. It’s kind of funny to say that.”
Randle said the drone problem is a growing concern, noting that correctional officers had intercepted everything from ceramic knives to cellphones to drugs.
He said officers want to see more action from the federal government to combat smuggling, such as the deployment of netting or drone detection systems. Randle said corrections officers were also working with police on the smuggling problem.
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by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 11, 2024 | Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Spikes
Canadian police cleared a suspected Chinese spy pigeon after eight months’ detention and released it into the wild Tuesday, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
The pigeon’s ordeal began in May when it was captured near a port in Mumbai with two rings tied to its legs, carrying words that looked like Chinese.
Police suspected it was involved in espionage and took it in, later sending it to Mumbai’s Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals.
Eventually, it turned out the pigeon was an open-water racing bird from Taiwan that had escaped and made its way to India. With police permission, the bird was transferred to the Bombay Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, whose doctors set it free.
It’s not the first time a bird has come under police suspicion in India.
In 2020, police in Indian-controlled Kashmir released a pigeon belonging to a Pakistani fisherman after a probe found that the bird, which had flown across the heavily militarized border between the nuclear-armed nations, was not a spy.
In 2016, another pigeon was taken into custody after it was found with a note that threatened Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
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by Pigeon Patrol | Nov 7, 2023 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Law, Bird Netting, Bird Spikes
PROBLEMS OF PIGEON HABITS AND HABITATS
Pigeons aren’t menacing to humans, but they can be problematic when they build a nest inside a structure. Although most people love to feed pigeons in the park, they aren’t so happy with the negative effects. The same place where pigeons roost becomes a space for pigeon droppings. These droppings are acidic and cause a lot of damage to property. Eaves and gutters can get clogged, which leaves your home vulnerable to water damage and leaks. Humans can also potentially slip and fall on the mess that accumulates. In addition, pigeon droppings can carry disease and parasites. Pigeons damage plants and crops in search of food. They don’t have natural predators, so it can be difficult to control their population. A group of pigeons can be very noisy, especially when dealing with the sound every day, 24 hours a day. Movies may romanticize the cooing that pigeons make, but when you’re woken up on a lazy Sunday morning, it’s not so idealistic. Pigeons may also bring lice, ticks, and other insects to your home through their nest.
HOW TO GET RID OF PIGEONS
If you have a flock of pigeons living in your home or business, you will need to take multiple steps to eliminate the problem. Modern pigeons may not be used as messengers any longer, but they do have a strong homing instinct. They cannot simply be relocated to remove them. Removal should be performed by a professional wildlife service that can employ countermeasures that prevent pigeons from returning to the nest.
- The nest area will need to be cleaned and disinfected.
- All food and water sources will have to be removed.
- A prevention plan will need to be established.
- Entry points of the home must be sealed off properly.
One important consideration in removing birds is to know any laws that pertain. In some jurisdictions, it is illegal to remove birds and bird’s nests with eggs, even if the birds are a nuisance. Depending on where you live, you may need to work with a wildlife agency to remove the pigeons, which is why we always recommend calling a professional.
HOW TO KEEP PIGEONS AWAY FROM YOUR HOME
Once you’ve removed the pigeons, prevention is key. The goal is to make your home as unappealing to birds as possible. Installing physical barriers, such as screens or netting, can prevent pigeons from roosting, but it’s not always practical in certain locations. There are other options that deter pigeons from nesting, such as spikes, audio, or taste deterrents and bird wire. In some cases, it’s enough to install reflective surfaces or metal surfaces that reflect sunlight. These deterrents affect a pigeon’s ability to see and keep them away from your garden or home. Keep in mind that you may want to deter pigeons from roosting in your garden without repelling beneficial wildlife, such as hummingbirds or bees. Professional wildlife removal services can help you get rid of pests without harming other wildlife. Don’t try to deal with a pigeon nest on your own. Professional wildlife control services in North York are available to keep your family safe and to prevent re-infestation. Contact Skedaddle for safe, effective, and humane wildlife removal.
Pigeon Patrol Products & Services is the leading manufacturer and distributor or 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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.
Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.
Contact us at 1 877-4-NO-BIRD,(604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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