by Ryan Ponto | Oct 8, 2016 | Pigeon Spikes
John Gosden has lined up most of his big guns to fire on Champions Day at Ascot and the Newmarket trainer will be hopeful of bagging at least a chunk of the mega-bucks on offer.
But for punters who prefer a good 20-runner handicap to the glitz and glamour of the rest of the card, it’s Gm Hopkins who is suggested as a decent bet for the trainer in the Balmoral Handicap.
Little went right for Gosden’s quirky but talented five year old in the Cambridgeshire last time out, and, after a slow start and traffic problems, he could only finish 12th behind Spark Plug.
It’s interesting though that Ryan Moore, who partnered him that day and has steered him to victory twice over this course and distance, has decided to continue with the association here, giving his chances a major boost and the fact he is 2lb lower in the weights is another useful bonus. He was far from knocked about as he made late gains in the Cambridgeshire and that sympathetic ride could pay a decent dividend here at an appealing price. Gosden sent him on a solo spin up the Limekilns this week to sharpen him up and he looked on particularly good terms with himself.
Jack Hobbs is another Gosden representative worth backing at a decent price in the QIPCO Champion Stakes.
It’s been a long road back for last year’s Irish Derby winner after his nightmare effort at Newmarket on his reappearance, but he has been wound up steadily on the gallops and his last three or four pieces of work have all been very solid and to the same sort of standard he was performing last season when at his peak.
There are questions to be answered here, once the horse is asked to run through the pain barrier again, but the price reflects those uncertainties and nothing seen on the gallops would put you off his prospects.
Incidentally, while we’re on the Gosden theme, one to look out for next week from the yard is Shutter Speed, pencilled in for Yarmouth. A Dansili filly, she might just prefer the ground there to dry out a little, but there is plenty to like about her judged on home evidence and she could even prove a Classic contender next season.
As advertised here, Shalaa was in need of the run before the Bengough Stakes at this track a fortnight ago, and it was to his credit that he dug deep to win well. He has improved since and must go close in the British Champions Sprint, even if the market hasn’t missed him.
But at a fractionally better price, preference is again for Ryan Moore and another of his old allies, Twilight Son.
The pair found only the mighty Muhaarar too good in this race 12 months ago, and enjoyed their finest hour together when they went one better in the Diamond Jubilee at the Royal meeting here in June.
A below-par effort followed behind stablemate Limato in the July Cup at Newmarket, but he is back in very good heart after a good break, and his trainer reports his work has been of a high order – which might just have helped make his mind up about whether or not Limato was better keeping for the Breeders’ Cup. If Twilight Son can reproduce his best form on ground which will suit, he represents solid each-way value.
Simple Verse has sound prospects of adding the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup to her win in the Fillies and Mares at his fixture in 2015. Like 12 months ago, she heads here after a win at the Doncaster Leger meeting, and while she will have to step up on that form to prevail, it confirms she is at her most effective at the back-end of the campaign.She should appreciate the step up to two miles, and she will have no problem with the ease in the ground.
Godolphin suffered a setback to their plans when the fancied Silent Attack just missed out on a run in the Balmoral and are not that strongly represented on Champions Day. However, Ribchester has been very much trained for the race and he will prove very hard to beat in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes.
Richard Fahey has made no secret of the fact he has the son of Iffraaj in prime nick for his clash with Minding, Galileo Gold and the rest, and the royal blues are more than hopeful he improve further on the impressive form he has already shown this season.
Up at Catterick, Machine Learner makes plenty of appeal with his weight allowance in the toteexacta Handicap. A likeable and progressive handicapper, his jockey had a bit of a nightmare on him at Haydock last time, but a change of 3lb apprentice sees Eddy Greatrex drafted in and he’s definitely worth a chance despite a considerable hike in the ratings since his last run. He was spotted among Michael Bell’s string on the Watered Gallop this week, where he looked in splendid order.
Welsh Shadow can prove the most popular winner at Ffos Las by landing theWalters Group Welsh Champion Hurdle. Dan Skelton’s gelding carries the colours of the race sponsor and course chairman Dai Walters and developed into a very useful novice last season. He looks the sort to progress again this term and his trainer is sure to have him nicely revved up for what has been his early autumn target for some time.
Rebecca Curtis can also give the locals something to cheer with Beast Of Burdenin the Volvo Beginners’ Chase. Her Pembrokeshire base was out of sorts for much of last season, a point underlined by this former smart novice hurdler in his three outings. However, Curtis could not be in better form as the autumn campaign moves into top gear, and, despite failing to get around on his two outings over fences so far, this seven year old has the class and scope to see off Whataknight and Minella Daddy.
Copper Kay has always been well regarded by Philip Hobbs and this useful performer in bumpers can make a great start to her career over timber in theTanners E Wines Mares National Hunt Maiden Hurdle. The race has cut up disappointingly from the five-day stage, and she should readily see off her three rivals.
L’Aigle Royal, a winner on his first appearance for his former trainer John Quinn, looks the type to do well for a change of scenery, and should go well of his first appearance for Skelton in the Spire Brewing Company Handicap Hurdle at Market Rasen. Skelton has shown several times in his short career as a trainer that he has the knack to rejuvenate horses after a lacklustre run of form and L’Aigle Royal looks capable of winning a decent handicap off this mark.
Pink Play did her bit to contribute to what was a terrific season for Harry Whittington last term and she can continue where she left off with victory in theSpire Brewing Company – Chesterfield, Yaroslavna Mares Handicap Hurdle. The form of her two successes to end her first campaign over timber looks very solid and her overall profile is of a consistent mare,who should continue to progress.
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 | Sep 19, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Spikes
The Carthage Humane Society is currently experiencing an “MFO” at its Dog Kennel Road location south of town.
MFO, you ask?
Yep — maximum feline overload.
Jasper County has always had a feral cat problem — just ask any of our local animal control officers about it. Though they do what they can to save these little guys, it’s like plugging a hole in the Hoover Dam with a wad of chewing gum.
Thomas Jay and Mari Sipeer, both with the CHS, are doing everything they can to stay above the fray.
“At the moment, we’ve got about 90 cats in the system,” said Jay. The cats and kittens are scattered between the shelter, a number of area foster homes and the fine folks at the Joplin PetSmart. “We are definitely full here.”
A large majority of the cats inside the shelter are strays, many of them transported to the shelter either by the city’s animal control officer or warm-hearted residents.
“We’ve got a very large feral cat population,” added Sipeer, who’s affectionately known throughout the CHS building as the ‘Cat Lady.’ “They run loose, they breed, they have kittens, people bring them in and we fill up fast.”
In fact: “After four years, I can still remember cats who were here when I came (to CHS), but right now, I’m just doing good to remember all their names.”
Yep, it’s a busy time.
Luckily, the kittens go pretty quickly. After all, the public does love a sweet-faced kitten. In fact, Jay said one of the stray kittens found inside the CHS lobby has already been adopted out to a special person — the very same Carthage animal control officer who brought him to the shelter in the first place.
“He wanted that kitten,” Sipeer said with a smile.
“It does happen once in a while,” added Jay, “that the officer sees an animal that he wants to adopt.”
Sipeer said something similar happened last year when the driver of a rescue wagon began doting on a rescued kitten and decided he just had to have the little fur ball.
“There’s just a little spark that happens between them,” she said.
Most of the cats currently found inside the shelter are strays, Sipeer said, including the two cats I’ll be highlighting in this week’s column. To better illustrate the stray cat problem, the first cat (Caviar) came to the shelter on Sept. 22. The second cat (Cheesecake) came to the shelter on Sept. 23. Both were picked up at opposite ends of town.
Cheesecake is a 1-year-old female. Caviar is a bit younger, sitting at 8 months. Obviously, Sipeer must have had food on her mind when she got around to naming these two young girls.
“I was going down the food list in our name book,” Sipeer said, chuckling. “Somewhere around here is a cat named Chun King. Earlier, I did the liquor names. Over here,” she said, pointing to a sleeping male cat, “is Bahama” — named, I assume, after the Bahama rum. “In most cases, I name the cats.”
Cheesecake is a large, long-haired female with a bit of Maine Coon in her, illustrated by the tufts of hair found sticking from her ears. She also has striking green eyes.
“She’s such a sweet girl,” Sipeer said of Cheesecake. “She’s very cuddly, and she loves to purr and snuggle. She just has a very loving personality.”
Caviar is a bit less outgoing, Sipeer said, though just as affectionate as any other CHS cat. “She’s never given me any problems,” she said of Caviar, as the short-haired cat with black and white markings on her face and body cuddled against Sipeer’s shoulder.
“All my cats here are very good.”
To open your home to Caviar, Cheesecake or any other stray cat or kitten found at this no-kill shelter, visit the Carthage Humane Society at 13860 Dog Kennel Lane, call the shelter at 417-358-6402 or check out the shelter’s Facebook page.
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 | Sep 16, 2016 | Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
Operations staff at the Owen Roberts International Airport are using new equipment – a fogger – to reduce the number of bird at the airport.
According to a statement issued by the Cayman Islands Airports Authority Tuesday, its Operations Department in collaboration with the Safety Office, is now using “an environmentally safe device” to keep the birds away.
The fogger “deploys a light haze of bird repellent that irritates the bird’s mucous membrane,” the Airports Authority officials said.
“The effect doesn’t harm the bird, however, it does create an unpleasant sensation which causes the bird to leave the area,” the statement continued.
Cayman Islands Airports Authority Chief Safety Officer Andrew McLaughlin said the measure had been put in place because bird strikes are a big issue for airports, so “it’s important that we do everything we can to keep birds and other wildlife away from the aerodrome.”
He added, “We are once again in the middle of a very busy bird season, and I am pleased with the way the fogger has been working so far. The fog is harmless and many motorists may also notice a very fragrant grape scent coming from the area where the fogger is located, since it consists of a substance used in flavoring many types of food.”
The Airports Authority is also urging members of the public to do their part in keeping the airport area clear of wildlife by covering trash cans, picking up garbage and not feeding the birds in the areas surrounding the airport.
A Wildlife Hazard Working Group meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 28 to alert the public to methods the airports authority is using to mitigate wildlife.
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 | Sep 14, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
Last week, WIRES rescued an eastern brown snake that had been trapped in netting left on the floor of a garden workshop.
Two snake handlers were required to complete the task, one to hold the head and body of the snake and one to cut the mesh away. Fortunately the snake suffered only minor injury and will be released after some time in care.
Native animals, increasingly displaced from their natural habitat by tree clearing and extreme weather, are resorting to flowering and fruiting trees in our gardens. Tree netting is a popular way to protect fruit from wildlife, but the wrong type can be deadly.
Every year thousands of animals are injured in inappropriate backyard netting or discarded netting. It entangles birds, lizards, snakes, bats and the occasional possum. Hungry animals are easily caught in ‘bird netting’, which has a mesh size greater than 1cm square. Wildlife friendly netting should have a mesh size of less than 5mm. A quick test: If you can poke your finger through the netting space, the mesh size is too big.
If you are using netting in your garden, make sure it is the wildlife friendly type and that it is installed in a way that wildlife do not become entangled. The mesh should be white and have holes smaller than 5mm. There are three wildlife friendly brands of netting: Fruitsaver, Hailguard and Vegenet. Ideally the netting should be tightened over a frame which is clear of the foliage. Netting should be gathered and tied at the base of the tree or drawn tightly to the ground and pegged so that no wildlife can get underneath.
Netting should always be stored in closed bags and disposed of carefully. For further tips, search for ‘wildlife friendly netting’ or have a look at WIRES’ fact sheets on wildlife friendly fencing and wildlife friendly netting.
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 | Sep 7, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
People mostly see pigeons in the park. Some feed them while the others shoo them away. They are sometimes considered as “rats in the air.” But, beware because what you might be reading in the park can also be read by pigeons. As research shows, pigeons can also learn how to read.
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In New Zealand, a team of researchers from the University of Otago, headed by Dr. Damien Scarf gathered 18 pigeons and trained them to identify words from the different string of letters. They introduced the birds to 308 four-letter words randomly mixed along thousands of string of letters, and their goal is to peck on the shown words.
For example, in the experiment, the pigeons come on the screen and need to distinguish words from non-words such as “USRP.” Then, the birds need to identify the word among the non-words through pecking. Meanwhile, among the 18 pigeons, researchers identify four pigeons to be outstanding in their experiment. For the birds, sooner or later built vocabularies with a scope of 26 to 58 words over the 8000 non-words shown in a report by IFL Science.com.
To make sure that the pigeons learn and not memorize the words from the non-words, the experts introduce them to new words which they have never seen before. Thus, the birds still correctly identify it.
As a result, Dr. Scarf shared that, the pigeons comprehends certain pairs of letters such as “TH” and “AL” as it was more often show in the English language. The birds were able to identify words with those letters quickly. He also added that “during training, the pigeons derived some general statistical knowledge about the letter combinations that distinguish words from non-words”
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In line with this, another researcher, from the Otago’s Department of Psychology , Professor Michael Colombo suggested that “we may have to seriously re-think the use of the term ‘bird brain’ as a put-down,” according to Phys.org.com.
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 | Sep 6, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes
Dear Diary:
I was biking in Riverside Park near the 79th Street Boat Basin, when suddenly a swarm of pigeons formed a thick, fluttery wall, obstructing my view. I swerved and fell hard on the bike path.
Bloody and barely able to move, I looked up toward the pigeons’ likely point of origin and locked eyes with a woman who was tossing out bird seed. Naturally, I started up a conversation.
“Please stop feeding the pigeons,” I said as politely as I could in my stunned state.
“I’m feeding them on the side of the bike path so that they don’t get in the way of the bikers,” she said.
I frowned. “I don’t think that’s actually going to be very helpful.”
She offered a new line of reasoning: “You know, bikers are dangerous on their own. I’ve seen them get into lots of accidents from sheer carelessness.”
“I’m sorry, but that has nothing to do with feeding pigeons,” I said, trying to steer the conversation back on track.
“Pigeons need to eat too!” she said.
I paused for a moment to consider how I might redirect her overflowing empathy.
“I was just in a potentially life-threatening accident, and I may have broken my arm,” I said. “Personally, I value human life more than pigeon life.”
She frowned.
“O.K.,” she said. “I’ll feed them up on the hill so that they’re not so close to the bikers.”
Yes! I thought. I finally got to her.
But as the ambulance arrived moments later, I couldn’t help but think that my small victory would be a fluttering, er, fleeting one.
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)
