by Pigeon Patrol | May 8, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
Back in February, the BBC posted a story about a Seattle girl who got gifts from crows. She was brought bolts, beads, buttons, earrings, and bones, among other things. It was also revealed that she feeds these animals. The essence of the story, the reason it went viral, is it so perfectly, in the popular imagination, captured an innocent relationship between a child and the wild. The birds understood her and she understood them. Like all children, she had not become a human (experienced) yet. She still had a primal connection with the animal kingdom.
But even this paradise proved to be short-lived. By August, the neighbors of the girl were suing her family for attracting all manner of wild urban life to their upscale Seattle neighborhood, Portage Bay. Crows, pigeons, squirrels, and even rats, they claimed, had all learned about this girl and her generosity. Seagulls were seen as flying from Elliot Bay to Portage Bay with the certainty that the main problem of life will be solved there. The neighbors claimed that, as a consequence, the shit of these synanthropic animals spoiled their properties. They wanted $200,000 in damages. Now the girl’s family is fighting back, claiming their daughter’s feeding has not attracted rats and gulls.
What to make of this situation? I asked my favorite writer and thinker on crows, Lyanda Lynn Haupt (she wrote Crow Planet: Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness), for her view on the escalating tensions in Portage Bay. She responded with a lovely and insightful letter:
I think that many people long for a sense of connection with wild animals. This story served up evidence of such a possibility, and it captured everyone’s imagination. Plus, let’s face it—that little girl is cute as pie. No wonder social media went crazy. Did the crow really bring gifts to the girl? Some crows do gather shiny bits of this and that—gum wrappers, thumb tacks, shells, foil, bright red berries—and cache them in one place. Little collections of treasure. I can see how this action could be interpreted as the bringing of gifts to the little girl with the food, and there is little harm in imagining this to be so. That said, there is no reason to be feeding crows. They are already flourishing in the urban environment, and the neighbors are right—the amount of food it takes to bring in that many crows can make a mess and invite even more problematical urban wildlife. Even in this little video there are squirrels and pigeons. Whether there is evidence of rats or not, they are common visitors to urban bird feeders, even much smaller ones.
The neighbors are freaking out a bit. It is not “The Birds.” No one is going to get sick. And hanging dead crows on your porch (legal or not) to deter the neighbors and their crow visitors is just creepy. But lots of crows and pigeons and food and mess around? I agree, not good. Loud, annoying. And not in line with a deeper understanding of what helps and what harms urban wildlife. To live well alongside urban wildlife and our human neighbors: Keep cat and dog food inside (so as not to attract rodents, raccoons, coyotes, and crows). Close up entrance holes to keep animals from entering to shelter or nest. And if you do feed birds: just small feeders for small birds, cleaned scrupulously, with seeds that fall beneath cleaned up daily. Better would be to plant native trees and shrubs with seeds and berries that local birds love. I think it is a beautiful privilege to live alongside wild creatures close to home. But we need to do it with some grace and wisdom.
I think the story is sticking around so long because of the winning combination: cute girl with pet wild birds and lawsuit!
There is one more thing. I think if the crow feeder was a boy, the neighborhood may not have been so aggressive and filed a lawsuit. What is seen as annoying in a girl is often registered as a gift in a boy.
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 | May 5, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
CARLSBAD — Flocks of feral pigeons have prompted the Carlsbad City Council to set a date on Jan. 12 to hear a new ordinance that would allow the city to eradicate the problem.
Introduced at Tuesday night’s city council meeting, the ordinance would prohibit the feeding and harboring of feral pigeons, and includes a section that defines pigeon-proofing.
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway said in an emailed statement that the city has received continuous complaints about large flocks of pigeons all across the city.
If this new ordinance were to be adopted then it would allow the city to reduce the feral pigeon population in the city.
Because pigeons not only cause damage to buildings and ventilation systems, but also can carry harmful diseases, the ordinance has some merit.
City officials said that pigeons carry many diseases, particularly found in their droppings, and they pose the risk of carrying fungus such as Histoplasmosis or the fungus Cryptococcis.
“Psittacosis is a rare bacteria, and pigeons may also carry mites and parasites,” a city news release said. “Pigeon droppings are (also) acidic and can damage buildings.”
Officials also cited sanitary concerns as another reason to introduce the ordinance.
Environmental Services Superintendent Richard Aguilar said that the large population of pigeons has not been an issue in Carlsbad until recently.
“Within the last two years, the population has doubled or tripled, due to the feeding,” Aguilar said in an email. “My understanding is one pigeon couple can result in a population of a few thousand after a few years.”
According to the city council agenda, “the most efficient long-term methods to control excess feral pigeon populations is to limit their access to food, shelter and nesting materials.”
The ordinance would define “feeding” as providing food to pigeons, meaning that any person intentionally feeding pigeons on public or private property would be in violation of the ordinance.We’re not trying to stop people from putting out a bird feeder, what we’re stopping is the excessive feeding that is causing this problem,” Aguilar said.
Janway said the ordinance will heard by the city council during the Jan.12 meeting and the council will then be able to vote on whether to adopt the ordinance.
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 | May 4, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes
Who or what is killing birds in Utica’s downtown?
That is the question Matthew Perry, a Utica Peregrine Falcon Project founder, and others are trying to answer after members of the group found around 20 dead pigeons and other birds over the weekend.
“We’ve found several of the birds to have corn in their throats and in their bills and around their bodies,” Perry said Monday. “That is consistent with one of the pesticides that’s commonly used by licensed applicators and by people that have permission to use them in an area.”
That pesticide, Perry said, could be Avitrol, a poison used for nuisance pigeons and spread on whole corn.
But Perry warned it is too early to know exactly what is going on.
“We have to be really careful in what we’re saying here because we’re not absolutely positive that’s what’s happening,” he said. “It’s suggested by the way we’re finding these birds and the fact that no one seems to be reporting similar things across the area. In some cases it could be impact deaths. We might be finding birds that have smashed against windows.”
If it is Avitrol, Perry said the public should be careful if it comes across a dead bird downtown. He stressed that people should not handle the bird and that they should not pick any kernels without gloves.
The issue appears to have been going on for about three weeks, but now seems heightened, Perry said. Dead birds have been found from roughly Lafayette Street to Bank Place.
“Some people have reported around the city that they see these birds acting disoriented,” he said. “They’re hitting windows. So we’re really concerned that we might be too late.”
Deborah Saltis, a member of the Peregrine Falcon Project, spent part of her lunch break Monday looking for any downed or dead pigeons in the Hopper Street area.
She said of the roughly 20 birds found over the weekend, 18 were pigeons. Of those, 10 were found in the Hopper Street area and eight were found in other downtown locations.
“(Hopper Street) is one of the areas we found the most over the weekend, so I was rechecking it,” Saltis said. “There’s definitely something going on. Whether it’s inadvertent or on purpose, I don’t know.”
Another call came in early Monday, afternoon about half an hour after she first spoke to the O-D. That bird was found on Columbia Street, near the former Norm Seakan television and appliance store.
The state Department of Conservation has had cases referred to them, Perry said, and possibly the Oneida County Health Department. Some of the dead birds have already been dropped off at the DEC and are expected to be checked out by a pathologist and the corn samples tested, he said.
The DEC received reports last week of a number of dead pigeons spotted in the Utica area, said the DEC. On Friday, a wildlife technician secured four dead pigeons and they were sent to the department’s Wildlife Health Unit at the WildlifeResourcesCenter in Delmar, N.Y. for testing.
There was no timeline given for test results, the DEC said.
Melanie Adams with the county’s health department said that she had not been notified so she couldn’t say if the health department had been notified. If something was brought to the department’s attention, then they would notify the DEC.
There also is concern for how the city’s pair of peregrine falcons, who rely on pigeons and other birds as a main source of food, could be impacted, Perry said.
The falcons are “probably the best kind of pigeon control you can ever imagine,” he said, and can take more than 300 pigeons a year on average.
“We might not have the smoking gun for a while and this being a holiday weekend, I’m concerned that the first sign that there’s a problem might be a dead Peregrine,” he said. “That’s not what I would like to see.”
The Utica Peregrine Falcon Project was founded in 2012. The group has installed a nesting box outside of the 15th floor of the downtown AdirondackBankBuilding.
“Peregrine falcons only recently bounced back from the brink of extinction due to the widespread use of the pesticide DDT,” Perry said. “The species’ resurgence has been a testament to their own resilience as well as to the dedication of our society to be better stewards of the environment and to place a value on maintaining healthy, natural ecosystems.”
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 | May 3, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
Long-term pigeon solution
There is no denying that feral pigeons are a huge problem in some areas and cause extensive soiling of property. Contrary to popular belief they do not pose a risk to public health. If you doubt this statement you are welcome to look up scientific articles online. It is only pest control companies that depict pigeons as a health hazard.
The fact remains that large populations of feral pigeons are a nuisance and need to be controlled, but culling is not the way to do it. Culling is a completely ineffective method for the control of pigeon populations. A sudden reduction in numbers simply creates an increase in the resources available to the remaining birds.
A population is sustained by the resources that surround it. As long as there is enough food to sustain them, the population will keep replenishing.
Pigeons are also prolific breeders and dedicated parents can hatch several clutches back to back. A single a pair of pigeons can churn out two self-sustaining fledglings roughly every 40 days.
How long would it take for the remaining population to reproduce the amount of birds culled? The reality is that it would only take a couple of months at most.
Even if the shooters managed to kill a whopping half of the population and even if we assume that half of the babies born were to die before leaving the nest, it would still take less than three months for the remaining pigeons to reproduce the culled half of their flock, thereby making the entire exercise useless.
Our local councils can either keep using very short-term and short-sighted methods that do not achieve any tangible results, or they can start being proactive
Contraceptives, though certainly more effective than culling, are not an ideal solution either. They are expensive, and to be effective you need to feed the correct dosage regularly over a long period of time. Can one reliably control or even know how much of the medication the pigeons are consuming?
Also, as I understand it, there is the inherent risk that other wild bird populations can also consume the contraceptive. This may or may not be a concern in Sliema but I do not believe that contraceptives are the best solution to nuisance pigeon populations.
Instead of looking only at available options, let us look at some success stories.
Take for example Nottingham City Hospital that in five years managed to reduce a flock of birds to just 63, an incredible 95% drop in the population. Surrey Heath Borough Council also achieved an 80% reduction in their pigeon population in five years.
Heath Park Hospital in Cardiff says it prevented the birth of 150 pigeons each month with the help of one single volunteer. Paris claims to have prevented over 5,000 pigeon births in one year. How did they do it?
They built a pigeon loft, encouraged the pigeons to sleep and breed there, and tossed out the eggs they laid. The majority of the soiling and damage is done when the pigeons are roosting at night.
By building a safe and welcoming environment for the pigeons to roost in, while also installing anti-roosting systems on buildings, the birds can be drawn away from the problem areas and into a controlled environment.
Furthermore these lofts allow for access to the single most effective method of population control there is: egg removal. By encouraging the birds to breed in a controlled environment the city can effectively gain control over the breeding of its resident pigeon population.
All one has to do is manage the loft properly, weekly replace any laid eggs with fake eggs, and regularly clean out the area to avoid insect infestations. This method of control was established with success by the Pigeon Control Advisory Service (PiCAS International http://www.pigeoncontrolresourcecentre.org/html/reviews/artificial-breeding-facilities.html) as far back as the 1970s.
Unlike culling, it is not only extremely effective when done properly, but is a cost-effective long-term solution. Lofts can be built cheaply, though Paris chose to invest a huge amount in installing state-of-the-art lofts in its parks. Lofts can really be made from pretty much anything, utilising unused spaces and recycled materials, as long as they meet the pigeons’ needs.
At the end of the day the goal is to reduce the negative impact pigeons have on their urban environment. Our local councils can either keep using very short-term and short-sighted methods that do not achieve any tangible results, or they can start being proactive and figure out where and how to implement a long-term solution that allows the births in the population to be controlled, that encourages the birds to roost away from buildings, and invest in educating the public to better control refuse and litter and limit the available food source.
One can start by looking at the online resources and advice available, for example from the PiCAS International website itself which last I checked offered free guidance to public institutions on how to install and manage a pigeon control loft correctly.
Furthermore why not involve the community in the project? Perhaps entice University students to use the project as part of their studies, whether from a design aspect, a management aspect, an agricultural and animal husbandry aspect, or even in the use of recycled materials. There is so much potential in such a project above and beyond reducing pigeon numbers.
This method of pigeon control is a long-term project for a long-term solution. As with any long-term project, it will only work if the council sticks to it and keeps up with the management, cleaning and egg removal. It is not a one-time solution that will fix everything overnight, but it is the only method that will successfully control the pigeon population and reliably and effectively reduce pigeon numbers in our towns and cities.
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 | May 2, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
They undertake some of the most audacious journeys in the animal kingdom, navigating across thousands of miles to arrive at a precise location.
Now scientists have unravelled exactly how migrating birds, butterflies and other animals are able to use the Earth’s magnetic field to help them find their way.
They have discovered proteins that ‘act like a compass’ are produced in the retina and nerve cells running from the eye to the brain.
Pigeons are known for their navigational ability but now scientists claim to have discovered the molecules the birds use to find their way. The animals, along with many other species, have proteins that form a rod-shaped complex that orientate themselves in a north to south direction in the Earth’s magnetic field
These molecules form a rod-like complex with light sensitive proteins and orientate themselves in a north to south direction in a magnetic field.
Together, this complex allows the animals to sense the direction they are travelling by combining information about the Earth’s magnetic field and the position of the sun.
RUSSIANS USE MAGNETS TO THROW MIGRATING BIRDS OFF COURSE
Long-distance songbirds perform incredible feats of navigation during their spring migration.
While scientists know the birds use the sun or stars as a ‘map,’ the idea that birds use magnetic compasses has been difficult to prove.
Now a group of researchers have used a magnet to deliberately send Eurasian reed warblers off course, to show they rely on a geomagnetic map cues to point them in the right direction.
In the experiment, the birds were captured at Rybachy, Russia, during their spring migration.
To test the role of magnetic fields, Dmitry Kishkinev of Queen’s University Belfast and Nikita Chernetsov at the Biological Station Rybachy housed caught birds outdoors in wooden and cloth cages so they had a clear view of the sky and their surroundings.
They observed the birds naturally orientated north-east, which matches the chosen direction of migration recorded over the previous decade.
They then generated a magnetic field identical to that found in the town of Zvenigorod near Moscow.
The system allowed them to manipulate the magnetic field without obscuring the birds’ ability to pick up on other cues, including the sun, stars, landmarks, and scents, which are also thought to help birds find their way across vast distances.
During the several days that the birds were housed in the magnetic coil system, they were led to ‘think’ they were in Zvenigorod, some 621 miles (1,000km) away.
Perhaps most astonishingly, the researchers discovered that humans also express these same proteins, albeit in far smaller amounts, raising the prospect that we too have some ability to sense the magnetic field.
Dr Can Xie, a molecular biologist at Peking University in China who led the research, said the proteins appear to act just like a compass needle and send information to the nervous system.
Writing in the journal Nature Materials, Dr Xie and his colleagues said: ‘The notion that animals can detect the Earth’s magnetic field was once ridiculed, but is now well established.
‘The biocompass model we present here may serve as a step towards fully uncovering the molecular mechanism of animal navigation and magnetoreception.
‘The existence of a human magnetic sense remains controversial but geomagnetic fields are thought to affect the light sensitivity of the human visual system.’
Many animals are thought to use the Earth’s magnetic fields to help them navigate including sharks, sea turtles, birds, insects, wolves, whales and even worms.
However, exactly how they do this has remained a mystery.
Some researchers previously identified specific cells in the eyes and beaks of birds like pigeons that seem to respond to a magnetic field.
The exact source was unknown, and some researchers identified clumps of iron bound by molecules as being responsible, while others attributed it to light-sensitive proteins called cyrptochromes.
The research by Dr Xie and his team, however, has found that these two systems in fact work together to form a navigational complex inside the cells of these animals.
In particular, they discovered a gene called MagR that produces a protein that combines with cryptochrome to form a cylinder shaped complex.
Ten cryptochrome molecules encase 20 MagR proteins to form this rod that then aligns itself with a magnetic field.
They were so magnetic that the researchers had to develop special plastic tools to conduct their research
Insects, including monarch butterflies (pictured) were also found to produce the proteins to help them navigate. Monarch butterflies undertake one of the greatest migrations on the planet, travelling up to 3,100 miles
The scientist found these molecules are particularly highly expressed in the retinal neurons running from the eye to the brain.
Fruit flies, monarch butterflies, pigeons and humans all produce these molecules while other creatures including minke whales and naked mole rats also have these magnetic proteins.
The researchers say their findings may also now lead to a new area of research that could have numerous biological and industrial applications.
It could lead to new types of genetic treatments that respond to magnetic fields or ways of increasing magnetic sensitivity.
The MagR proteins form a magnetic core inside a coat of light sensitive cryptochrome molecules (Crys) to form a cylinder. The graphic above shows how they orientate in the complex on the left while the diagram on the right shows the cylinder of proteins in a cross section
The MagR proteins form a magnetic core inside a coat of light sensitive cryptochrome molecules (Crys) to form a cylinder. The graphic above shows how they orientate in the complex on the left while the diagram on the right shows the cylinder of proteins in a cross section
They said: ‘It has not escaped our notice that the magnetic features of the MagR polymer and Cry/MagR complex may provide a useful tool for the isolation and manipulation of macromolecules with external magnetic fields, give rise to magnetogenetics and inspire numerous potential applications across different fields.’
Dr Steven Reppert, a neurobiologist at the University of Massachusetts who was not involved in the research, told New Scientist that the research could have huge implications.
He said: ‘It’s provocative and potentially ground breaking. It took my breath away.’
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 | May 1, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
SDLP Councillor Martin Reilly has called for improvements on the Craigavon Bridge in Derry to address the problem of “unpleasant and unsafe” pigeon deposits which, he claims, are causing distress to cyclists and pedestrians.
Cllr Reilly was speaking after he was contacted by members of the public who use the cycle path along the lower deck of the bridge (pictured) who, he said, were “annoyed” at the gathering of pigeon mess which made cycling and walking “unpleasant and unsafe.”
Cllr Reilly: “Unfortunately, this part of the bridge is too narrow for Council cleansing vehicles – and in the past Council worked with Transport NI and Sustrans to close this stretch to carry out the necessary cleaning works.
“While this cleaning work is welcome the effects do not last long and a more permanent solution is required.
“Transport NI previously suggested installing netting in this area to prevent pigeons from roosting.”
Cllr Reilly concluded: “I am therefore calling on these statutory agencies to work together to find an adequate solution which would encourage further use of this key walkway and cycle route.”
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)
