by Ryan Ponto | Nov 14, 2016 | Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — If any further proof were needed that geopolitical intrigue can stalk the humblest of Pakistan’s inhabitants, consider the recent cases of two Pakistani birds.
The first is a pigeon, a species that people all over the country raise on their rooftops as a simple, inexpensive pleasure and a brief escape from their daily struggles with poverty, corruption and clogged streets below.
Some weeks ago, tensions were running especially high between Pakistan and its perennial next-door rival India. The source was Kashmir, the disputed border region where Muslim protesters had been blinded with pellet guns and Indian soldiers had been burned to death in a late-night attack by insurgents.
Into the fog of belligerent rhetoric between the two nuclear powers wandered a white pigeon, which was caught and caged by Indian security forces in a border district adjoining Kashmir.
I realize I am sticking my neck out but would the Indian authorities please set the poor captive pigeon free?
According to Indian news agencies, the bird was suspected of having “Pakistani links” and was carrying a warning message for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The arresting officer posed with his feathered prisoner, and the image soon circulated on social media.
Around the same time, Indian authorities in Kashmir said that they had also discovered 150 dehydrated pigeons stuffed into a car and that they suspected the birds had been smuggled for purposes of espionage. An official was quoted as saying the pigeons had suspicious multicoloured rings attached to their feet. All were turned over to an animal welfare agency while police investigated the case.
Irfan Husain, a columnist for Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, suggested that the avian seizures were a sign that India remains “a deeply insecure country” despite its large size, rapidly growing economy and military might. “I realize I am sticking my neck out,” he wrote, “but would the Indian authorities please set the poor captive pigeon free?”
No such outcry has yet been raised about the potential plight of another Pakistani bird, the houbara bustard, a grey-speckled, pheasantlike creature mostly found in North Africa. In Pakistan, this rare variety of bustard is considered an endangered species, and hunting it is banned in some regions.
KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty ImagesA falcon, right, tries to catch a houbara bustard during a falconry competition in Hameem in 2014.
This past week, the bustard too ran afoul of international politics, this time at the hands of Pakistan’s friends. Parties of Middle Eastern royals often bring trained falcons to hunt smaller birds in Pakistan’s northern mountains and southern deserts. For years, among their favourite targets have been bustards.
Last year, wildlife groups petitioned Pakistani courts to ban bustard-hunting, and the Supreme Court granted their request. But the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appealed, arguing it had “adversely affected the country’s diplomatic ties with the Middle Eastern countries” and noting that hunts by “foreign dignitaries also bring in considerable funds.”
One of the Sharif government’s closest allies is Qatar, and last month, a Qatari prince came to the prime minister’s rescue in a corruption case before the Supreme Court, where political opponents have accused him of hiding assets abroad, including a group of luxury apartments in London.
Sharif, who has vowed to resign if found guilty, said he had broken no laws but was struggling to explain how his family had acquired the apartments without a money trail or tax bill. Suddenly, the Qatari prince provided a letter stating that his family had given them to the Sharifs as part of an old business settlement.
This week, a Qatari prince from the same family was issued a special permit to hunt 100 bustards in northwestern Khyber-Paktunkhwa province. According to Dawn, the province’s wildlife conservator objected, saying it was a protected species. The matter has not been resolved, but the paper reported that another Qatari royal had recently “faced some resistance” while attempting to hunt bustards in Balochistan province.
“He immediately called the prime minister on the phone,” Dawn reported Sunday, “and things were sorted out.”
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 5, 2016 | Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
In my apartment, there is a picture window that looks out on the Glennland Building, a half-block to the east.
There, in late spring, two pigeons built a nest in one of the air-conditioning vents. It has been a pleasure to look out at their progress in this and, finally, at their expeditions to find food for their babies.
Meanwhile, the president, commenting recently on police killings, mentioned the anxiety and tension caused by the 24-hour news cycle.
In fact, some of the reporters claim their work is now reaching the immediacy of real time.
But truly this is not so. All of these machines, starting with the book, give only abstraction and an aid to memory. For me, at least, the “real time” very quietly is watching the pigeons down the block. In that quiet you can then look up, see the sky, find the ground beneath your feet and so have the confidence to act if action is required.
Now the book-internet development offers a kind of very important liberty. It may be a harbinger of the united world as a fulfillment of that liberty. But you must be weaned of it to use it or it might swallow you alive.
So I say real time is not in these fascinating marks on paper or in sounds from cellphones, but in quietly looking out the window and enjoying the pigeons.
They tell me this is true, and asked me to tell you as well.
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 4, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, UltraSonic Bird Control
CHICAGO (FOX 32 NEWS) – Residents of the city’s North Side Uptown neighborhood said it’s not that they have anything against birds, but when it’s this many birds… Yeah, it’s a problem.
“It’s nice that she feeding pigeons, but she’s creating a home for them and there’s hundreds of them,” Uptown resident Peter Wood, said.
There is 2012 cellphone video of Young Kang, better known as the “pigeon lady” of Uptown.
For years she has run afoul of city laws banning the feeding of pigeons and last week she was ordered to pay the price.
A city administrative hearing judge found Kang guilty of 10 ordinance violations and ordered her to pay $300 apiece. All in all, a total fine of $3,000.
It came after frustrated property owners installed a surveillance camera aimed at one of her favorite spots and documented Kang feeding the birds on multiple occasions.
“I see her coming along every so often,” Wood said. “She comes around 8:30 at night. Just kind of quietly slips in, throws some rice on the grass right here and then disappears.”
What doesn’t disappear, residents say, is the pigeon poop left behind on cars, sidewalks and buildings.
“My car is parked right by there where she drops it every time, so I got bird droppings all over my car, you know?” Wood said.
Other residents said they’ve seen an influx of rats and raccoons because of the food left on the ground.
This isn’t the first time Kang has been in trouble.
In 2012, Ald. James Cappleman (46th) told police Kang assaulted him when he tried to clean up her bread crumbs, prompting the City Council to raise the fines for illegally feeding birds.
We couldn’t find Kang to get her side of the story but residents are hoping this latest big fine will finally force the pigeon lady to fly the coop.
“I don’t want any harm to come to the woman who’s doing it. I know she’s doing it out of the goodness of herself but it needs to stop,” Anne Marie, an Uptown resident, said.
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 3, 2016 | Pigeon Patrol's Services, UltraSonic Bird Control
MIAMI, Dec. 14 (UPI) — A thief broke into a Florida business to steal several high-priced pigeons while wearing a bucket to hide his identity.
Surveillance showed the strangely disguised burglar, dressed in a trash bag, pilfering the expensive birds from El Viejo Lazaro Botanica in Miami despite security cameras and barbed wire, according to WSVN.
“People are crazy. People know I have security cameras,” owner Nelson Hernandez said. “People know I put the wires. More security, and these people don’t care.”
The brazen robbery was the second time within a year burglars had target the store owned by Hernandez and his wife Mae.
“I don’t know what’s going here in Miami,” she said. “People don’t have respect for anything.”
Hernandez said the most recent robbery saw the bucket clad thief make off with 40 racing pigeons valued between $100 and $1,000.
“If this keeps happening I will be out of business,” he told the Miami Herald.
The clumsy thief was seen tumbling over a fence surrounding the store and potentially causing harm to his stolen cargo.
“These little pigeons, he breaks the eggs and everything. It’s animal abuse,” Hernandez said. “The way he took the pigeons was very rough.”
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 2, 2016 | Bird Netting, UltraSonic Bird Control
A couple of weeks ago I answered a letter from Greg Thornbury, who thought he was seeing a peregrine falcon flying around high-rise building where he works in Concord.
I checked with Glenn Stewart at the Santa Cruz Predatory Bird Research Group, who said he wasn’t aware of any peregrines in that area, but that it was very possible.
Stewart says peregrines can thrive in developed areas because of the plentiful supply of pigeons. The tall buildings also mimic the cliffs that peregrines prefer for nesting sites. There are pergrines on Mount Diablo that often are seen in Lime Ridge Open Space that stretches from the base of the mountain in Walnut Creek into Concord.
Thornbury was able to get a photo of the bird and Stewart identified it as an adult peregrine falcon.
“It is a wonderful thing that a person can take a picture like this from a downtown office building,” Stewart says. “Gives a whole new meaning to urban wildlife.”
The Concord peregrine may nest on Mount Diablo, but come into the city to feed during the winter.
DEAR JOAN: I thoroughly enjoyed reading the letters about the foods some animals crave. As the wife of a veterinarian and a veterinary hospital owner for over 30 years, I have answered many emergency calls concerning ingested items.
With the holiday season coming, I would like to add some non-food items that we personally come across this time of year.
Never leave rubberbands, plastic foam peanuts, ribbon (especially the curling type), pieces of plastic or tinsel lying around. Once we treated a dog, a Lab, that had eaten a string of Christmas tree lights. All of these and much more can cause serious harm to pets, and frequently the lodged item will require emergency surgery, not a very merry event this time of year.
In addition, on the days after Thanksgiving and Christmas, we see turkey, ham and garbage overdoses. Please hide your leftovers!
May I add a few words in defense of veterinarians and their “exorbitant” bills? Nothing frustrates a veterinarian more than the Sunday afternoon emergency call when the owner says the animal has been sick since Friday and it may have eaten something bad. All a vet can offer at this point, without support staff, is a recommendation to the best emergency clinic in the area. It takes several employees to help x-ray and assist an emergency surgery. Veterinary emergency clinic services are life-saving, but expensive.
A veterinarian completes the same amount of schooling as an M.D., but unlike R.D.s (real doctors, as we jokingly call them), a veterinarian also must have the skills of a surgeon, a radiologist, a pharmacist and a pediatrician, just to name a few.
They must be able to diagnose and treat many different species, and that explains why a veterinary hospital, unlike a doctors’ office, is a full-service hospital, complete with a surgical suite, in-house lab, x-ray, pharmacy, and specialty pet food store. No one wants to drive their unhappy pets around to specialists, and my personal co-pay on my health insurance is just about the same as our office call.
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 1, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, UltraSonic Bird Control
People living near a railway bridge in Frome say they have been plagued by pigeon faeces since an £8,000 pest control project forced the flock to move.
Felicity Young, who lives near the Rodden Road railway bridge, said around a dozen birds have taken up residence on the roof of her house and are bombarding her property from above.
She said the smell of faeces is overwhelming and is worried the birds may be damaging her home.
Pigeon-proofing spikes were installed on the bridge at a cost of £8,000 in November.
Frome Town Council and Network Rail teamed up to solve the problem of bird droppings under the bridge and chipped in half the money each.
Ms Young’s fire extinguisher has been peppered in bird feceas
Since spikes were installed there has been a reduction in the number of pigeons on the bridge, but a few remain.
A large number appear to have moved to a nearby telegraph pole and are continuing to defecate on the footpath below.
Ms Young thinks some of them have also moved to her house.
She said: “Since the works were carried out on Rodden Road railway bridge, a dozen or so pigeons have taken up residence on the roof of my house, so I have had a very unpleasant experience.
“You can see the sort of mess they are causing, not to mention the smell. As I cannot access my roof I have no idea what other damage they might be causing up there.
“The pigeons only appeared once the spikes were fitted at the bridge, and I had never had pigeons roosting on my roof before that. I’m not sure if other houses are affected in the same way as although they settle for a while on neighbouring roofs along New Road at dusk, they then roost overnight on mine. Last night I estimate there were at least a dozen.
“I have been in touch with the town council which has suggested it may have to consider a cull. It can’t come soon enough for me.”
A large number of pigeons have taken up residence on Ms Young’s house
Another resident recently voiced concerns at a town council meeting over the continued presence of pigeons in the area.
She said: “I’ve been campaigning to have spikes put under that bridge for six years and now that we’ve got them it has had an effect on the pigeons underneath – there are a limited number still there.
“The problem still remains on a telegraph pole just next to the bridge however. The pigeons are continuing to poo on the footpath below and when it gets wet the path can become incredibly slippery.
“There must be around 40 pigeons on that pole at any given time.”
Some have even moved to a nearby telegraph wire
She said: “The footpath (near the bridge) has not been cleaned and it’s still very sludgy. You would have thought that when the spikes were installed the path would have been cleaned.”
Frome town councillor Colin Cobb said: “We have been dealing with this issue for a while now. There are a few bits that have been missed under the bridge but there are certainly far fewer pigeons than there were before.
“With regards to the cleaning of the footpath, The Landscape Group should have seen to that and it is something we will have to chase up with them.
“It’s difficult for us to police the telegraph pole. There were some 50 pigeons living under the bridge so it’s natural that they would now look for somewhere else to sit.”
Frome Town Council has been approached for further comment.
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)
