by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 25, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
An irate phone call to the newspaper last week brought up an interesting question: what to do about pigeons pooping on a 12th-floor balcony? An octogenarian in Oshawa was fed up with the mess and insistent that something be done to rid him of his unwelcome visitors. Stymied over how to help, the editor passed the query on to me.
Smiling wryly, I pictured aluminum pie plates dangling in the breeze, likely contravening every condo and apartment regulation in the book. Or what really would work — stretching garden netting from balcony roof to railing, screening pigeons out. Lightweight, cheap and durable, the one-inch mesh is virtually invisible; I know because I have it tacked outside my sunroom windows, stopping birds from flying into the glass.
And then I thought of the most natural, long-term, cost-free solution for our caller’s problem: peregrine falcons. The world’s swiftest birds have made headline news moving into Toronto, then Oshawa in recent years, and their favourite prey happens to be rock pigeons. The two species, in fact, evolved together, both nesting on cliff ledges where four-legged predators can’t get at their eggs or babies.
The docile feral pigeons happily at home in every urban centre around the planet have a wild and romantic history as mountain dwellers of Eurasia, fast, strong fliers traveling long distances to bring food back to their young. Since their main diet is seeds and grains, numbers grew when human hunter-gatherers settled down and started farming. People began domesticating pigeons 5,000 years ago, for food, sport and carrying messages, and brought them along everywhere they went, including the New World in the 1600s. Even Charles Darwin bred pigeons, and based his argument for natural selection on how his own birds changed through the generations.
Peregrine means ‘wanderer,’ and peregrine falcons got to every corner of the globe on their own, though falconers have been breeding them, too, for centuries. Widespread use of DDT wiped wild peregrines out of most of North America in the 1950s, but a ban on the pesticide and great efforts by conservation groups have managed to slowly bring them back. Like pigeons, peregrines have readily adapted to cities, nesting on ledges of high-rise buildings.
So it comes full circle, with two ancient neighbours meeting up again right here in Durham. Maybe peregrines will move in near our frustrated caller and scare his pigeons away, or at least keep numbers in check.
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 | Jun 24, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
Pigeons often roost on the edges of balconies and ledges giving them plenty of chances to mess up your car or property with their “guano.” Pigeons have become a common sight here in Delta of the last several years. The Rock Dove has pale grey feathers with two black bars on each wing. Now that FedEx and the Internet have taken over the jobs for carrier pigeons they are considered a nuisance and a pest by many. Pigeons carry many diseases that can cause serious health problems including; salmonellosis, tuberculosis and toxoplasmosis. Pigeons do not have natural defense mechanisms to protect against predators yet they are not in any danger of vanishing. To help rid pigeons around your home: Eliminate bird feeders, seal areas where they can nest, place a fake owl on your roof and spray water to scare them off.
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 | Jun 22, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
This is the home of horrors where disgusted builders discovered years of pigeon droppings plastered across the walls and floors of a derelict Anfield home.
They made the vile discovery after walking into the terraced property near the Anfield stadium development, which has been empty for years and due for renovation.
Up to 40 pigeons had moved in and deposited a generation of mess all over the building.
Specialised Cleaning Services, a Preston-based company, was called in had to carry out a deep clean and Manager Nathan Brennan told the ECHO: “They are doing a lot of houses up in this area and this one is getting renovated too.
“The roof was in a bad shape and loads of pigeons got in. They’ve left a lot of mess. It’s one of the worst states I’ve ever seen in a home.”
Mr Brennan led a three-man team over five days to clear out the pigeon mess.
The workers wore full body-suits, breathing masks and gloves to treat the property
Mr Brennan said: “The roof space of the two houses was connected so the birds could get from one home to the other.
“Clearing up the mess is a case of sweeping and then treating – there’s no other way to do it.
“It was filthy. Even though I was wearing a mask, my face was black from all the muck.”
Derelict homes in the area are being given a new lease of life thanks to the £260m Anfield regeneration project.
This scheme also includes the expansion of the stadium’s Main Stand, a new public square containing commercial and retail premises and a public space in honour of theHillsborough victims.
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 | Jun 21, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Culling pigeons is very cruel. Many times the pigeon dies a very painful slow death when shot.
The only proven method of reducing pigeon flock size, as part of an area-wide control system, is to use a method involving artificial breeding facilities. This stand-alone method of control has been scientifically proven to reduce the pigeon flock size and is currently being used throughout mainland Europe by councils and commercial organisations alike.
It involves providing a pigeon loft, in which feral pigeons can be encouraged to roost and breed, and from which their eggs can be removed and replaced with dummy eggs. This method has proved to be extremely effective in reducing flock size.
It is also not true that pigeons spread diseases. I urge Birdlife and all animal lovers to speak up against the killing of these peaceful birds.
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 | Jun 19, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
For pigeons, it seems, leadership is largely a question of speed.
Researchers compared pigeons’ relative influence over flock direction to their solo flight characteristics. The studies showed that a pigeon’s degree of leadership could be predicted by its speed in earlier flights.
“This changes our understanding of how the flocks are structured and why flocks of this species have consistent leadership hierarchies,” said Dora Biro of the University of Oxford in London.
The latest GPS loggers allow the researchers to track not only the birds’ overall routes, but also the sub-second time delays with which they react to each other while flying as a flock.
“We can control the composition of the flocks and the starting points for their homeward journeys,” said Benjamin Pettit, first author of the study.
When the researchers tested the birds individually after a series of flock flights, they found that leaders had learned straighter homing routes than followers.
The new findings offer an elegantly simple explanation for the phenomenon of leadership in birds, with important implications for how spatial knowledge is generated and retained in navigating flocks.
“We also have a good understanding of their individual spatial cognition, in particular how their homing routes develop over repeated flights in the same area,” Pettit noted.
“Some birds are naturally faster and consistently get to the front, where they end up doing more of the navigation, which means on future flights they know the way better,” Biro added.
“You can compare this to a ‘passenger-driver’ like effect: drivers in a car have to pay attention while passengers are often unable to recall the route they were driven along, especially if they remained passive in the navigation process,” Biro explained.
A very simple, self-organising mechanism–such as that based on variation in speed–is sufficient for leadership to arise.
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 | Jun 15, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Norbiton residents passing under a popular railway bridge were fed up of being dumped on by pigeons.
Nearly 100 people who lived near Norbiton Bridge signed a petition demanding that something be done to prevent the birds that lived in the rafters, making a mess.
Councillor Sheila Griffin said: “This is an ongoing problem and for some time many of my constituents have complained that they are sick of being dropped on by pigeons when they walk under the bridge.
“They have had expensive suits stained and the birds have also made a real mess of the pavements on Coombe Road.”
She added that it was the railway provider that should accept responsibility for the bird mess.
This was not the first time efforts had been made to get the birds to clean up their act.
The bridge had been pigeon-proofed some time before with netting, but so many of the birds had got caught in it that the plan was abandoned.
This time around, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds got involved to ensure that a strict protocol was adhered to and no pigeons suffered injury or untimely death.
A Kingston Council spokesman said it would cost an estimated £8,000 to pigeon proof the bridge.
He said: “A notice has been served on Network Rail requiring it to do the work under the provisions of the London Government Act.
“The time on the notice runs out at the end of January. So far Network Rail has not appealed, but it might.”
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)
