by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 6, 2014 | Animal Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
In the dinosaur kingdom, the raptor reigns as a pop-culture bogeyman. While not as big as the T. Rex, the feathered creature had a mean set of teeth and claws. But there was at least one refuge from its tyranny: the air.
Now, however, scientists have discovered a new fossil that lays waste to that pleasant fiction. This new raptorial dinosaur named Changyuraptor yangi not only flew — it had four wings. And those wings were studded with the longest feathers any dinosaur has ever worn, said lead researcher Luis Chiappe of the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” he told The Washington Post. “It is a stunning specimen and it was stunning to see the size of the feathers. This is the dinosaur with the longest known feathers — by far. There is nothing like this by a very good distance. The feathers were one-fourth the size of the animal.” Chiappe paused for a moment. “It’s just wonderful,” he said.
In the pantheon of hulking dinos, this one wasn’t on the larger side. Published in the scientific journal Nature Communications on Tuesday, the article by Chiappe and colleagues reported it was only about four feet long and weighed about nine pounds — approximately three times the weight of your everyday seagull. But what it lacked in size, it made up for in importance, researchers said.
Classed as a “microraptorine,” its fossils “are essential for testing hypotheses explaining the origin and early evolution of avian flight,” the paper stated. “The lengthy feathered tail of the new fossil provides insight into the flight performance of microraptorines and how they may have maintained aerial competency at larger body sizes.”
Be nice if the WaPo would’ve told us this is from the Early Cretaceous (100-146M years ago). But anyway, that’s cool.
ntodd
by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 6, 2014 | Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
By now, we know that all of the 298 passengers and crew members traveling on the Malaysia Airlines flight that was shot down over Ukraine on Thursday were killed. Those 298 people included 192 Dutch citizens, 44 Malaysians, 27 Australians, 12 Indonesians, 10 Britons, four Germans, four Belgians, three Filipinos, a Canadian and a New Zealander. One of the Dutch citizens held dual Dutch-U.S. citizenship.
A cargo manifest that has been posted online shows that besides the luggage of those on board, MH17 was carrying hundreds of pounds of live birds, including pigeons; two dogs; and fresh-cut flowers. Here is a sample of what was loaded on to the plane at the Amsterdam airport:
12 shipments of fresh-cut flowers weighing about 474 pounds
2 shipments of live dogs weighing about 110 pounds
5 shipments of live birds weighing 154 pounds
4 shipments of live pigeons weighing 181 pounds
You can see the full list of materials in the cargo compartment of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in the manifest below:
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 | Aug 6, 2014 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
LAKE ALFRED, Fla. (AP) — Every evening they come.
After a day of circling the skies, scanning the ground for the dead and dying, they make their way back home — an inhospitable home, to be sure, but home.
During the past couple years, it has been turned into a fake bird cemetery; it has reverberated with loud, scary noises; it has sent electric jolts through their bodies; and most recently, it has flashed blinding light into their eyes.
But still, black vultures settle down each evening on the Lake Alfred water tower.
“We are kind of in the final attempts (to get rid of the vultures),” City Manager Ryan Leavengood told the City Commission last Monday. “You wouldn’t think these things are as resilient as they are, but I’ll give them credit where credit is due.”
Leavengood’s comment sparked laughter from the commissioners and audience, but the city has had about $24,000 worth of work done to try to persuade the vultures to settle somewhere else.
The city has tried using a buzzer to frighten them — which worked until they got used to the noise. Fake dead vultures didn’t work, either. Those attempted solutions cost about $2,000.
Commissioners accepted a $20,332 bid in November for Terminix to install bird spikes and low-voltage electric tracks on the tower. The tracks were supposed to give the birds an uncomfortable, but harmless, shock. The spikes were supposed to make the surface uncomfortable to perch on.
Public Works Director John Deaton said the electric track works but doesn’t cover the whole tower, leaving plenty of space to sit comfortably. The spikes don’t seem to do anything, he said.
Leavengood said Monday the city will pay only part of that cost because it failed to deter the birds.
“Ultimately, we paid for a solution, and we didn’t get a solution,” he said.
In an attempt to hold on to hope, the city bought two Eagle Eyes for about $1,600 in May.
Eagle Eyes are bird deterrents that reflect sunlight or artificial light, limiting birds’ vision and causing them to steer away and find somewhere else to land.
It doesn’t seem to work for vultures, though.
“It looks pretty flashing around out there,” said Public Works Director John Deaton. “But the vultures are not annoyed by it at all.”
Leavengood said the city has another last-ditch effort idea: putting up cables and wires to impede their ability to land.
“That’s about the last thing we can think of,” he said. “We were hesitant because we didn’t want them to get caught up” in the wires.
City staff members have said they want the scavengers to find a new place to perch because they are worried about damage to the tower. Vultures’ urine and regurgitated fluids are highly corrosive.
So far, the only damage has been to the paint. The vultures have no access to the water, so the water quality isn’t in danger.
But cleaning and painting the tower is costly. Staff and residents don’t find the sight of the birds particularly appealing, either.
Vultures are a protected species, and the city cannot do anything to remove the birds that would harm them.
“You know what it is?” Deaton said, with a laugh. “Lake Alfred is a great place to live, and the birds have figured it out, and they don’t want to move.”
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 | Aug 6, 2014 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Hawaii’s only electric cooperative is trying to determine whether laser technology could reduce deaths and injuries to seabirds in its service territory.
This green laser pattern reflected on a transmission pole is one of several being tested to help prevent bird collisions. (Photo By: Carey Koide /KIUC)
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative is testing a new “light fence” along a portion of its system. Co-op crews are attaching 30 lasers on transmission poles about one mile inland from the island’s southern coastline.
“The purpose of this research is to learn more about the birds and their patterns of activity so we can come up with ways to minimize potential hazards and do it in a cost-effective way,” said Carey Koide, transmission and distribution manager for the Lihue-based co-op.
The research is being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife. More than 80 species of birds live on Kauai, including seabirds, native forest and wetland birds, according to scientists.
“As far as we know, this is the first time anywhere that lasers have been used to create a ‘fence’ for the birds,” Koide said.
Laser generators are being installed on six spans of a transmission line. The laser generators will provide narrow beams of light, similar to those produced by pointers, focused parallel to the ground.
Several colors and patterns of light will be tested in an area outside of designated aviation space to prevent the lasers from posing aircraft hazards.
“Researchers want to determine whether the green beams provide a deterrent for native species like the Newell’s shearwater and the Hawaiian petrel,” said Shelley Paik, KIUC’s public affairs specialist, adding that those species are particularly vulnerable to utility line collisions.
“They fly in and out to sea at night and in the early morning and are at greatest risk during a new moon phase when the skies are darkest,” Paik said.
If the test is successful, deployment of a similar system could occur along a transmission corridor near Wailua, where bird collisions are more frequent, said Paik. That could be less expensive than lowering or burying power lines.
The co-op spends about $2 million annually on endangered species protection, including research, power line and lighting configuration, predator control, habitat restoration and rehabilitation of injured 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 | Aug 4, 2014 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
The following questions were asked recently on the Wonderline:
Q: The Lincoln Avenue underpass has been recently painted by city employees. How much was budgeted for this project and what was actually spent, including the city employees’ labor? Also, the pigeons are still roosting in the underpass — how much was spent attempting to stop the pigeons from roosting where they have been for many years?
A: Mitch Doht, the city’s public works director, says “$165,000 was in this year’s budget for painting the underpass. Informal contractor estimates for the project were around $250,000. I don’t have final numbers on what the city spent because the project is not yet complete and because not all of the expenses have been invoiced, but my feeling is that we should be around $80,000, including all wages, equipment and materials. We only spent half of our budget, and not even one-third of what it would have cost for a contractor to do it. City government at its best, if you ask me. I’m really proud of our employees for the quality job they did and the money they saved taxpayers.”
As far as the pigeon issue, Doht had this informative and yet entertaining message, directed to the pigeons themselves:
“A personal message to all you freeloading pigeons in York. I realize you have been living in the same place for many years, following the same boring routine, into the underpass, out of the underpass, into the underpass, out of the underpass, etc., but today is a new day! Change is a good thing. Spread your wings and find a new place to live. Maybe Seward has an underpass? I realize that York’s city property tax levy is way lower than Seward’s, but you will be so much closer to Lincoln. Imagine the possibilities! By the way, consider this your eviction notice! I mistakenly left you a couple little spots at the underpass for you and your buddies to fight over, but alas, those too will soon be gone. Good luck and Godspeed!”
And he added, regarding the cost of pigeon proofing, that it “wasn’t much.”
Q: Every summer the City street department repairs and fills cracks in streets, however this year this job has not been done yet. Will this project be completed yet this summer or did the Lincoln Avenue underpass project take away the workers from other necessary street repair projects?
A: Doht responds, “They tell me that it has actually been many years since pavement crack sealing has been done in York. The city’s tar machine is a piece of crap and it wasn’t working for several years. So I borrowed a pavement router (Thanks Tom and Harv!), leased a tar machine, and we are back at it this year, and will be every year while I’m in charge.
“I totally agree that this type of work is necessary. A formal pavement preservation program is one of my goals for the street department. Well-timed, routine maintenance strategies can save us so much money over the life of a pavement.
“You are also correct, in that every project we do takes away from every other project on the list. Does that make sense? I’m not sure that people understand that we have a much longer list of needs than what will ever get done with our current resources. We do our best to prioritize projects and really try to make a difference. Thankfully, crack seal and underpass painting both made the cut this year. Crack sealing work has already started at several locations in town. Those areas will be finished in the next few weeks. A much larger pavement preservation project will happen this fall or next spring, depending upon how the new budget is finalized.”
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 | Aug 2, 2014 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
A big problem with pigeons and the mess they leave behind is one of the driving factors behind a $900,000 renovation project at the Southeastern Regional Transit Authority’s downtown bus station in New Bedford.
“There are droppings everywhere. You can see them all over the place. That’s all from the pigeons,” said Vince Livingston.
The birds have been flocking to the steel rafters of the building ever since the ceiling was removed in the mid 2000’s.
“It’s a pain in the neck because you know they crap on you. I’ve seen them crap on a lot of people and it’s just sickening you know,” said Bobby Texeira.
An administrator with the SRTA says a major reason for the renovation is to help fix the pigeon problem.
“They do make quite a mess and especially in the wintertime, that’s really where we struggle the most in terms of cleaning it. It is difficult to go out and steam clean a sidewalk when most likely it is going to freeze,” said Erik Rousseau, an SRTA administrator.
The first phase of the renovation project started last year. The project is now in its second phase which involves ceiling tiles being put up.
“We really want this to be a comfortable convenient place for people to travel. We don’t want to add stress to them by having them worry about birds,” said Rousseau.
Bus riders say they have already noticed a difference since the tiles have started going up.
“Now that they started doing the work it’s less of a conflict. It keeps the property a whole lot cleaner,” said Willy Hart.
The renovation is being funded by both federal and state money. It is expected to be complete by the end of next month.
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)
