I recently took my niece and her partner, visiting from Montreal, on a downtown walking tour. We came off James North and headed along MacNab toward the Farmers’ Market.
And there in the grey sky to the west, we saw a falcon. We watched it dart and dive by the rooftop of the G.S. Dunn mustard milling plant. Finally we realized this was no creature of nature.
A couple of days later, I returned to the scene. There was the bird, still on patrol. I headed inside the Dunn plant.
It’s an old building, corner of Park and York, across from Jackson Square. When built more than 100 years ago, it housed the Perry Knitting Company. Through the 1920s and ’30s, Duro Aluminum/Metalwares operated there.
But for the past 60 years, it’s been home to G.S. Dunn, the world’s largest dry mustard miller. They distribute to more than 50 countries across six continents.
Go through the door, and you smell the mustard seed. It’s not unpleasant, but might take getting used to.
Kevin Whyte doesn’t smell it anymore. He’s Dunn’s operations manager and has been at the plant since the early ’80s.
That’s a long time. And all that time, there have been pigeons.
You’re not supposed to feed pigeons. They can be messy critters, splattering acidic goop everywhere. You sure don’t want them roosting in your rooftop heating, ventilation and air conditioning system.
The Dunn mustard seed arrives from the fields of Saskatchewan by rail, then truck. About 42 tonnes at a time, twice a day. Those trucks back up to a shiny drying silo, several storeys tall.
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)