4-S GEL Archives - Pigeon Patrol Canada - Bird Control Products & Services

On Givo Hassko’s Maple Ridge property, there are Indian fantails

Pigeon Patrol — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 06:20:15 +0000

On Givo Hassko’s Maple Ridge property, there are Indian fantails, Budapest short-faced tumblers, and any other number of trained pigeons that he’s either bought, bred or fostered over the years.

A director for the Vancouver Poultry & Fancy Pigeon Association, Hassko estimates there are around 300 pigeon owners across the Lower Mainland. He says he’s heard from many of them, outraged by the District of North Vancouver’s recent ban on the birds.”It does not seem in any way correct how they’re going by it,” he said.

Prior to council passing the bylaw, staff said the only active complaint file the district had was from newly elected councillor Betty Forbes — and the only person they could identify who had pigeons was her next-door neighbour.Pigeon feud: North Vancouver approves ban targeting councillor’s neighbour

Forbes recused herself from the vote and discussion, but Hassko says members of the pigeon community are worried it will set a precedent in other communities where the birds are currently allowed.”It’s not just about our pigeons anymore,” he said.”It’s more about what your neighbour next door can to do to you if they don’t feel like you belong in that little area.”

Indian Fantail pigeons belonging to Hassko. (Maggie MacPherson/CBC)Pigeons allowed in most of Metro Van

Before the vote, District of North Vancouver staff admitted they hadn’t done extensive research on pigeon rules throughout Metro Vancouver.

But a CBC News analysis of regional animal control bylaws found only two other municipalities explicitly banning poultry, with only the District of North Vancouver explicitly signalling out pigeons.Several other communities, including Vancouver, Richmond and Surrey have specific rules around how many pigeons a person could have, or how they need to be cared for.

Hassko said the district’s previous rules allowing pigeons, enacted in 1971, “was one of the best bylaws in the Lower Mainland,” and that a ban usually only incentivizes people to keep pigeons secretly, free of regulation.He also believes the district had several alternatives to resolve the dispute without resorting to a ban.

“They could have easily picked up a phone and emailed and said ‘hey, can you help us with this bylaw and this situation?'” he said.

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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.

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Stop the pigeons!

Pigeon Patrol — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 06:13:28 +0000

Stop the pigeons! Birds fed birth-control drug at SkyTrain station to reduce population

Pigeons can seem pretty innocuous in the city, but according to TransLink, the birds can cause all kinds of problems along the SkyTrain system. Now, along with the BC SPCA, TransLink is testing a birth control drug on the birds to reduce the population. To start, there’s the issue of poop. CBC News first reported in December that pigeon droppings had dogged the transit authority as it prepared to open a new platform at the Commercial-Broadway station. TransLink has a poopy pigeon problem on its hands at new Expo Line platform

The problems don’t just revolve around the nasty mess. According to TransLink, pigeons can interfere with the transportation system, causing SkyTrain delays when they trigger track intrusion alarms, and automatic brakes are activated. TransLink has tried to discourage the birds from roosting in its stations. The spikes installed along perches didn’t do it. Nor did low-voltage strips or netting. According to TransLink, a falconer has been hired to make the rounds at pigeon-plagued stations to scare off the birds. But according to spokesperson Jill Drews, what’s needed is a long term solution. Along with the BC SPCA, TransLink is testing a feeding system that distributes corn laced with a contraceptive called OvoControl. Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with BC SPCA shows the feeding unit placed at the VCC-Clark SkyTrain station. (Michaële Perron-Langlais/CBC) The drug has to be eaten daily to keep the pigeons from laying fertilized eggs, and its effects are reversible.”We’re going to be working with the SPCA here at VCC-Clark for a few weeks and determine the effectiveness and hopefully roll out the feeders at other stations soon,” said Drews.

‘Disruptive and inconvenient’: Granville SkyTrain station escalator shutdown to last 2 years According to Sara Dubois, chief scientific officer with BC SPCA, the drug breaks down in the pigeons’ blood stream and won’t affect any predators that may eat the birds, nor any mammals in the area. “It’s safe; it’s not toxic. It was approved by Health Canada last year. We’ve been waiting for several years for it to come to Canada,” said Dubois. Pigeons seem harmless, but according to TransLink they’re a big problem. Their droppings make a mess of transit platforms, and they can trigger intrusion alarms, causing trains to automatically brake, leading to delays. (Rafferty Baker/CBC) “The goal’s not to get rid of pigeons, the goal is to manage the pigeon situation to the point where it’s not causing problems for TransLink,” she said. Dubois said the results of the pilot program will be carefully tracked, both in terms of whether the birds are consuming the drugged food, but also the number of track intrusion alarms set off by pigeons. Drews said that people are partly to blame for the number of pigeons around SkyTrain stations.

“We would like to tell our customers that we would really like it if they stop feeding birds near our stations,” she said. “It isn’t good for the pigeons — they’re best off to find their own natural food — and it isn’t good for our customers, because it caused delays and unsightly health hazard mess in our stations.” With files from Michaële Perron-Langlais. Follow Rafferty Baker on Twitter: @raffertybaker

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Sick pigeons downtown might have been poisoned

Pigeon Patrol — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 06:10:16 +0000

Sick pigeons downtown might have been poisoned: Salthaven West A local wildlife organization is concerned about the number of sick pigeons it’s finding in Regina’s downtown.

Megan Lawrence, director of rehabilitation for Salthaven West, said her organization is frequently called for reports of pigeons in distress.

She said Salthaven has been dealing with the birds for years now and fears they might have been poisoned.

“On average we’re seeing a poisoned pigeon every two to three weeks,” she said, adding those numbers increase in the summer. “It’s not a very humane death. Their temperature skyrockets; it can be a very painful death.” “By the time we receive them, they’re having violent seizures,” she said. “The only thing we can do to get rid of the poison in their system is basically flush it out.”

Lawrence said she’s heard that some businesses downtown may be using poison in order to detract the birds from congregating on rooftops and other roosting points on buildings. However, she wasn’t able to offer any proof for her claims or pinpoint specific businesses and said she hasn’t spoken to any business owners herself. The Leader-Post contacted some downtown businesses to see how they control the pigeon population. None of the businesses who responded said they use poison or have had an issue with pigeon overpopulation.

Salthaven West director of rehabilitation, Megan Lawrence, stands with a Swainson’s hawk in Regina on April 16, 2015. Lawrence believes pigeons in Regina’s downtown are victims of poisoning.

Kevin Lang, building manager for the Ramada Plaza located on Victoria Avenue, said while he has inquired with pest control companies about using poison to stop pigeons from roosting on the hotel’s roof, he’s never used it. “I’ve been told … it affects the other (types of) birds,” he said. “(If) you put poison out, it can be consumed by anything that lands on our roof, which is not environmentally friendly.” Instead, the hotel uses cages to keep them out. He said without them, pigeons can get into ventilation equipment and leave feathers in the rooftop coils.

Lawrence said if pigeons ingest poison, they aren’t the only ones who suffer. Animals who eat pigeons could be affected. “If a Peregrine falcon was to eat one of those pigeons that had ingested the poison, the falcon is also going to get the poison and perhaps die as well,” she said. Half of the pigeons they receive, she said, end up dying.

Salthaven’s most recent call to assist a pigeon was Wednesday evening. That one ended up dying. The organization doesn’t usually have pigeons tested to see what specific poison is making them sick, but it’s considering sending that one in for testing. Lawrence believes the pigeons may be ingesting Avitrol, a bird control product she said is used in cities across Canada.

“It’s very common … to control pigeon populations this way,” she said. “It’s likely (because) it’s cheap and easy.” In an email, the City of Regina said it doesn’t have a pigeon control program and doesn’t monitor pigeon populations. On its website, the makers of Avitrol say the product “causes behaviours similar to an epileptic seizure.”

“Birds eating the treated bait will emit distress signals used by their species when they are frightened or injured,” the website says. “This will frighten the flock and cause it to leave the site.”

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New study reveals deadly bacteria carried by Pigeons

Pigeon Patrol — Fri, 18 Oct 2019 18:35:06 +0000

BioMed Central

A sampling of pigeons captured on the streets of Madrid has revealed the bacterial pathogens they carry. Researchers found two bugs that were highly prevalent in the bird population, Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni, both of which cause illness in humans.

Fernando Esperón from the Animal Health Research Center, Madrid, Spain, worked with a team of researchers to analyse blood and enema samples taken from 118 pigeons caught using gun-propelled nets.

He said, “the present study demonstrates the extremely high prevalence of two zoonotic pathogens in feral pigeons in Madrid. At the same time, infection with these pathogens did not appear to be associated with any harmful clinical signs in the birds themselves. This leads to the hypothesis that pigeons act as asymptomatic reservoirs of Chlamydophila psittaci and Campylobacter jejuni. These birds may therefore pose a public health risk to the human population.”

Chlamydophila psittaci was found in 52.6% of the pigeons captured, while Campylobacter jejuni was present in 69.1%. Although there have been few reports of disease transmission between pigeons and humans, it can occur by aerosols, direct contact or indirect contact through food and water contamination.

According to Esperón, “Thermophilic Campylobacter species are considered the primary pathogens responsible for acute diarrhea in the world. In fact, in many countries such as England and Wales, Canada, Australia and New Zealand Campylobacter jejuni infection causes more cases of acute diarrhea than infection by Salmonella species.”

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“Dirtiest Hotel in America” Looks to Clean Up

Pigeon Patrol — Wed, 16 Oct 2019 18:30:24 +0000

Dirtiest Hotel in America” Looks to Clean Up

A day after being dubbed the filthiest in America, a Tennessee hotel is pledging to clean up.

The Grand Resort Hotel & Convention Center was ranked the filthiest hotel in America, according to ratings compiled and released by the travel review site TripAdvisor.

The historic Smoky Mountains hotel in Pigeon Forge, Tenn., was graded “terrible” by 161 of 224 reviewers on the site. Twenty-six called it “poor” and 15 gave it an “average” grade.

But CEO and General Manager Nicky Darrell Chaney said he has already fired one manager, hired a new maintenance manager and new head of housekeeping, and is in the process of using a new sanitizer to clean the rooms, reports CBS affiliate WVLT in Knoxville.

“We knew we had some problems, and we’ve started to work on these problems,” said Nicky Chaney, President and CEO of the company that runs the hotel. Chaney took over operations in December and vows to restore their public image.

“I fired one of the managers, I hired new maintenance, and new housekeeper,” he said. “We’re proud of what we’re doing now, and were excited about where we’re going to be in the next few weeks.

Chaney took over just last month as president and CEO of KMS Enterprises, which runs the Grand and several nearby properties owned by hotel magnate Kenneth M. Seaton.

“This is an issue the company is taking very seriously,” Chaney said a statement Tuesday.

Seaton also is a defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging sexual harassment of two former housekeepers hired to work in KMS hotels, the Sentinel reports.

Meanwhile, the Grand will have to keep making changes to stay ahead of negative reviews – and the unwanted spotlight following the TripAdvisor “award.”

“This is a nasty place, would not let my dog sleep there,” reviewer LaFolettePat wrote last week under the headline “health inspector please.”

JordynC’s assessment: “If you are looking for a hotel with: pubic hair stuck to the bathroom floor in some unidentifiable, gelatinous liquid; chewing tobacco spit oozing down the halls and corridors; spiders actively making webs in every corner of your room; carpeting so greasy and dirty you wouldn’t want to sit your luggage down – let alone walk around barefoot; dingy bedsheets and towels as rough and thin as sandpaper; and a room so putrid and smelly it causes a gag-reflex when you walk in… by all means, stay at The Grand Resort.”

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Dozens of ‘decorated’ pigeons found dead in New Zealand

Pigeon Patrol — Tue, 17 Sep 2019 23:12:24 +0000

Pigeons and other birds have been found around the New Zealand capital of Wellington with Christmas decorations attached.

Originally By Lisa Jane Harding, CNN

(CNN) Injured and dead pigeons covered in tinsel and other decorations have been turning up in New Zealand, and animal rights campaigners are worried.

The Royal New Zealand Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) said it received up to 30 calls in recent weeks reporting sightings of sparrows and dead pigeons with tinsel intentionally tied to their bodies.

“Many try to pry the foreign objects off their bodies with their beaks and feet, becoming further entangled and preventing them from eating, drinking and flying.

With others, the decorations are wrapped so tightly it completely cuts off their blood circulation,” SPCA spokeswoman Jessie Gilchrist told CNN.

“Those that do survive and arrive at our center are often in a very bad state, they are so malnourished and distressed that we have had to humanely euthanize them.”

The decorations can prevent the birds from eating, drinking and flying, leaving them to starve to death.

Since 2015, the charity said there has been over thirty cases of “decorated” birds found dead or with injuries severe enough to require euthanasia. Most of them being dead pigeons.

On Tuesday, SPCA officers were called to a house in Kilbirnie, a suburb of the capital Wellington, where they rescued several birds covered in decorations and paint.

The birds were in a distressed but otherwise healthy condition.

“One pigeon had quite bright red Christmas tinsel wrapped around its wings and then the top of its head had been painted with red paint as well as its wings had been tipped with red paint,” Gilchrist said.

While charges have yet to be laid against the owners of the house, Gilchrist said the case “remains an ongoing investigation.”

Sparrows and pigeons — which forage for food on the ground, in shrubs or shallow water — face a number of threats from predators, including foxes and racoons, as well as larger birds and snakes.

But humans are perhaps the biggest threat to the birds. In 2015, New Zealand recognized all animals, including birds, as “sentient” under law, extending protections and making it easier for charities like the SPCA to prosecute people for animal cruelty.

One stated purpose of the law was to “remove uncertainty around the ill-treatment of wild animals by targeting acts of wilful or reckless ill-treatment.”

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Pigeon droppings equate to 230 parked cars on bridge.

Pigeon Patrol — Thu, 08 Aug 2019 20:01:34 +0000

Crews tasked with cleaning a Saskatchewan bridge are in for a dirty job.

The City of Saskatoon said that over the last 50 years one of its bridges has accumulated nearly 350 tonnes of pigeon poop – which is roughly equal to 230 cars parked on the bridge.

It said the feces adds unnecessary weight and the pigeon droppings contain uric acid which can damage concrete, affecting the integrity of the bridge.

This also means the extermination of about 1,500 members of the feathered flock that makes the Sid Buckwold Bridge home.

The city said relocating or displacing the birds is not recommended because they are likely to fly back or move into other private properties or civic spaces. Homing pigeons are likely to return to their original roosting areas, making relocation difficult as a long term solution.

A local wildlife advocate is disappointed and questions why alternatives can’t be found that would allow the birds to live. “In Saskatchewan, a very, very, very common response is if it pisses you off, shoot it,” said Jan Shadick, volunteer director of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.

Regina and Vancouver rely on pigeon spikes, protective netting or cages to keep pigeons off their facilities. Toronto and Calgary do not practice Pigeon control.

Here at Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture, sell, and install humane bird exclusion products, such as bird spikes and netting.

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Let’s stick with pigeons for a moment.

Pigeon Patrol — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 06:27:12 +0000

Occasionally, you see them munching on a pizza rind or some other recognizable discarded food, but most of the time they seem to be pecking at nothing at all.

I am not planning to start a pigeon Facebook enterprise, but unlike virtually all New Yorkers, I do not loathe pigeons and give them credit for living a tough life on the mean and unforgiving streets of Manhattan.

And if you actually stop and look at them, which no one does, their plumage can be quite striking. Yes they are plump and the neck-snapping walk is mind-boggling — what evolutionary rationale could that possibly have? — but they demonstrate an unrelenting pluck to survive in the city that I find admirable.

Just like seagulls, you never see a young or old pigeon, and never a sickly one. They are all the same size and seem in excellent health. I’ve never seen a dead pigeon or a squished one, which is remarkable for all their bicycle- and car-dodging. Not to overthink this, for all of their daily vicissitudes they seem pretty content with their lives, although their expressionless faces could be masking all kinds of nameless dreads.

One activity that seems to definitely give them great pleasure is communal flight. As I look east from our 16th floor apartment, I often see sizable flocks of pigeons soaring in synchronized movements that have no purpose, just banking, turning this way and that, diving and climbing.

They are clearly playing. They will, as a group, alight on a random rooftop, cogitate for a while and then set off on another flight maneuver, happy as clams.

If there is an afterlife, this playful flying would not make me elect to come back as a pigeon. I’m on record as choosing to come back as a chickadee. But if I have no choice and I’m forced to come back as a pigeon, I could handle it. The key, it seems, is a sufficient stream of pizza rinds.

Seagulls seem a lot like pigeons. They are always scamming for food and can fly beautifully. They seem smarter than pigeons and have a more sculpted shape. Gratefully, they have eliminated the disturbing neck-snapping walk, and they are artful at catching food thrown at them by the bored human denizens of Crescent Beach.

Which brings me to a seagull story. It is a third-hand story and its veracity cannot be verified. It was told to me by my nephew on Cape Cod, and he is a known embellisher. There is a thin line between embellishment and prevarication, and I am pretty sure he was sticking to the embellishment side. Not betting my life on that, however.

It starts with a surf-casting fisherman and a nearby observing seagull. The seagull watches as the surf-caster baits up his hook and heaves it into the waves. This is repeated several times with no success, fish-catching-wise. This is where it gets interesting.

This story wants you to believe that a light goes on in the observing seagull’s brain. The light says one, there is food being flung into the air and two, I can fly. Ergo, an intercept is entirely possible. But the light does not fully grasp the concept of “fish hook.”

You probably see where this is going. A perfectly timed intercept is made and the hook lodges in the seagull’s beak, surprising both human and bird actors in this story.

Embellishment alert: The fisherman starts reeling in the seagull and eventually gets it on the beach where a concerned woman assists the fisherman to calm the seagull while he fetches his needle-nose pliers to extract the hook. The seagull is not pleased, and it takes a while to wrestle the hook out.

A moment passes as the humans and seagull digest what just happened. Another light goes on in the seagull’s brain. With good intentions, the concerned woman is carefully holding the seagull but gets no credit for this act of kindness. The light says take a nip of the woman’s cheek and get the heck out of here. End of story.

True story? We cannot be sure.

But it sure beats any pigeon story I know.

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Someone discarded 145 living pigeons this winter

Pigeon Patrol — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 06:24:28 +0000

WOLCOTT — Someone discarded 145 living pigeons this winter the way one throws out an empty disposable coffee cup — by tossing them into a trash dumpster.

The night caretaker at the northbound Interstate 65 rest area in White County found the first 57 birds in the middle of December as he took the trash out, said Kim Hoover of the Hoots to Howls Wildlife Rehabilitation Center in rural Pulaski County. Some of the birds trapped inside boxes died, she said.

She took the birds and found homes for most of them, keeping the blind and crippled birds at the rehabilitation center.

Then on Feb. 28, the caretaker found more boxes of birds in the same dumpster at the same rest area.

“Same mozzarella cheese boxes. Same person’s name and number on the leg ban,” she said.

The first group of birds found were standing in feces that were caked to their feet and matted in their feathers, Hoover said. It appeared they’d been in the dumpster for a while and were in poor health.

The second group was found in better condition and did not have trash piled on top of the boxes, indicating that they had not been in the dumpster that long, Hoover said.

That person’s name on the leg band is Bahman Ghassab from Dublin, Ohio, Hoover said. The bands also had a telephone number to reach Ghassab. The Journal & Courier called that number on Wednesday, but it is no longer a working number.

But after the find in December, Hoover said one of her associates did call the number, and Ghassab answered.

“He said he sold some birds to someone in Florida and in Illinois,” Hoover said, “and he would not give any more info than that.

“When asked why would you sell sick starving and injured pigeons and better yet why would someone buy them in this condition, the conversation ended,” Hoover said.

The Journal & Courier contacted John DeCarlo Jr., president of the National Pigeon Association. He checked the association’s membership list, and Ghassab is not a member.

“These birds don’t fly,” Hoover said.

The Journal & Courier texted photos of the birds to DeCarlo, who is in California.

“I don’t know why they don’t fly,” he said, noting this particular breed of pigeon is the Iranian high fliers.

The Iranian high fliers are capable of flight, unlike the one particular breed that Hoover mistakenly was told the rescued birds belonged to, DeCarlo said.

The birds might not fly because they are sick or are under fed or are under conditioned, DeCarlo said. Or they might have been altered so they can’t fly, he added.

Someone told Hoover the birds were likely part of an illegal gambling ring, but that doesn’t seem likely, according to DeCarlo.

The only gambling in the pigeon hobby is among racing pigeons, and these are not racing pigeons, he said.

The flightless pigeon breed is known as parlor rollers. They have been genetically bred not to fly, and when they are nervous or excited, they roll, Decarlo said. There is a competition among parlor rollers to see whose bird can roll the furthest, but it’s not cruel because this is the natural way these birds behave, according to several pigeon experts interviewed Wednesday by the Journal & Courier.

Everyone interviewed Wednesday was incensed by the way these birds were discarded.

Hoover said no one seems interested in investigating it as a criminal case.

“From what I’m told, they’re not pets; they’re not farm animals, so nobody does anything,” she said.

National Pigeon Association Secretary/Treasurer Tim Heidrich of Georgia doesn’t see why it couldn’t be prosecuted.

“To me, it’s like animal cruelty,” Heidrich said. “There are ways to get rid of them without being cruel about it.”

“There are quite a few small shows,” he said. “You can go to these things and sell them — give them away to the kids.”

DeCarlo suggested giving unwanted pigeons to 4Hers so they can learn the hobby and show them.

Finding so many birds thrown away begs the question of whether other birds met with a similar fate only went undiscovered at other locations.

“We don’t know if this is the first time,” Hoover said. “Is it happening at other rest parks? We don’t know.

“I just wish he’d stop. These birds don’t deserve to be thrown out.”

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Mass. aims to unite taxpayers through hatred of pigeon poop

Pigeon Patrol — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 06:22:41 +0000

BOSTON — Along with all the usual declarations and deductions, Massachusetts residents have been asked to keep something else in mind this tax season: pigeon droppings.

In an unusual and at times stomach-turning appeal, the state agency MassWildlife proposed that one way to fight back against the sticky messes befouling cars and damaging bridges is for taxpayers to check a box on their tax forms to support the state’s endangered species program.

How so? Peregrine falcons are among the program’s beneficiaries, and they prey on pigeons.

“Hate pigeon poop? Save peregrine falcons,” begins the message on the agency’s website and in a recent newsletter. It goes on to picture a typical motorist driving home from work over one of the state’s major bridges.

“You’re thinking about dinner as you wait in traffic when — PLOP! — something white and black falls onto your windshield,” the post continues.

Next comes a scientific breakdown of the bird droppings that includes an explanation — for inquiring minds that need to know — of the precise difference between the dark and white portions.

Damage: And then, lest the reader believe it’s all no more than a yucky nuisance, this warning: “This paste-like substance is so acidic and corrosive, that it can damage your car’s paint job. And you guessed it, groups of birds all going to the bathroom in the same place can make man-made structures like bridges deteriorate faster.”

Enter the peregrine falcon, a magnificent predator that can attain speeds of 240 mph in high-elevation dives, no match for the slower and less agile pigeon, which just so happens to be one of the peregrine’s favorite feasts.

Peregrine falcons disappeared from Massachusetts in the mid-1950s and soon after in the entire eastern U.S., their demise largely blamed on the pesticide DDT, according to the state’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program.

After the chemical was banned, efforts picked up to reintroduce the raptor, sometimes confused with more common varieties of hawk.

Pigeon-hunting perches: To the surprise of some ornithologists, many of the newcomers eschewed their former rural habitats and became city dwellers. Instead of on cliffs, they began nesting on tall building ledges and bridges in urban areas where food sources — pigeons, especially — were more plentiful.

To help the falcons along, state officials and volunteers placed nesting boxes in strategic locations such as the Custom House Tower in Boston, the 28-story W.E.B. Du Bois Library at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the heavily traveled Tobin Bridge spanning the Mystic River.

“Falcon cams” were even installed to offer a continuous livestream of peregrine comings and goings.

The restoration effort is partially funded by voluntary donations from taxpayers, who can choose to contribute to “endangered wildlife conservation” on their state returns. The money supports more than 400 threatened or endangered plants and animals, from bog turtles to timber rattlesnakes, but the peregrine falcon is easily among the most “charismatic,” said David Paulson, senior endangered species biologist for MassWildlife.

Donations: Contributions to the fund have been increasing but remain well below levels needed, according to state officials and wildlife experts. About 23,000 taxpayers gave $312,000 through the tax check-off in 2017, the last full year for which figures were available, compared with the $178,000 provided by approximately 18,000 taxpayers in 2013.

It’s not just bird lovers and conservationists embracing the slow but steady revival of the peregrine falcons.

State transportation engineers have noticed a reduction in the pigeon population on bridges with nesting falcons, officials said. Fewer pigeons means less waste building up on bridge surfaces, rusting the steel and increasing the costs for maintenance and bridge replacement.

“It’s almost like a symbiotic relationship,” Paulson said. “The structure provides the habitat, and the falcons kind of provide the pest management, for lack of a better term.”

Officials hope drivers when completing their tax forms will see the peregrine as a feathered friend that can make an unwanted splattering a bit less likely.

The falcons “are never going to eliminate (pigeons), but they can help to manage them,” Paulson said.

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Man Shells Out $1.4 Million for a Pigeon

Pigeon Patrol — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 06:19:55 +0000

Don’t bet against the high-flying lifestyle of rare bird and sports.

A buyer has bid more than $1.4 million for a champion Belgian racing pigeon in a sale, according to the auction house Pipa, which oversaw the online auction for the rare bird.

This regal, emerald green-feathered bird is no regular pigeon you would frequent on the street — as you probably imagined.

In fact, lest you underestimate the athleticism of the mighty bird named “Armando,” look no further than this endorsement.

Nikolaas Gyselbrecht, the founder and chief executive of Pipa, told the Press Association: “This pigeon has a race record that has never been matched by any other pigeon.”

“In football terms you have Messi and Ronaldo – it’s that level.”

The praise for “Armando” continued from there.

PIPA

“This is a crowning glory of all those years in the pigeon sport. The icing on the cake,” Joël Verschoot said of the unique bird he put up for auction, according to the Guardian.

Indeed, Armando is apparently a champ who really goes the distance.

As to why a bird fetched such a high price, it comes down to Armando’s particular knack for the long-distance competition in China, where bird racing is a popular draw.

Bird owners can win plenty of their money back by betting on the correct winged competitor, with prizes in the tens of thousands of dollars.

That being said, your typical racer bird fetches $2,838, according to the BBC.

“This type of champion is rarely offered for sale,” according to the auction site. The high price leapt from $600,000 to $1.4 million in the final moments of bidding, according to the auction site, which features a close-up snapshot of the bird’s eye for reasons unknown.

Go Armando.

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A City in Spain Plans to Exile 5,000 Pigeons. Will They Stay Away?

Pigeon Patrol — Mon, 01 Apr 2019 06:10:45 +0000

MADRID — The Spanish city of Cádiz will undertake what some may see as a Sisyphean task: relocating 5,000 pigeons hundreds of miles away after a complaint that the birds are driving away tourists from the terraces of cafes in the most visited part of the southern port city.

Carrier pigeons probably date back to ancient Persia. But under a plan announced last month by Cádiz officials, the pigeons themselves will be carried: They will be captured and transported next year to a thinly populated countryside location in eastern Spain. There, they will find a new home in a dovecote near the town of Ribarroja del Turia.

The exile solution to pigeon overcrowding is being presented as a more animal-friendly approach than that taken in other places, where pigeons are treated like flying rats to be culled or fed contraceptive pills that may also be consumed by other species.

The city will use “the most respectful and sustainable method” to keep its pigeon population under control, Álvaro de la Fuente, the city official in charge of environmental policy, said in a statement.

The city came up with the plan after Horeca, a regional federation of hoteliers, complained two years ago that the pigeons were menacing tourists, particularly in the city’s emblematic cathedral square.

“When the pigeon gets hungry, it can get very forceful and often doesn’t even wait for the tourists to leave their table to go for their food,” said Antonio De María Ceballos, a restaurant owner and the president of Horeca.

Horeca also argued that pigeon excrement presents a health risk for waiters and other employees who have to clean pigeon-occupied dining and drinking areas.

The risk, Mr. De María Ceballos said, was confirmed last year by a court ruling in Catalonia that upheld the disability claim of a Barcelona tourism official who said that she contracted pulmonary fibrosis from exposure to floating particles of bird excrement while working in pigeon-filled city squares.

“Nobody here has anything against pigeons or other animals, but something must be done when they proliferate to the point of presenting a health risk,” said Mr. De María Ceballos.

The city hopes to carry out the relocation next year. The 5,000 or so pigeons will have to be trapped and undergo health checks before they are transported and released in eastern Spain, about 375 miles from Cádiz. The hope is that the highly adaptable rock pigeons will be happy to resettle there rather than be tempted to make the return flight.

Mr. de la Fuente, the city official, is also calling on residents to play their part and stop overfeeding pigeons.

He argued that fighting pigeon overpopulation can also helped avoid the spread of “other plagues like rodents.”

City Hall will distribute 3,000 leaflets about how to deal with pigeons, hoping to educate rather than fine its residents for overindulging the birds.

In London, under legislation adopted a decade ago, people risk a fine of as much as 500 pounds ($636) for feeding pigeons around Trafalgar Square.

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Mystery pink pigeon spotted on rooftops in Breightmet

Pigeon Patrol — Thu, 11 Jun 2015 08:21:30 +0000

A MYSTERY pink pigeon has been spied in Breightmet.

The bird, which has pink and white plumage, but still has a normal grey head, was spied on a rooftop in Breightmet earlier this morning.

There is a breed of bird called a pink pigeon — called nesoenas mayeri which are native to Mauritius — but these are very rare and normally such a paler shade of pink they are almost white.

David Taylor managed to photograph the unusual bird in Tetbury Drive at about 8am on June 20 and said: “I was having breakfast this morning and saw this red and white pigeon on top of a neighbour’s roof.

“When I went out it was gone but then 15 minutes later I spotted it on a neighbour’s roof.

“I don’t know why it’s that colour, I thought someone had painted it.

Jackie Fish, who also from Tetbury Drive, thought someone had spray painted the bird in the colours of the St George flag.

She spotted it at 7.15pm on June 19, 45 minutes before England kicked off their crucial World Cup match with Uruguay.

She said: “I just saw it there and realised it had been painted white and red, to look like the England flag.

“I have to say as supporting England goes, this is a bit too much and I would class it as cruelty and a bit beyond a joke.”

Gemma Pidluski also reported seeing the bird on June 19 and said on Facebook: “I have just been sitting at home and a pink pigeon has landed on my shed roof. Is it real?

“I have googled it and sure enough there are pink pigeons! Bit of nice news for a change!”

A similar bird was spotted in Ealing, West London in August, 2012 and experts were at a loss to identify it.

About Pigeon Patrol:

Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)

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The killer seagull terrorizing Hyde Park

Pigeon Patrol — Thu, 16 Oct 2014 01:01:36 +0000

Stupid Bird

Hungry bird spotted drowning pigeons in the Serpentine and eating their bodies Bird grabs pigeons by the neck before dragging them into the water Visitors to the London park say bird has been doing this for five years Aggressive gull wades into a crowd of pigeons and picks out a straggler It then sprints up, seizes its prey and drags its into the Serpentine Bird then and drowns the pigeon before eating it with his female mate Experts say behavior is extremely unusual for lesser black-backed gulls They usually survive on a diet of small fish, aquatic insects and crustaceans.

About Pigeon Patrol:

Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)

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Piano Wire Finds Unexpected Use in Chasing Birds away in Buildings and Structures

Pigeon Patrol — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 07:15:15 +0000

SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Piano wire, made for use in piano strings, has found a new, unexpected use in chasing pigeons away so that buildings and structures could avoid premature corrosion as well as bad odor and noise. The Seoul metropolitan city government said on September 4 that it has come up with a novel solution to keep birds away using piano wire by experimentally installing the line on Seongsan No. 1 Bridge and the Seoul Station Overpass.

The solution is based on a simple idea that the birds wouldn’t be able to land on the extremely thin line and would fly away after trying many times. Until now, most bridges and elevated roads have been infested with pigeons, causing bad smell, often unbearable noise, and urban squalor. In some problem spots, the city government tried to install bird blocking nets but found it ineffective as most pigeon habitats were narrow holes or small cracks.

The idea of using piano wire came when a bike rider passing underneath Seongsan No. 1 Bridge petitioned the city government to do something about the pigeon problem and a city officer named Lee Jong-wook at the West Seoul Road Maintenance Corp. under the city government invented the idea after weeks of experiment. He applied for a patent for the idea with the Korea Intellectual Property Office.

Pigeon droppings may cause corrosion of steel parts in the structure as they contain ammonia and acid when they are mixed with rainwater. The droppings are major nuisance to pedestrians walking under bridges and overpasses. The piano wire-based bird chasing device is more cost effective than any other solutions such as the spike needle, bird blocking net, chemical-based bird repellent and ultrasonic bird repeller, which are expensive and often limited in applicable range.

Lee of the West Seoul Road Maintenance Corp. said, “I thought hard and long about how to address the problem and came up with the idea of piano wire. When I developed the idea, it was winter time, which made it hard to apply any other easily available solutions. I am glad that my simple idea could relieve the problem and make our citizens happy.”

About Pigeon Patrol:

Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)

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Wimbledon Hired A Hawk To Scare The Pigeons Away

Pigeon Patrol — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 04:07:45 +0000

The Wimbledon tennis championships started today, and if you pay close attention, you might notice an unexpected employee keeping the riff-raff of the courts: a hawk named Rufus.

Every morning, from 5-9am, Rufus patrols the skies above Wimbledon and scares away any pigeons. And he’s been at it for fourteen years.

Lucky for the pigeons, its a humane process. They’re not killed, only scared away. At Nerdist, Kyle Hill explains:

Raptors like Rufus—large predatory birds that include eagles, hawks, and falcons—are nothing to mess with. Whether it is scaring pigeons or throwing goats from cliffs, raptors have the speed, vision, and strength to contend with all but the largest game (look at this eagle’s claw for goodness’ sake). All raptors also have ratchet tendons, which allow the birds to effectively lock their claws shut and maintain enormous grip pressures with bone notches and interlocking tendons.

None of that is good news for the pigeons that Rufus keeps out of Wimbledon, but Rufus isn’t a killer. According to a recent Reddit AMA with Rufus’ handler, “Rufus is a non-lethal deterrent which is based on the fact that pigeons have an innate sense of fight or flight, and they don’t hang around very long to fight when they see his talons!”

About Pigeon Patrol:

Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)

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Birdman’ feeding more than one flock

Pigeon Patrol — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 04:01:31 +0000

Ed Berube sits in his motorized scooter in the middle of Kennedy Park every nice day he can. As he digs into his giant bag filled with unshelled peanuts, pigeons begin to flock around him.

Jerk Pigeon Guy

Ed Berube, who many know as “Birdman,” feeds pigeons in Kennedy Park in Lewiston on Monday afternoon

“There’s the birdman with his flock,” said a person walking past him Monday afternoon.

But it’s the human flock Berube is really trying to reach.

“I use the birds and peanuts to open the door to talk about Christ,” he said. “I was born again 28 years ago,” he said, standing straight up out of his chair.

He has chronic breathing problems, so he gets short of breath walking. When he’s not with his “girlfriend,” a 1,400cc motorcycle parked just up the street, he is motoring around town on his scooter looking for somebody with whom to share his love of Jesus.

“I was trouble as a kid. I was run out of town in Massachusetts where I grew up,” he said. “They told my mother to take me away or they would send me away.”

He and his mother moved to Richmond, and he took jobs in the woods and on farms. He eventually moved to Lewiston to work in the Libbey Mill until it closed.

“I was just going on with life, drinking, drugging and all that. On Sunday, my wife would go to church and I’d start drinking. They kept inviting me to come, and when I finally did, I warned the pastor that he didn’t know what he was dealing with,” Berube said.

“It took about 17 months, but I finally felt the spirit kicking into gear. And then, it was like a light switch just flipped on,” he said.

Berube recited Scripture, then pulled out a zippered case with books and clippings in it. He thumbed through a Bible and challenges people to read the verses and not become changed.

“I just want to kick their spirit into gear,” he said, as he reached for another handful of peanuts for the pigeons circling closer and cooing.

About Pigeon Patrol:

Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)

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Reigate firecrew’s rooftop pigeon rescue

Pigeon Patrol — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 03:56:47 +0000

Reigate firefighters flew into action in the town centre to rescue a pigeon caught up in rooftop netting.

The four-man crew, led by Crew Commander Steve Arnold, closed the High Street temporarily in order to get a ladder up to the roof of Boots opticians, where the bird had got stuck in netting placed there to prevent pigeons getting into the roof spaces, last Wednesday afternoon (June 25).

The fire service was called in by the RSPCA.

A Surrey Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “Animal welfares is just one of the many roles that the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service responds to, though full risk assessments are made and our role is to assist and support the RSPCA in such events.”

He said: “After cordoning the area off for safety, the crew pitched a 13.5-metre ladder and after several attempts, released the pigeon successfully.”

He said along with Crew Commander Arnold, the efforts of firefighters Horsfall, Smith and Sharpe were all cheered.

“The pigeon was seen by many onlookers, who cheered in appreciation as it flew away, relatively unharmed,” he said.

The rescue was one of the last call-outs for Crew Commander Arnold, who was taking early retirement last week after a 25-year career in the fire service.

About Pigeon Patrol:

Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)

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Pigeons, pigeons, everywhere!

Pigeon Patrol — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 03:45:33 +0000

Pigeons and humans have co-existed for thousands of years. But when they become a nuisance, who is to be blamed?

Pigeons, one of the most resourceful species on the planet, are traditionally, symbols of love, peace, family and faithfulness. Their inflated throaty coos are a common sound in virtually every part of the globe with the exception of the Sahara Desert and the Polar ice caps. It is ironic that the species is currently being referred to as “the most serious bird pest associated with human habitations”.

Flock together

Pigeons have lived alongside humans and been used for food, sport and as messengers. Considered one of the most intelligent species on the planet, pigeons can perform tasks previously thought to be the sole preserve of humans and primates.

Descended from wild rock doves that thrive in a cliff environment, feral pigeons form large flocks that roost on building and ledges and under bridges. They can often be found in loft spaces and empty buildings — anywhere that offers a small amount of shelter.

Naturalist Dr. T. Murugavel says, “Feral pigeons thrive in urban areas in particular because there is usually a good food source and the absence of predators. The result is that they can become ‘pests’ in built-up areas. Unless food is strictly controlled, pigeons will rapidly breed out of control, resulting in overpopulation in areas of human habitation. Researchers have proved that pigeons do not usually like any change in their nesting area. Even a decoy or an image of a raptor when placed in the nesting or roosting area of pigeons discourages them from nesting. Whatever you do, ensure that it is humane and eco-friendly.”

Research conducted around the world to find a humane way to control, includes methods like ‘birth control’ pellets to controlling the number of eggs allowed to hatch, spikes to deter landing and thorny cacti on a sunny windowsill! But aren’t ‘pigeon problems’ really ‘people problems’? Can we coexist better with a bird that has survived in close association with man for over 10,000 years?

A recent report in The Independent spoke of how people found feeding pigeons in the Austrian city of Vienna were to be fined €36 in an attempt to keep the city clean. Pigeon experts from the animal welfare ombudsman said that it was rubbish in the city that caused problems beyond the pigeon population. Obviously, unclean neighbourhoods in any part of the world are the reason for many health and environmental issues, but looks like it is the issue that is being most conveniently pigeonholed!

Shoo!

The National Audubon Society Birds site, which gives tips on “how to shoo them away”, says that many safe and effective commercial products are also available including plastic or metal bird spikes. If pigeons are roosting on a utility wire or other area where they can’t be easily blocked, a weatherproof bird sound device that plays bird alarm or distress calls may chase them away.

Downside

Pigeon droppings are acidic and can cause damage to buildings and machinery. Nesting material, droppings and feathers can block drains and air vents. Startled flocks that take flight suddenly may cause hazards to motorists and pedestrians. While large numbers of pigeons can drive smaller birds away from feeding areas, they can also spread disease to other birds.

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Rufus, Wimbledon’s pigeon poo policehawk

Pigeon Patrol — Fri, 05 Sep 2014 03:42:51 +0000

Rufus the Hawk reports for duty weighing 625 grams.

Ten grams more and he’s too sedentary. Any lighter, and he ceases being the non-lethal deterrent Wimbledon contracts him to be and roams farther afield for mouse, snake or hare.

But if Rufus arrives at his optimum weight, he need only soar over centre court a few times to earn his hand-fed reward of raw chicken bits.

The mere sight of his one metre wingspan is enough to shoo away the pigeons that might otherwise land on the court during a critical point, deposit droppings in the Royal Box or roost in the eaves to feast on grass-seed all winter, as if the sod were a buffet table.

A 6-year-old Harris Hawk with prodigious self-esteem, Rufus is just one of several hundred actors in the meticulously choreographed dance that unfolds between dawn and 10.30am daily in London throughout the Wimbledon fortnight.

From strawberry-hullers to bomb-sniffing English Springer Spaniels, every man and beast has a task before the All England Club’s wrought-iron gates open to the tennis-mad public. And every task – whether mowing, measuring, marking, pruning, watering, soaring, sniffing, sweeping, scrubbing or polishing – has its appointed time for completion.

No detail is overlooked. Everything must be just so at the most esteemed of the four Grand Slams. A ticket to Wimbledon, after all, constitutes an invitation to a private club that opens to royals and commoners alike for two weeks each year to watch the world’s best players in the most pristine setting in sports.

“It’s all about the details,” says Lucy Tomlinson, 21, a member of Wimbledon’s daytime housekeeping staff, which from 7.30am onward restocks the loos with soap and hand towels, polishes the banisters, scrubs scuff marks from the entryways and wipes away beads of water left by the power-washing of ticket-holders’ seats.

“We make sure everything is absolute perfection!”

Neil Stubley, the head groundsman, starts his day with a 5.30am check of the forecast. Based on that, he directs his staff when to deflate the translucent covers on the 41 grass courts so they can be rolled up and stowed and the sod watered if the daily measurements of its hardness indicate there’s a need.

All of Wimbledon’s courts are oriented in a north-south direction. A specific groundskeeper is assigned to each court for the tournament’s duration. And each mows the rye grass to precisely 8 millimetres each morning, in exactly the same pattern of alternating stripes.

Every cutting is captured by the mower; even a stray snippet of grass could cause a player to slip.

“If Roger or Andy or Rafa goes out onto any of the practice courts in the morning and then comes out to any of the match courts, they should play exactly the same because we have controlled the moisture, the grass species and the cutting,” explains Stubley, who supervises a staff of 32 groundskeepers and gardeners.

Then come pairs of groundskeepers who mark the lines with titanium dioxide and set up the nets.

By that point, roughly 9am, David Spearing has started work at the golf course across Church Road that doubles as a camping ground for the thousands of fans in the queue for tickets.

Wimbledon’s honorary chief steward, Spearing has the privilege of informing the campers over a loudspeakers at 7.30am the number of tickets available for public sale that day and handing out the wristbands that guarantee entry to centre court, court 1 or the grounds in general.

It is but one of his duties. The other is sitting in the players’ guest box on centre court. Wimbledon is the lone major that seats the relatives, coaches and friends of both players in the same box. And Spearing, expert in protocol and discretion, is on hand to greet, seat, and on the rarest occasion, mediate.

“It’s basically an honour to have the job, rather than any particular ability,” says Spearing, who sits in the corner of the 39-seat box, with the top seed’s 19 guests to his right and the lower seed’s 19 guests to his left.

“Being pleasant is easy.”

Based on wags, few enjoy their early morning rounds more than dogs tasked with sniffing potential explosives. A mix of spaniels and retrievers, they scamper up and down the walkways, peer under benches and poke into trash bins positively quivering with excitement over the prospect of finding something that warrants a prize. At Wimbledon, naturally, that prize is a fuzzy yellow tennis ball.

Dogs, however, are one of the few sights that unsettle Rufus. So handler Imogen Davis, whose parents and five siblings breed and train raptors for a living, does her best to steer the hawk clear of Wimbledon’s canines. It’s not always easy, given that Rufus’s vision is 10 times better than her own.

“If Rufus was at one end of a football pitch, and a newspaper was at the other end, Rufus could read the headline!” Davis says by way of illustration.

“If he could read.”

One could get the impression Rufus can indeed read from his Twitter account, @RufusTheHawk, which reveals a raptor of cracking wit and considerable ego. Among his recent tweets: “Chasing pigeons is an art form, like poetry or twerking. And I, Rufus, am an artist.”

And, “The reason Sharapova is so loud when she serves is because she wants to scare away pigeons to be more like me.”

Apart from the sight of dogs, nothing rattles Rufus. Not the sound of Wimbledon’s lawn mowers. Not the sound of leaf blowers. Not even the fire alarm that gets a full-song test each morning at 9.35am.

It’s followed at 9.45am by a call over the public-address system for all staff and contractors to remove all vehicles and carts from the grounds in preparation for the opening of the gates, 45 minutes away.

And the pace of activity picks up.

Gardeners deadhead petunias and pluck yellowed leaves from ferns and hydrangeas at Centre Court’s South Entrance, where guests of the Royal Box enter.

The 250 ball boys and girls start arriving at Gate 13. They form a single-file line and march up the steps of St. Mary’s Walk without uttering a word, the only sound the pad of 500 sneakers on the pavement.

Aged 14 to 18, the schoolchildren have trained for this duty since late January, schooled by gym teacher Sarah Goldson in how to properly roll tennis balls between points, how to raise their right hand before feeding the ball to the server and, above all, how to stay still during play.

“They can move their eyes, and they can wriggle their toes,” Goldson says.

“But that’s about it.”

They also must wear their uniform correctly. Shoelaces must be tied in double knots. Shirts must be tucked in; trousers worn at the waist, not sagging in any manner. Water bottles must be tucked on the right side of their backpacks. And for girls, long hair must be tied back.

“Make-up, chewing gum is a big no-no.” Goldson adds.

“Jewellery, definitely not!”

As the ticket holders mass at the gates, the strawberry-sorters’ hands are flying in a chilled catering room tucked behind the grounds’ largest food court. Wearing green fleeces for warmth, a staff of six sits around a table and inspects and hulls the berries. They’re picked at 5am daily at a farm an hour’s drive away and delivered to the grounds by refrigerated trucks.

No scales are needed for the portioning out; it’s 10 strawberries per little plastic bowl. And roughly 8600 bowls, or “punnets,” are consumed daily.

Outside the sun inches higher in sky. The clock shows 10.25am, the next cue for Wimbledon’s public-address announcer.

“Attention ladies and gentlemen, we will shortly be opening the gates,” he advises.

“In the interest of your own and others’ safety, please do not run.”

In five minutes’ time, everything is in its place. The dogs have exited with their minders. The ball boys and girls have assumed their posts. Two towels have been placed on each player’s chair on every court. The air smells of petunias in full bloom.

And Rufus, having secured his realm for another day, has slipped on the custom leather hood that signals naptime and a job well done to Wimbledon’s brave hawk.

About Pigeon Patrol:

Contact Info: 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD (www.pigeonpatrol.ca)

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