by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 19, 2014 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
The blueberries are here! The strawberries have been great, and now the blueberries are coming into season!
But we aren’t the only ones who like blueberries. We’ve got the sparrows, robins and all different kinds of birds, so there are a couple of different things you can do to protect your blueberries so the birds don’t get the whole crop.
The first thing is if you have a small bush or just one or two bushes, it’s nice to cover them with bird netting.
Now to do this, don’t just drape the netting over the bush, because every time you pull it off you’ll be pulling off berries and leaves and damaging the bush. It’s better to put some stakes in around the bush and then put the netting over the stakes. Its much easier to get in to work around the bush.
There are also reflective devices that you can use to scare birds away. I’ve got my old Pat Metheney CD over here! But really, anything that is going to reflect light such as CDs, aluminum pie plates, and holigraphic tape can be used. I even hang this scare eye balloon, that believe it or not, looks like a hawk to many birds, so they tend to stay away.
They key with these devices, though, is to move them around so that it looks like the hawk is moving around too. The wind will really help move these reflective tapes!
The final thing you can do is spray your berries with a sugar solution. Take 4 packets of Grape Kool-Aid, and a couple of quarts of water and then spray that solution on the plants. You can use regular sugar, too. The sugary solution has a flavor that the birds don’t like.
So all of this will hopefully make you have a beautiful berry crop that you can have all for yourself!
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 8, 2014 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
The moment Satyavathi walked out of her house to pluck flowers, the duo entered the unlocked house and stole 60,000 cash and jewellery worth 19 lakhTwo teenagers, who were trying to earn a few rupees by catching a wild pigeon to sell, stumbled on much bigger game. It was easy pickings, and for about five days the youths, both SSLC dropouts, had a good time spending their ill-gotten wealth. Then the law caught up with them and they are now cooling their heels in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison.
Gowtham (19) and M Diwakar (Deepak) (18) are close friends. After they failed their SSLC exams, they took running petty errands to earn a little money. The duo, both residents of HAL II Stage, soon realised that catching and selling pigeons was an interesting money-making enterprise.
On the morning of June 6, the duo spotted a few birds on the terrace of a residential building and decided to go after them. As they were climbing up, they spied an old lady counting money in a room in a house in the building. Satyavathi Krishnappa, 70, the elderly lady, was securing her life’s savings. On seeing the money, the youths changed their mind about catching the pigeons and decided to rob the elderly lady instead.
The duo waited and watched and realised the old woman was alone. The moment Satyavathi walked out of her house to pluck flowers, the duo quickly entered the unlocked house. They cleaned up the cash amounting to Rs 60,000 and, to their surprise, also found jewellery in the same cupboard. They did not know the value of the jewellery, but stole it anyway. Their crime was complete in five minutes flat.
Over the next few days, the duo spent almost the entire cash they had stolen. They purchased a second-hand bike for Rs 35,000 and the rest of the money was spent on booze and food. Their party, however, lasted only five days.
Satyavathi realised the theft only on June 10 and filed a complaint with the Indiranagar police. What caught the police’s attention was that the duo had also stolen a mobile phone from the elderly lady. They focused their investigation on finding the phone.
Though Deepak and Gowtham had changed the SIM card of the phone, they did not realise that the police could still track them through the phone’s IMEI number. The phone’s activity was concentrated around Jeevanbheema Nagar and HAL so the police decided to bait the duo. One of the investigating officers called the number, posing as their long-lost friend. The duo fell for the trap easily and ended up disclosing their location to the police. On interrogation the duo spilled the beans. Police say the jewellery was worth more than Rs 19 lakh.
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 7, 2014 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
US – University of California Davis researchers have identified the cause of death in wild band-tailed pigeons connected to newly discovered parasite.
Researchers at UC Davis and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife have identified trichomonosis as a key factor in winter die-offs and population decline of bandtailed pidgeons, a native migratory game bird. (Dianne Ricky/courtesy photo)
A new pathogen has been discovered by scientists investigating major die-offs of pigeons native to North America, according to studies led by the University of California, Davis, and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Scientists were able to implicate this new parasite, along with the ancient parasite, Trichomonas gallinae, in the recent deaths of thousands of Pacific Coast band-tailed pigeons. The die-offs occurred during multiple epidemics in California’s Central Coast and Sierra Nevada mountain ranges. Scientists named the new pathogen, Trichomonas stableri.
Avian trichomonosis is an emerging and potentially fatal disease that creates severe lesions that can block the esophagus, ultimately preventing the bird from eating or drinking, or the trachea, leading to suffocation. The disease may date back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth, as lesions indicative of trichomonosis were found recently in T-Rex skeletons. The disease may also have contributed to the decline of the passenger pigeon, whose extinction occurred exactly 100 years ago.
Epidemics of the disease can result in the death of thousands of birds in a short amount of time. An outbreak in Carmel Valley killed an estimated 43,000 birds in 2007.
“The same parasite species that killed band-tailed pigeons during the outbreaks were also killing the birds when there weren’t outbreaks,” said lead author Yvette Girard, a postdoctoral scholar with the Wildlife Health Center in the UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine at the time of the studies. “This indicates there may be other factors at play in the die-offs.”
“We are now investigating what triggers these die-offs, which may be caused by the congregation of infected and vulnerable birds during certain environmental conditions, or even spill-over from another nearby species,” said principal investigator Christine Johnson, a professor with the UC Davis Wildlife Health Center.
Between winter 2011 and spring 2012, there were eight mortality events – defined as more than five dead birds found in the same geographic area during the same time frame. The study said trichomonosis was confirmed in 96 per cent of dead, sick or dying birds examined at seven of the mortality events. This disease was also found in 36 per cent of band-tailed pigeons at wildlife rehabilitation centres, 11 per cent of hunter-killed band-tailed pigeons and four per cent of the birds caught live and released.
“What makes this disease more troublesome for band-tailed pigeons is their low reproductive rate – about one chick per year – and also that these events are occurring in the wintertime,” said co-author Krysta Rogers, an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. “That means almost all the birds we’re losing during events are adult birds. They’re being killed before they have the ability to reproduce in the spring.”
Mortality events in band-tailed pigeons have been reported in California at least since 1945 but have increased during the last decade, with outbreaks reported in six of the last 10 years.
“Going into the study, we expected to find a single, highly virulent species of Trichomonas in birds sampled at outbreaks,” Girard said. “Having two species killing birds at these large-scale mortality events is surprising.”
Necropsies of the birds were conducted at the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory at UC Davis and the Wildlife Investigations Laboratory at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Both studies were funded by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
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 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
DALLAS (AP) — United Airlines is defending the poisoning of birds at Houston’s biggest airport, saying it was done for health and safety reasons. But the airline said Wednesday that it didn’t tell its contractor how to control the airport’s bird population, and will ask the firm to consider other methods the next time.
The contractor laid out corn kernels laced with a bird-killing nerve agent at Bush Intercontinental Airport. People who work around the airport reported seeing grackles and pigeons fall to the ground and spin around as they died.
The bait manufacturer, Avitrol Corp., says a lethal dosage causes birds to show distress — including alarm cries and trembling — that frightens away other birds. It usually causes death within an hour, the company says.
Airports commonly take steps to shoo away birds, which can be sucked into jet engines and cause a loss of power. In 2009, US Airways pilot Chesley Sullenberger safely ditched his Airbus A320 into the Hudson River after hitting a flock of Canada geese during the climb from New York’s LaGuardia Airport.
United spokeswoman Mary Clark said in a statement that the airline works with the airport on abatement programs “to reduce the health and safety risks posed by birds on airport property” and to “provide a clean and safe environment for our customers and employees.”
Clark said United hired a contractor, Texas Bird Services, which is experienced at removing birds from airports. She said the company complied with all regulations while laying bait at terminals and a maintenance hangar at Bush airport.
United will work with the contractor to consider alternate methods, Clark said. Texas Bird Services, which lists American Airlines and Delta Air Lines as references on its website, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Bush airport spokeswoman Katena Carvajales said the company’s work was reviewed Tuesday by officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and found to be within guidelines. She said controlling wildlife is important for safety and sanitation.
John Hadidian, a senior scientist at the Humane Society of the United States, said it would have been better for the airport to use netting, take away food sources, or use loud noises to deter the birds.
The biggest threat to aircraft is often larger birds such as geese. A group of U.S. agencies including the Federal Aviation Administration recommends steps such as limiting bird-friendly features like ponds and the use of technology to harass birds. The FAA is evaluating portable radar systems for tracking birds.
An FAA database lists more than 80 cases of planes colliding with wildlife — from sparrows and pigeons to cattle egrets — at Bush airport last year. Two planes were damaged — a United Boeing 737 was left with minor damage and a private business jet suffered substantial damage.
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, 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)
