by Pigeon Patrol | Oct 12, 2015 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
LOS GATOS, Calif. (KGO) — A deadly disease is killing off a certain species of pigeons. In a matter of weeks, more than a thousand pigeons have died. The counties with the highest death tolls are Santa Barbara and Santa Clara counties.
“It’s really horrible,” Los Gatos resident Sally Edsall said. “In their eyes as well, their beaks in particular are very infected.”
Band-tailed pigeons are dying by the hundreds in Santa Clara County and the sudden deaths started last month, and have been rising since.
“Last week was definitely a peak where we were having five, six a day,” Edsall said.
A parasite is attacking the pigeons and specifically, and spreading trichomoniasis — a lesion causing disease that closes off the birds’ throats. The birds then die of suffocation or starvation.
“Losing a thousand is a big deal,” Rebecca Dmytryk, executive director of Wildlife Emergency Services said. “They don’t recover very quickly because they only have one chick per year.”
The drought is contributing to the problem. Pigeons are sharing limited water sources and infecting one another.
A creek in East Los Gatos may be the cause of deaths in the area.
Birds are literally falling out of the trees on Twin Oaks Drive. Thirty dead birds were found at one house alone.
“I was definitely concerned before. I didn’t even want to walk in my back yard,” Anne Griffin, a Los Gatos resident, said.
Experts hope the disease will slow down once the pigeons start migrating out of the area.
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 | Oct 11, 2015 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
A SPECIALIST team has slaughtered potentially deadly pigeons to decontaminate Millom council offices after an infestation was exposed.
However, upstairs council offices and a kitchen are to remain closed for now after a health and safety inspection highlighted other issues including no disabled access.
A dangerous tile has also been removed from the Millom Town Council building, in St George’s Road, and Cumbria County Council said further repairs will take place once the cull has finished.
The offices have been in lockdown since January 23 when feral pigeons, which could carry deadly diseases including salmonella, psittacosis and ornithosis, were discovered in the loft.
County councillor and town councillor for Millom Brian Crawford said: “Serious concerns have been raised about the condition of the building. We are not using the offices at all at the moment.
“We’ve been left in limbo a bit as we had to use the Pensioner’s Hall last week for our town council meeting and some council staff are having to work from home.”
County council officials said it could take several days for pest controllers to finish the cull and for corpses and leftover faeces to be removed.
The town council is now on the hunt for new temporary office space and potentially permanent new premises over fears repair work may prove too costly.
Cllr Crawford said: “We will have to look at the future of the whole building in light of the other issues which have been raised as we can’t keep operating in there while the stair lift is broken because there’s no disabled access.
“It’s been suggested that it could be cheaper for the building to be knocked down and rebuilt than the cost of the repairs. I think what the council wants is for a community group to take on the work in conjunction with the town council and for it to be funded through grants.
“I know Millom residents won’t be happy if this happens because it is an iconic building in the town. Another option is to completely refurbish the inside of building.”
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 | Oct 10, 2015 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Feed the birds, tuppence a bag” croons the Little Old Bird Woman on the steps of St Paul’s in Mary Poppins. But the winged critters aren’t so popular with everyone; Ken Livingstone tried to eradicate them from Trafalgar Square in 2001 by banning the sale of pigeon food and hiring a hawk to maintain the pecking order. If he’d succeeded in wiping them out completely, what would London be like today? We take a look at pigeons’ place in the London ecosystem.
The only creature to feast on pigeons in London is the peregrine falcon, a bird of prey that nests on the ledges of tall buildings (as this replicates their more natural environment of cliff faces), according to Matthew Evans, Professor of Ecology at Queen Mary University. The most famous pair of peregrine falcons in London nest in the chimney of the Tate Modern on Southbank, although others are known to roam the skies around Parliament and other spots.
Peregrines are adept at catching their prey when it is mid-flight (meals on wheels wings, if you will), and London pigeons are simply a more domesticated version of the rock dove, the falcons’ only source of food in other environments. Evans believes it’s unlikely that an absence of pigeons would cause them to turn to another food source, such as rodents. Instead, they are likely either to die out through lack of food, or leave London and set up home in another location where their favourite meal is readily available.
In turn, this would reduce the number of greater-binocularised humans who flock to Southbank every summer in an attempt to feed their eyes on the falcons. Presumably they would be displaced to another ecosystem more accommodating to their bird-spotting needs — the Welsh coast, perhaps — freeing up more of the London space for other humans to flourish.
Looking at the food chain in the other direction, the main source of food for pigeons is human rubbish: crisps, biscuits, the odd M&S sarnie. Whatever they can get their mangled claws on, really. According to Evans, the only reason that pigeons really exist in London is due to the sheer amount of food readily available for them. So, without pigeons, this clean-up service would cease to exist, meaning we’d probably be knee-deep in half-eaten kebabs before we knew it. But excess food would soon be picked up by rats and foxes (and gulls, closer to the river), meaning we’d probably see an increase in the populations of these species.
So no pigeons in London would mean no peregrine falcons, but more rats and foxes. Think of that next time you shoo a hobbling pigeon out of your path. It’s him, or a rat. And of course, fewer pigeons mean less pigeon droppings, so London buildings and statues could be free of the “lucky”* fluid, and less subject to erosion. We could also release our most sacred buildings from the protective sheath of pigeon spikes (full effectiveness demonstrated below).
*We got pooed on by a pigeon once. So distracted were we in trying to remove the muck from our new jacket that we tripped over a kerb and ended up face down in mud. Lucky our *rse.
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 | Oct 9, 2015 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services
The fear of avian flu gripped the district after the animal husbandry department found three dead pigeons near Gushaini village of near the Banjar forest area on Wednesday.
The pigeons, reportedly spotted by some locals, caused panic a day after the first case of the avian flu in Himachal Pradesh was reported in Manali.
Kulla Animal husbandry department assistant director Vishal Sharma said samples of the bird had been sent to the Regional Diseases Diagnostic Laboratory (RDDL) at Jalandhar, Punjab, even while adding that the chances that their deaths were caused by the avian flu are slim. He said that while no other dead birds were reported in the region, residents breeding poultry have been asked to stay alert.
Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) director BS Rana, who also confirmed the news, said: “It is a normal phenomenon that birds die due to extreme cold and hail storm, which was recently experienced by the region.”
As a precaution, however, a stock of prophylactic drugs had been sent to Banjar health center, said Kullu chief medical officer Dr Baldev Thakur, adding that no symptoms of the avian influenza have so far been reported.
Residents have also been asked to wash their clothes and hands thoroughly to avoid contamination.
The department has, however, reportedly not conducted any de-contamination or quarantine procedures, which may be required if the birds test positive for the H1N5 virus.
Following the recent scare of avian flu after a goose tested positive for the disease in Chandigarh and the recovery of dead poultry in Shimla, the department had reportedly constituted surveillance teams to monitor threats of avian influenza outbreak in the region. The dead poultry in Shimla later tested negative for the ailment.
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 | Oct 8, 2015 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
HARRISBURG >> Guns were a hot topic Wednesday in the Pennsylvania Senate, which voted to back a ban on pigeon shoots and in favor of a bill to give groups like the National Rifle Association legal standing to sue municipalities over local gun laws.
Senators favored outlawing pigeon shoots by a 3-1 margin and sent the measure back to the House for consideration.
The shoots, which involve launching the birds from spring-loaded boxes to be shot at close range, were derided by some senators who called it inhumane and a throwback to “another age.” Violators of the proposed law would face a summary charge of cruelty to animals.
Sen. Richard Alloway II, R-Chambersburg, an avid outdoorsman and an A-rated NRA lifetime member, voted with the majority.
“I have a deep admiration for our traditions and that includes a respect for the game we pursue, as we participate in these pastimes,” Alloway said. “This is in no way a slippery slope toward eliminating legitimate hunting opportunities, but rather a personal decision I have made regarding this individual activity. To me, hunting is about sport, and there is no sport in violating the fair-chase laws that we hold in such high esteem in the Commonwealth.”
“There is no appropriate way to do a pigeon shoot,” said Sen. Jay Costa, D-Allegheny, leader of the Democratic minority.
Sen. John Eichelberger, R-Hollidaysburg, voted not to outlaw the shoots. The Senate earlier voted down his proposed amendment to make trapping or poisoning pigeons a summary offense.
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Sen. Mike Brubaker, R-Lancaster, proposed a compromise amendment placing the shoots under the supervision of the Pennsylvania Game Commission but it was rejected by 33-15 vote.
Alloway also voted with the majority to allow “membership organizations” to stand in for any Pennsylvania member who is “adversely affected” by local gun-control ordinances.
The measure was portrayed by proponents as a simple clarification of existing laws. The amendment to a separate bill was approved by a 2-1 margin and sent to the House for additional action.
“We’re not doing anything drastic here, this is just good common sense,” said Senate President Pro Tempore Joe Scarnati, R-Jefferson.
“At least 50 individual municipalities have enacted their own firearms ordinances that are more prohibitive than those set by the Commonwealth, and therefore in violation of the Pennsylvania Constitution,” Alloway said. “The unfortunate reality is that a person — who is abiding by state law, but is in breach of a municipal ordinance — has no way to recover damages they have incurred as a result of their legal battle, a legal battle they should not have had to fight in the first place.”
Eichelberger, who represents western Franklin County, also voted in favor of the measure.
Opponents, particularly senators from the Philadelphia area, which is plagued by gun violence, said the proposal gives special license to the NRA to push its agenda in Pennsylvania courts at the expense of local taxpayers.
“This is a mess!” said Sen. Anthony Williams, D-Philadelphia.
Wednesday was supposed to have been the last session day before a new Legislature is elected on Nov. 4, but both houses added a day to their calendars. The Senate reconvenes Thursday and the House on Monday.
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)
LOS GATOS, Calif. (KGO) — A deadly disease is killing off a certain species of pigeons. In a matter of weeks, more than a thousand pigeons have died. The counties with the highest death tolls are Santa Barbara and Santa Clara counties.
