Residents of Sydney’s most notorious public housing complex are being told not to feed the local rats, as the city is plagued by a worsening rodent problem.
A day after pictures emerged of a rat the size of a small cat found dead in a family’s backyard, Daily Mail Australia can reveal residents in inner-city Surry Hills have been feeding the creatures.
‘Please do not feed rats or pigeons or leave food or rubbish out of bins,’ a sign in a Family and Community Services (FACS) office window opposite Northcott towers in Belvoir Street states.
This sign appears in the window of a Family and Community Services office in Surry Hills
Pictures of a monster rat show a man with a plastic bag holding the huge rodent by the tail
Northcott towers, opposite the Family and Community Services office in Sydney’s Surry Hills
The sign telling residents not to feed rats is stuck up with other community service messages
‘Housing NSW asks that residents dispose of rubbish thoughtfully and not feed the pigeons or rats.’
The sign appears in a window with posters advertising interpreter services, the Salvation Army, the Surry Hills Drug Action Team and Northcott Community Sharps Bin.
Kandas Jordain, who lives nearby, said the extraordinary warning was needed.
‘There’s an elderly woman who sits out and feeds the ibises and the pigeons and the rats,’ Mr Jordain said.
‘I’ve told her off a few times. Every time I see her with a plastic bag I confront her.’
Mr Jordain said the ongoing light rail construction in Devonshire Street, coupled with rubbish left to rot outside buildings, contributed to the rising number of rats around his home.
Bags of rubbish are strewn in a Surry Hills street near the continuing light rail construction
Rats, including rattus norvegicus are a constant problem in large cities including Sydney
The Family and Community Services office where the ‘do not feed the rats’ sign is posted
‘I’ve got them running under my unit,’ he said. ‘When the sun goes down we’ll start hearing the rats running around.
‘You can hear them of a night time scurrying in and out.’
The FACS office caters for residents including those who live across the road in the 14-storey Northcott towers, which have a reputation for drug abuse, high unemployment and violent crime.
Earlier this week a family from Alexandria displayed a giant rat they found dead in their backyard.
The family was so afraid after the discovery they would not let their young daughter play in the backyard.
A resident feeds pigeons in Ward Park, near the Northcott towers, in Sydney’s Surry Hills
Residents in Surry Hills have been told to stop feeding local rats and pigeons (stock image)
A gigantic rat has been found dead in a Sydney family’s Alexandria backyard (stock image)
The rodent is about the size of a small cat.
The grim find follows months of concern over rat problems across Sydney.
Independent City of Sydney councillor Angela Vithoulkas has called for action on the issue.
She said the rat problem had possibly improved in the city since March but was ‘still very active in other areas’.
‘It’s the price you pay for progress and development when you choose to not address other factors that come up and allow them to get this bad,’ Cr Vithoulkas said.
Cr Vithoulkas said she was not surprised by the size of the rodent in the Alexandria backyard, stating Sydney rats were ‘well fed’.
She said the ‘public health issue’ called for the city to set up a ‘rat taskforce.’
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.
Diwali is one of those times when animals — both pets and strays — become highly agitated and panicky because of their inability to bear high-decibel sounds. In fact, it is during this festival of lights that several cases of missing pets, injured animals and dead birds are reported.
“The sensitivity of animals to the sound and smell produced by fireworks is extremely high. The sound we humans hear, is highly amplified for them and that’s why they are impacted a great deal,” explains Dr Praveen Kumar of Canfel Pet Clinic in Banjara Hills.
While pets have their human friends to look after them, strays face a tough time. Mahesh Agarwal of the city-based Bharatiya Prani Mitra Sangh and member of the state’s Wildlife Crime Control Bureau, and Shruti Darak, animal activist share stories of cruelty towards animals often seen during Diwali. Both of them reveal how the need for fun brings out the brutish side in people. Shruti says, “The kind of injuries reported during Diwali are pretty horrific. Animals undergo a psychological disturbance.”
Dr Praveen points out one common case that he comes across during the festival. “There are certain breeds of cats and dogs that find fireworks very exciting to watch, and try to approach and play with crackers that are lit. It’s absolutely important to keep them away from that.”
Meanwhile, the plight of pigeons is another heart-breaking scenario. Mahesh, who has actively been observing and protecting pigeons from these festival-time injuries, shares, “Two things happen. One, the birds tend to panic because of the proximity to the sound and two, fireworks like rockets hurt them, leaving them injured. The mental trauma causes quicker deaths in birds. They fall from their platform and often you see dogs and cats waiting to catch hold of them. In the last seven years, with awareness and certain precautions, we have seen a reduction in the number of pigeons getting hurt.” In fact, he reveals that the scenario at the Kabootar Khana in Sultan Bazaar has drastically improved in the last few years.
While the list of problems animals face comes across as endless, all these animal-loving activists and experts have a common piece of advice to offer: “Prevention is better than cure.”
Says Shruti, “While I’d like to ask people to have an eco-friendly Diwali; since fireworks are something people cannot let go of, I’d suggest small precautions. For instance cleaning up after bursting crackers because animals tend to chew on the stuff, and it’s possible that they take in harmful chemicals. Also, stepping on sharp objects could hurt their paws.” She adds, “It’s one of those times when strays find it difficult to find food and a place to stay too. If people could temporarily give them shelter and food, nothing could be more beneficial.”
While Dr Praveen suggests preparing pets for the day. “It would be ideal to keep them in an enclosed room stocked with their favourite goodies. Also, turning up the volume of the TV or radio could help nullify outside sounds. But instead of pushing them into such an enclosure all of a sudden, it would be good to prepare them in advance. I suggest giving them early meals on these days,” he shares, adding that anxiety medication prescribed by a vet could also help pacify the animals.
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.
The fall migration is on the decline now, with most of our flycatchers, swallows and warblers gone for the next seven months. All of these birds depend on insects for their sustenance, a resource in short supply now.
Sparrows and other seed-eaters have a more leisurely migration. They can find seeds, at least until the first snows arrive. Even so, by the end of the month most of our sparrows will be gone to more moderate southern areas.
As I discussed in the last column, we know that the majority of migratory bird species have an innate knowledge of where they should go to spend the winter. It boggles the mind to realize that many first-year birds find their way – unaided by adults – to a wintering habitat they have never seen. Travel instructions are encoded in their genes.
In considering how migratory birds find their way, we need to recognize two different abilities of birds. First, the birds have a well-developed sense of navigation. In other words, they can set a course and follow it, barring intervention from hurricanes or other weather phenomena.
Second, some birds have well-developed abilities of orientation. Most migratory birds can navigate well but fewer can orient.
A famous experiment done with European starlings in Eastern Europe nicely distinguishes navigation and orientation. Some starlings were captured and placed in a cage in the spring. This particular population of starlings is migratory. In the spring, the caged birds attempted to depart on a northwesterly vector to reach their breeding grounds.
Other birds were transported several hundred miles to the west. Again, the direction that the captive birds chose was recorded. The transplanted birds again tried to migrate to the northwest. They were unable to correct for the fact that they had been moved westward. The starlings showed a good sense of navigation but a poor sense of orientation.
Contrast that result with the abilities of white-crowned sparrows. A wintering population of birds in southern California migrates each spring to Alaskan breeding grounds. Wintering birds that were flown either to New Orleans or Maryland ultimately found their way to their Alaskan breeding grounds. These birds were able to compensate for their eastward displacement by biologists. These birds are great at both navigation and orientation.
The abilities to orient and navigate are not restricted to migratory birds. During the nesting season, birds need to be able to find their way to their nests. The need is particularly acute for birds like bald eagles that maintain huge territories, or ospreys or albatrosses that may fish miles away from their nests.
Domestic pigeons have been the subjects of the most illuminating studies on navigation and orientation. Pigeons can return to their roosts from distances as far as 1,100 miles.
They use multiple cues for navigation. An internal clock allows them to determine direction from the position of the sun in the sky. This so-called sun compass is the most important cue. They also can sense the earth’s magnetic field. On cloudy days, magnetic cues become important. We even have evidence that pigeons can smell their home over the last few yards.
Pigeons are able to fly steadily at 50 miles per hour. It’s not surprising that competitive homing pigeons beat their owners home from a release point.
Pigeons can be used for nefarious purposes as well. Recently, a pigeon whose roost is in an Argentinian prison was caught smuggling 8 grams of marijuana and a memory stick.
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.
Russ Osmond and Harley Smithson III have a very unique hobby, raising and racing homing pigeons. They call their feathered friends “Thoroughbreds of the Sky,” like race horses.
Osmond is the president of Cross Roads Racing Pigeon Club. The club has about 30 members. He says his birds get better care than him because his wife tends to them the most. The birds will sell for as much as $50 to $100,000, although they give birds to beginners.
Each bird wears a computer chip on its leg at 10 days old. Info on the chip states the national organization, year of birth, club name and individual number. You can’t race them without a band with a chip.
Osmond keeps sexes separate and puts them together to motivate them when released. In other words, do the boys follow the girls home?
You can calculate how fast they fly in yards per minute. The birds will fly 100 to 600 miles in a race, and they can be home in one day after flying 600 miles.
There are hundreds of different varities of pigeons, such as a Chinese owl that has a certain turn-up of its feathers.
As a rule, the birds are very affectionate animals and want to return home. That’s one reason they are called homing pigeons.
The coop is set up with a shelf on the outside that they land on to walk over a computer chip sensor that reads and records all the birds’ info. It’s called a Benzing clocking system.
Osmond feeds the pigeons a special mix from Europe. It has different grains like corn, beans, sunflower seed and milo. Pigeons have to have grit to process their food, like granite, oyster shell, charcoal and minerals.
Osmond has 30 birds and it takes 19 days to hatch an egg and another 30 days to move them into an older group. After the birds have feathered out, he trains them to go into the loft to be fed. He whistles to signal them for supper. They start flying at two months old.
They are totally tame birds although sometimes they are leery to come into the coop after a long run, so he sends up a bird to bring them on down.
The Queen of England has homing pigeons. If you go online to Pacoma Films, you can see a lot of neat stuff. If you’re interested in pigeons, give Osmond a call at 307-649-3181.
Smithson is an official race starter, not like the Indy 500 with a flag. Harley transports the pigeons to the release site. This weekend he is going to Columbia, Missouri, for the birds to fly 250 miles back home.
A few of the good old boys at the check station today are Mike Frakes, Larry Sample, Osmond, Ralph Yagle, Steve DeGroote, Jerry Hollingsworth and Ron Deisher. They are from all walks of life.
DeGroote is a coach in the Indiana High School Baseball Hall of Fame. Deisher makes a living by selling and racing pigeons. He was in the insurance business and had a lot of stress, so he started a pigeon business to sell them all over the country as well as other countries. He shows me the Banks of the Wabash website that has pictures of birds that won past races. He says they earned bragging rights.
Frakes is a coon hunter from way back, and Sample is a good old country boy who loves to go on wagon train rides with his team of horses pulling a covered wagon. Sample has been a teacher and owned a country store.
Bigger races reward big money. Deisher said the toughest race in the world is in Johannesburg, South Africa, with first place paying $200,000. Total payout is over $1 million.
There will be 7,000-10,000 birds in the race. The birds are quarantined for six weeks in a loft, and then released into a fly pen that is covered to exercise for three to four weeks. In October, they train by releasing them a few miles away, and they start racing at 60 miles in the second week of November. The end of January is the toughest race from the weather being 100 degrees and 90% humidity with thunderstorms. A good year has 2,500 birds finish the race.
Deisher says Mike Gaines from Granger, Indiana, sold a bird for $100,000. An average top quality bird will be $25,000 to $30,000 from the African Race. A bird named Bolt was sold for $400,000 from Europe to someone in China. Males are more valuable than females.
Jeff Jones from New Castle has 18 breeding pairs with a total of 75 birds. He’s had them for over 45 years. He says it’s very enjoyable and gives you a peace of mind.
After all, birds of a feather flock together!
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.
It is filo pastry filled with minced pigeon meat and almonds.
A bit different to the bacon sarnies of UK golf clubs but then golfing in Marrakech is different, too.
And you won’t have to contend with freezing temperatures either.
I was at the Royal Palm resort in February, and despite views of the snow-capped Atlas mountains in the background, it was 28C.
Flights from Gatwick to Marrakech take three hours 20 minutes.
Then it is just a ten-minute drive to the city centre with its hotels and courses.
That meant we could sneak a quick round in at the Royal Palm before we even checked in at the Four Seasons hotel.
When I did finally make it to my Garden Room there, I found a massive king-size bed, a separate dressing room and a bathroom with its own postcode.
Outside was an immense balcony with room for a table and chairs plus a cushion-filled nook.
Even in February it was warm enough for a pre-dinner beer on the terrace before tucking in to local cuisine of pigeon pasties, chicken and fish tagine.
The Moroccan wine and beer went down very well, too.
With it being a mainly Muslim country, I had pretty much assumed this would be a dry trip.
Not the case at all. Locals are happy to have a beer or two and are extremely proud of their Casablanca lager.
The next morning it was off to the jewel of the golfing trip at Assoufid.
The desert course, which again features stunning views of the Atlas mountains, is only three years old and was voted Africa’s best new course in 2016 by the World Golf Awards.
But be prepared to wave goodbye to a few balls when you play the cluster of holes surrounding the Dip of Death, a canyon running right through the course.
By now it was time for a little local culture and a trip to the world-famous Jemaa el-Fnaa square.
In the space of ten minutes you can come across snake charmers, get lost in the warrens of the souk marketplace and try the local street food which includes anything from the freshest orange juice to huge pans of fried snails.
The 12th century Koutoubia Mosque towers over everything, despite only being 77 metres high, as local law dictates no other building can be taller.
We sought sanctuary and dinner in one of the riads — boutique-style hotels in the heart of the city.
On our last day, we squeezed in one more round at the splendidly named Palmeraie Palace golf resort.
This was holiday golf at its best, not too taxing and the chance to give the ball a good smack.
There are three loops of nine holes to choose from.
If you’ve not had enough after all that wild swishing, the golf-obsessed can pop to the Four Seasons spa — where they will soothe your aching muscles with a golf-ball massage.
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.
