by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 28, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
A pensioner has been left with a £1,000 court bill for feeding the birds in her back garden.
Brenda Hawkins, 74, was hauled to court after neighbours complained about flocks of pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descending on her home daily – likening it to a scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds.
After being fined £1,000 for ‘nuisance’, she was told the penalty would be as much as £2,500 next time if she continued putting out food – and a refusal to pay could result in a jail sentence.
Brenda Hawkins, (pictured) 74, was hauled to court after neighbours complained about flocks of pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descending on her home daily
Ms Hawkins was fined £1,000 for ‘nuisance’ and she was told the penalty would be as much as £2,500 next time if she continued putting out food. A refusal to pay could result in a jail sentence
Locals in the seaside town of Rhos-on-Sea, North Wales, said up to 100 birds arrived in Mrs Hawkins’s garden every day, causing an intolerable mess and racket.
But yesterday, the retired personal assistant complained that Conwy council had punished her in a ‘draconian’ manner. Mrs Hawkins, who has lived in her semi-detached bungalow for more than 25 years, said: ‘I think it’s disgusting. The council has gone over the top to make an example of me.
‘My difficulty is that when feeding small birds, it’s inevitable that larger birds such as seagulls join in. I have no control over which birds turn up.’ She added: ‘I enjoy nature but now that’s been taken away from me. It’s a sad day for bird-loving people.’
Diane and Harold Fredman (pictured) live next door and their garden backs onto Brenda Hawkins. They said they see the birds all the time
Magistrates in Llandudno were told how around 80 to 100 pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descended on Mrs Hawkins’s lawn and garden wall to eat seeds and other food she put out each morning
Neighbours said their cars, along with clothes on their washing lines, were regularly spattered with droppings
Magistrates in Llandudno were told how around 80 to 100 pigeons, jackdaws and seagulls descended on Mrs Hawkins’s lawn and garden wall to eat seeds and other food she put out each morning.
Neighbours said their cars, along with clothes on their washing lines, were regularly spattered with droppings. They claimed they felt threatened by the birds, which sometimes ‘dive-bombed’ residents in the otherwise quiet street.
The council first received complaints in May 2014, and Mrs Hawkins was offered advice on reducing the number of larger birds. But she refused to change her behaviour, and in June she was issued with a Community Protection Notice – similar to an anti-social behaviour order. She denied failing to comply with the notice, but magistrates found her guilty after hearing evidence from neighbours including Diane and Harold Fredman, whose garden backs onto Mrs Hawkins’s.
Mrs Fredman, 69, said: ‘The noise from the flapping of wings and the seagulls was horrendous. Putting that amount of food out with no consideration for neighbours is ridiculous.’
Her daughter Alex Harvey, 35, added: ‘It’s like a scene from the Hitchcock horror film The Birds when huge flocks swoop into the garden.’
But Mrs Hawkins’s husband Derek, 78, said there had been no complaints until the Fredmans moved in, describing the couple as having a ‘vendetta’.
Mrs Hawkins was fined £200, also paying costs of £409, a criminal court charge of £520 and a surcharge of £20, leaving her with a £1,149 bill.
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 | Mar 27, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News
27PIGEONS are no stranger to the Worcester streets, but most of the time they are the usual dull grey variety.
But one brightly-coloured visitor added an unusual splash of colour.
Worcester News reader Becca Rammell sent in these pictures of a pink coloured pigeon she spotted in Worcester High Street near WHSmiths at about 4pm on Saturday, September 19.
This may be one of a flock of unusually brightly-coloured birds spotted throughout the country earlier this year.
A number of reports of pink pigeons were made during the summer in areas including Stockport in Greater Manchester, Milton Keyes, West Yorkshire, Surrey and Northumberland, leading to a number of theories including a new breed or the after effects of eating pink food.
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But it later emerged pigeon keeper Sher Singh from Bristol had been painting his bird’s feathers in pink fabric dye to protect them from falcons, claiming it would make them difficult to spot for the birds of prey. But he later agreed to stop the practice after learning it could be harmful to the pigeons.
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 | Mar 26, 2016 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services
Walls of glass that blur the boundaries between indoors and out may be an appealing design feature for homeowners, but for birds, it’s deadly.
That telltale thud against a window is a horrible sound to bird lovers. Millions of birds die each year from flying into windows. And these incidents happen more frequently during spring and fall migration.
“It’s a conservation issue that everyone can immediately act upon to make a difference,” said Christine Sheppard, Bird Collisions Campaign manager for American Bird Conservancy and one of the nation’s leading experts on window strikes. “Everyone can make their house friendly to birds.”
The problem is that birds can’t see glass. They see a reflection of their habitat and strike the glass as they attempt to fly through.
The most vulnerable are songbirds, which already face threats from climate change and habitat loss. “Unfortunately, hummingbirds are killed in large numbers from window strikes,” Sheppard said.
To help prevent window collisions, the experts at American Bird Conservancy have designed translucent ABC BirdTape. Most birds will avoid windows with vertical stripes spaced four inches apart or horizontal stripes spaced two inches apart. When the tape is applied according to these guidelines, birds will see a barrier to avoid, not space to fly through.
“The good news is that after you put tape up, you’ll forget it’s there,” she said.
There are also a variety of prefabricated decals that can be used as an alternative to tape as long as they are placed according to the above guidelines, she said. Tempera paint, which is available at most craft stores, is an inexpensive solution. It can also be used to create window designs that have the same effect as tape. The paint stays on even in the rain, but will easily come off with a damp sponge.
“Birds are accurate judges of their body size,” she said. They fly through tight spaces in their habitat, so the tape or decals have to be placed according to the guidelines to be effective.
“Window screens are the simplest solution,” Sheppard said. “Even if there’s a bit of a reflection, it’s less dangerous because they tend to bounce off.” Bird netting when stretched a few inches in front of a window can have a similar effect.
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 | Mar 25, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
25India and her neighbours ought to remember that from superstition to intolerance is often a short step
We’re in a sort of skiff under a small bridge over the river Ravi in Lahore. Heavy traffic, incessant honking, and all the expected city noises fill the air. The river itself is sluggish, and, like the Yamuna in Delhi, more a drain than a river. As our little boat makes its way from one shore to another, a strange packet floats down from the bridge into the river. I think resignedly how alike we are across borders: stand anywhere, and chuck anything overboard without a thought about the consequences.
But I’m wrong — in one thing at least. This is not rubbish as I soon discover: a bunch of kites parked on a small mud island quickly wing it across and pick at the packet. Later, standing on the bridge, the story unravels. Dotted here and there along both sides of the bridge are men and women holding plastic bags. They’re poor, some are disabled and what they have in their hands is meat — the offal and leftover bits of meat that humans don’t eat, which they purchase from butchers for cheap.
Here, on the bridge, the meat-sellers stand and offer this to anyone who wants to leverage some good karma by feeding the birds. So, the rich and the middle-class stop by, and they or their drivers step out and buy, and then cursorily chuck it over the side. Good deed done, they can get on with life. Meanwhile, as an environmental activist tells me, the birds suffer, they grow fatter and fatter, and sometimes this kills them and their numbers fall.
I’m struck by how alike we are — no matter that we are across the border. And no matter that there may be differences in religion. Here, in Delhi, every day when I drive to work, I see a similar sight.
Turning off the main road to the lane that leads to my office, I traverse a small traffic island on my right. Here, every morning, a young man arrives bearing two large sacks of grain and chana, and a number of light metal plates. He sets himself up with four or five plates and, soon enough, cars stop, oblivious to the vehicles of office-going people they are blocking. They buy a plate and then chuck its contents right there. Then, there’s a great flapping of wings as hundreds of pigeons descend onto the food and begin to eat it up. Meanwhile the grain-throwers get on with life, secure in the knowledge that they have earned their brownie points for this life and the next.
The scattering of grain on the ground goes on all day. By evening, the pigeons are stuffed and disinterested, the young entrepreneur (what else can you call him?) is still there, and sometimes a desultory customer will show up and he’ll get some more business. One day I watched a young girl arrive in a large limousine. While her rich parent sat in car, the girl stepped out, ayah in tow. Instructions relayed from parent to driver to ayah to the supremely bored girl, who followed those nonetheless. Perhaps she had an exam to clear or an engagement in the offing.
Elsewhere there may be people feeding monkeys, or cows, or crows. It’s a strange thing: we destroy their habitat, and then feed them silly to gain good karma.
I’m struck by many things about this phenomenon: there’s the spirit of entrepreneurship. For the poor, whether it’s in Lahore or Delhi or elsewhere, it’s a way to trade on people’s blind faith and make a rupee or two out of it. You have to admire that.
But then, there’s also this question that bothers me every day: how have we become so deeply superstitious? Where does that come from? And why are we unable — or unwilling — to see that the pigeons and kites and other sundry animals and birds are being overfed?
There are other concerns too: it’s easy for me to laugh at the pigeon-feeders but this isn’t just funny. It’s precisely this kind of superstition and blind belief that kills the Dabholkars, Pansares and Kalburgis of this world. From superstition to intolerance is often a short step: you can convince yourself that, say, eating beef will bring you bad karma — even if it’s your neighbour eating it — and you then take law into your own hands and kill them. Or you can convince yourself that a woman is actually a witch and you destroy her life (and sometimes take over her property too).
Increasingly, in India today — and who knows, perhaps across the border too — using superstition and blind belief, or exploiting the human need for faith, have become weapons in the hands of cynical politicians and corporates.
If a builder can conduct human sacrifices to appease the evil spirits in a building where people will live and love and give birth and die, there has to be something seriously wrong with us.
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 | Mar 24, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, UltraSonic Bird Control
A woman was horrified to find pigeons, doves and blackbirds lying dead under trees in Witham in a suspected poisoning attack.
In recent weeks, great-grandmother Teresa Dawson, 77, of Collingwood Road, made 14 grim discoveries under trees in her garden, in Newlands Drive car park and Holy Family Church yard off Guithavon Street.
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)
