by Pigeon Patrol | Mar 8, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
Restrictions in other cities have caused an increase in the trapping of wild birds in Pittsburgh so they can be sold for pigeon shoots in eastern and central Pennsylvania.
To counter this, Pittsburgh City Council advanced a bill Wednesday that would ban the trapping of wild birds in the city.
Councilwoman Darlene Harris, who introduced the legislation last week, said during the council’s Standing Committee meeting that her office has fielded an increasing number of complaints about pigeons being trapped in the city for shoots at gun clubs in eastern and central Pennsylvania.
“These pigeons are sold to gun clubs, held in inhumane conditions, thrown in the air and shot for sport,” she said.
The ordinance is headed for final approval Tuesday, though likely with some amended language to avoid impeding the city Animal Care and Control Bureau’s ability to trap pigeons if necessary.
Rebecca Reid, a wildlife advocate with Humane Options Pittsburgh, which promotes non-lethal means of dealing with urban wildlife, called the shoots “quite a horrifying spectacle.” She said the trapped birds, sold by “pigeon brokers,” are often crammed into cages and “stockpiled” for days at a time before shoots while exposed to the elements.
Trappers get about $5 per pigeon and have been spotted Downtown and in the Strip District in large vans with cages on top, she said. The shoots themselves can kill thousands of birds depending on how long they last.
Mary Kennedy Withrow, shelter director and director of government affairs for the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society, said bans on trapping pigeons in New York and Philadelphia have pushed the practice to Pittsburgh.
Attempts to ban pigeon shoots at the state level have failed for more than two decades, said Heidi Prescott, senior vice president of campaigns for the Humane Society of the United States.
“There is an underground trade in pigeons for live pigeon shoots and there have been an increase in complaints of pigeon trapping in both Pittsburgh and New York,” she said. “This ordinance will certainly help stem the flow of pigeons for the shoots.”
Ms. Prescott has been lobbying against pigeon shoots in Harrisburg since 1993 and last year succeeded in getting a bill through the Senate only to have it languish in the house, where Rep. Mike Turzai, R-Marshall, then House majority leader and now speaker of the House, blocked it from coming to a vote. It has been introduced again this year.
Most states have either banned pigeon shoots outright or through the interpretation of animal cruelty laws, she noted.
The chief opponent of a pigeon-shoot ban has been the National Rifle Association, which called it “misguided” last year.
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 7, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, UltraSonic Bird Control
Bungling council workers put up netting to stop bird poo falling on pedestrians but ended up trapping pigeons above a pavement.
A team working for Edinburgh Council installed the net following complaints that the birds were relieving themselves on those walking underneath a bridge.
But, despite an elaborate system to allow the birds to escape the netting, it soon emerged that pigeons were trapped inside and, in the words of one resident, were ‘slowly starving to death’.
Pigeons have been trapped inside a net which was supposed to stop them defecating on pedestrians below
The council have said netting included special pigeon ‘hatches’ which were supposed to let the trapped birds out but prevent free birds getting in.
But residents in the city say the ‘imprisoned’ pigeons appear to be struggling with the hatch arrangement and have complained to the council that the birds are slowly starving to death.
A video posted online shows trapped birds frantically flapping about under the bridge in the Portobello area of the Scottish capital.
Alex Allan, who filmed the clip, tweeted: ‘Thanks for fixing the bridge but you’ve condemned 20-plus pigeons to a horrible death.’
Mr Allan added: ‘Also they are nesting so there are lots of chicks in there too, slowly starving to death.’
The netting was put up last week following complaints that the birds were relieving themselves on pedestrians.
Local residents near the bridge in Edinburgh are angry that the problem will continue and the birds will die
Workers failed to scare off many of the pigeons before installing the netting but carried on regardless.
An internal council email, believed to have been sent from an official to a councillor, states: ‘I suspect they were actually caged in. To me this smacks of poor workmanship or is it acceptable?
‘The pigeons are still flying about inside this morning and I assume will until they die and rot/decompose away. So the pigeon poo will persist for a while longer.’
Andy Matheson, Area Roads Manager for Edinburgh Council said as many as 200 pigeons were moved on from the bridge.
He said the trapped birds could take two-three weeks to escape using the ‘outlet’.
He added: ‘If the numbers of pigeons don’t appear to drop….a section of netting may have to be removed temporarily in order to release them.’
A spokewoman for RSPB said: ‘Pigeons aren’t everyone’s favorite bird but we still need to make sure they are safe and get rescued.’
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 6, 2016 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services
Q: My elderly, disabled mom owns and lives in a old two-story house in downtown Hutchinson. It is infested with pigeons.Throughout the past years I’ve worked hard to get rid of them, but nothing has worked. Twice, I’ve rented a long ladder and climbed to heights that no one should go without a safety harness in order to try and rid her house of these rodents. The roof is complex and has over 20 roof supports for the eves. I’ve tried every nonlethal approach to deter them: sticky glue, fake owls, nail beds, and blocking their access to perches with wood barriers. I’ve considered hiring a contractor to make alterations to the house, but I don’t know if that would help. I’ve researched this subject for years and I have not found an answer, other than having plenty of hawks around to eat them. Dillon’s grocery store has metal cups spinning on their roofs in an attempt to deter pigeons. According to the store manager they don’t work. I am to the point where I would consider using poison to kill the pigeons. I don’t think that poisoning them would stop other pigeons from nesting. We need help. Is there anyone who can help us?
First of all, I think you are a very good daughter. But, please be safe in your effort to rid your mother’s home of pigeons.
I spoke with Jeff Wells at Advance Pest Control. He says as frustrated as you may feel, poison is not the option. There is a product called Avitrol to get rid of pest-like pigeons. But, it causes them fall from the sky and frighten people. Instead rethink those methods you mentioned. Wells said they should work if properly installed.
For example spikes should work if properly deployed. However, Wells said a lot of times people leave too big a gap between spikes so that they won’t work.
There is an all-natural grape extract product that has been a success at repelling pigeons at Gowans stadium. If you have walked around the area you might have noticed the smell of grapes. Though it hasn’t completely eliminated the problem, it has made a difference.
“At night there will be hundreds of pigeons on the roof of the Cosmosphere while over at Gowans there will be three,” Wells said.
Wells said the product works, but costs $160 a gallon for the grape scent, plus it’s necessary to have a special machine to disperse the spray, which isn’t cheap.
“It’s high rent, but it works,” said Wells.
Wells says your best bet is to hire a contractor to eliminate the roosting sight. Then use Pignx bio-repellent or spikes and make sure they are spaced correctly. Forget owl decoys, he says, they only work if they are moved daily so birds think the owls are real.
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 5, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes
Avian experts object to proposal for pigeon birth control, say a study needs to be done first.
Taking a cue from the Spanish town of Badia del Valles which is feeding its burgeoning population of pigeons with birth control pills, the Shiv Sena wants BMC to bring down the city’s pigeon numbers in a similar fashion.
According to reports, the Catalan town of will use three automatic dispensers to scatter the required dosage to the pigeon population every morning. Each pigeon will be fed 10 gm of Ovistop, a product made of corn seeds covered in Nicarbazin, which acts as a contraceptive for the birds.
If Sena corporator Abhishek Ghosalkar has his way, pigeons in Mumbai may be put on birth control too. The birds are often regarded as ‘flying vermin’. In his notice of motion, Ghosalkar has claimed the pigeon population is posing a serious health hazard. A pair of pigeons can produce as many as 48 offspring each year.
In April 2014, Mumbai Mirror had reported on how pigeons have rapidly multiplied in the city, and their droppings are leading to respiratory problems in citizens.
The report mentioned how a Mulund homemaker spent Rs 15,000 to cover her apartment windows with netting to block pigeons that had become a health hazard, dropping a huge quantity of ‘infection-spreading’ excrement on windowsills, but even that did not solve the problem. A well-fed pigeon on an average dispenses up to 11.5 kg of droppings a year, the report had said.
Though there have been no studies conducted on Mumbai’s pigeons, the bird, once restricted to a few city areas, have now become almost omnipresent. Ghosalkar has also said in his proposal that many citizens have complained to him.
Incidences of respiratory problems among people, especially those living near the kabootarkhanas, have registered an increase. In fact, there was a move by locals in Ghatkophar a couple of years ago to relocate the kabootarkhana, but it was opposed by bird lovers and even local politicians.
Even before the proposal comes up for debate in the civic body, it has started receiving objections. Sunish Subramanian, secretary, Plants and Animal Welfare Society (Mumbai) said there is no scientific study to prove pigeons in the city are causing respiratory problems in citisens. “Such proposals will send out wrong signals in society,” he added.
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 4, 2016 | Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
Pune railway has forbidden citizens from feeding pigeons at the kabutarkhana, as its excreta is harming the heritage building
It would not be hyperbolic to term them a killer flock — heritage conservationists and experts across the nation have documented how pigeon excreta has destroyed precious art and the challenge they face in the clean-up process. Closer home, the birds have unleashed havoc among passengers as well as staff at Pune Railway Station, provoking the authorities to put up a warning sign near the popular kabutarkhana and Mahatma Gandhi statue, barring citizens from feeding the pigeons, as it leads to an insurmountable task for the authorities to clean up the excreta.
“The pigeon population around the railway station’s premises has multiplied in recent times, thanks to people flocking here to dole out morsels of food. Their presence is affecting the heritage structure of the railway station. Its roof, the rooms inside and the passages have become very unclean. A few days ago, they had also invaded the VIP lounge and dormitories, leading to a rush of complaints from passengers,” said Sunil Kamthan, station manager at Pune Railway Station. He went on to say that the premises have to be mopped at least six times daily because of this invasion, and that even after, a strong stench lingers along the corridors. “We spent more than a lakh cleaning the roof and shelves of the building,” added Kamthan.
Since simply propping up a warning sign is not known to dissuade people from doing as they please, officers at the station have taken it upon themselves to walk up to the erring citizen to urge them to halt the act. “We have not imposed any fine for feeding the birds yet, but if this persists despite the warning, we will be forced to mandate punitive action,” said Kamthan.
Paresh Jagtap, a passenger, has welcomed the railway’s move, although he finds the flight of pigeons a pleasant sight on the premises. “The warning is legit, but they should continue in their efforts to keep the station premises clean,” said Jagtap. Vivek Bunthambe, a member of the cleaning staff at the railway station, said, “We have cleaned the entire building several times in one year, particularly the upper roof, and yet there is excreta all over the building. The passengers complain about the foul odour that the pigeons leave behind.”
Pigeon excreta is known to stain the surface of abuilding, gradually setting in the process of corrosion. “We generally water jet an unclean surface before restoration. The water is laced with lemon or cinnamon, but even this does not work on pigeon droppings and we have to use caustic chemicals for such spots. Besides this, the bacteria from the droppings attract termites, especially on limestone. And when such termites establish a colony, rats are attracted to feed on them, which establishes a cycle,” said V M Sharma, a civil engineer and contractor who has worked on the restoration of various Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) projects, as well as the restoration of the Red Fort, in New Delhi.
Mumbai-based conservation architect, Abha Narain Lambah, who has worked on the Victoria Memorial, Kolkata and the Tata Palace, Mumbai, where the Deutsche Bank is housed, called attention to the strong acids in the excreta that affect oft stones such as limestone and marble. “It corrodes the surface, discolouring it; at times, even small pits appear on the surface,” said Lambah.
Tejas Garge, an archaeologist from Central Archeological Survey of India, said the phosphorous in the pigeon excreta is known to damage monuments, and hence, too many pigeons around heritage structures can be harmful. “When pigeon excreta lodges inside intricate designs, they are ruined forever. The only thing that remains is stone. It affects the plastering, damaging the structure, as in the case of the Ajanta and Ellora caves. After a rigorous study on the damages, bird proof nets have been put up at these places,” said Garge.
Pigeon excreta corrodes the surface, discolouring it. In some cases, small pits are known to appear on the surface
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)
