A PODGY pigeon will be flying high again thanks to a little girl’s rescue mission – and a much needed pedicure.
When seven-year-old Daisy first met Pat the Pigeon she thought the bedraggled bird had donned a pair of shoes for the occasion.
In fact, the overweight pigeon had fallen from her nest into frosty mud that clamped around her claws and formed hard balls.
The kind-hearted Darlington schoolgirl spotted the young bird struggling to fly and stepped in, sparking a rescue that ended in a pedicure for the podgy pigeon, courtesy of the RSPCA.
Animal lover Daisy found Pat on West Auckland Road in early December and begged her grandparents to call in the charity.
Thanks to her actions, the pigeon is now receiving treatment and is expected to be released into the wild upon her return to full health.
RSPCA inspector Kristina Raine collected Pat after a call from Daisy’s grandparents.
She said: “We don’t often see young pigeons like this at this time of year and in these colder conditions.
“It’s very unlikely she would have survived on her own. I took her to the vets and they gave her a much needed pedicure.
“She is now being looked after at the vets until she can lose her Christmas weight and learn to fly.”
She added: “We are so grateful for kind members of the public who see an animal in need and decide to act.
“We receive a call to our cruelty line every 27 seconds alerting us to animals in distress and without this we wouldn’t be able to continue to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome all the animals that we do.”
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 blaze broke out at a site off King Oswy Drive in the town shortly after 2pm. Crews from Stranton station rushed to the scene, where they put out the fire a short time after. A total 24 pigeons died in the fire, although officers were able to rescue several pigeons and chickens. Andy Hardy, watch manager at Stranton station, said: “The three sheds which were involved have been pretty much destroyed. “The two owners were there and of course they are unhappy about what has happened. “It looks like there was some kind of heating on inside one of the sheds and that may have been a factor, but we can’t say for definite at this stage. “There is certainly no sign of it being malicious ignition.”
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.
Partners Kevin Newell, 35, and Flo Blackbourn, 21, run Wiggy & Friends Animal Rescue and are embarking on a mission to help the Aberdeen’s injured doos.
They are asking people to help them map the city’s colonies so their Pigeon Patrol can check up on the birds’ welfare.
The idea was inspired by the New Arc animal rescue centre in Ellon.
And it is hoped the project will help alleviate some of the pressure on New Arc by dealing with pigeons in the city.
Kevin said: “They do an amazing job with the thousands of animals they get through the door.
“They don’t always have time to get out and pick up animals.
“We’ve taken quite a few injured pigeons in during the summer.
“There’s large populations of pigeons all over the city.
“We’re calling on people to let us know where they are.
“We’ve created a rapid response first aid kit for pigeons. If a pigeon is ill we’ll catch it and treat it.
“The idea is we’ll go out and try and help these pigeons.”
Kevin, who has his own business Humane Wildlife Solutions, and Flo, a zoology student, run the rescue centre from their home in Old Aberdeen.
He added: “We just work out of our home. We’ve got a little outhouse in the back that’s been converted into a wildlife hut.
“We play pigeon noises to them so they feel like they have contact with other pigeons and not just us.
“The biggest problem with pigeons is their feet when they get string or bits of hair wrapped around their toes.
“If that doesn’t get treated or cut off their toes can eventually drop off.
“A lot of the cases we’ve had the birds have either flown into cars or windows and they suffer from concussion.
“They can recover from concussion but it’s usually a slow process.”
The centre is named after Wiggy the pigeon who the couple treated when he had an injured wing.
The public is being asked to help map pigeon colonies
Kevin said: “Wiggy had damaged his wing.
“He eventually ended up losing half a wing.
“He stayed with us for two months and we managed to rehabilitate him and get his wing treated.
“He also had string around his foot which we treated.
“We got him to a point he was fit, healthy and strong and he went to the New Arc.”
“A lot of people absolutely hate pigeons but once you get to know them they’re all little people with their own characters and traits.
“We’re not a long-term facility.
“We’re like the ambulance service.”
So far around a dozen colonies have been mapped, including George Street, the railway station, Denburn underpass, Woolmanhill Hospital and St Nicholas Street.
Kevin added: “There’s a lot of pigeon colonies in the city.
“Each colony is usually quite small.
“On average from the ones we’ve found so far there’s probably eight to 15 pigeons in a colony.
“We’re doing patrols of all these different sites and we see if there’s any ill or injured pigeons or babies fallen out of the roost.”
Keith Marley of the New Arc said: “I think it’s an excellent idea.
“It’s a big task, but Kevin’s got the experience to know where the most likely spots are.
“They’re doing all the hard work in going out and getting them.
“They’ve only got limited facilities but they’re doing a great job.”
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.
During one my visits to my uncle’s house, I saw a number of crows on an electric wire at 6:30 am. There must have been at least 25 crows waiting for something. When they saw my uncle, all of them started creating a symphony with their cawing. He slowly went near the gate and dropped bird feed on the ground. There were flocks of pigeons, sparrows, and crows feeding on the food without any fear of my uncle. Mesmerised, I took a step forward. To my surprise, the pigeons and the sparrows continued on their feed but the crows just flew away with fear. I’m not an ornithologist or even a birdwatcher, but crows have always intrigued me. When I asked my uncle why the crows flew away, he told me:
“Crows don’t trust humans! It took a good three months effort and a clear planned strategy to gain their trust”
You must be wondering what the connection between a crow and a technology-spooked customer is!
Many customers, like crows, are still afraid of new technologies and computer-based aids, such as shopping website, a driverless car, cloud storage, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, etc., which use AI and ML extensively to benefit the end customer.
This is because of three primary reasons:
Security– This is mainly because of reports of fraud, identity theft, data loss and other security breaches regularly making the news. However, the fact is that online shopping is safer than ever before, and new and emerging security technologies, methods and standards are being implemented every day to safeguard the customer.
Privacy concerns: This is mainly because of extensive usage of collecting user data, sometimes not required to enhance customer experience.
Safety: New technologies are not time-tested so when integrated to products, safety is one thing which drives users away from the product/service.
Fear of the unknown: What I don’t know, I don’t trust syndrome. No benefit of doubt to new technologies is mainly due to lack of knowledge or information about the new technology.
For the customer to move in their decision-making journey to buy your product or service, you need to identify and remedy the friction points in the purchase path. You need to engage and provide appropriate inputs at the make or break relationship building points. This moment of truth is the promise that a customer can relate to your brand; it is the assurance that you will “show up” or “come over” to address their needs or manage their issues/complaints and not risk disappointment with the outcome.
Let’s look at the characteristics of a crow, a bird from the family of Songbirds, to which other birds such as Jays, Magpies, Parrots, and Ravens belong.
Crows are so intelligent that they have unique capacities that only humans share among all animals on earth. They have similar advanced vocal learning abilities too. Crows have reasoning derived from causes, flexibility, thinking ahead and imagination. Crows are able to use these to plan ahead in great detail.
Crows use advanced abstract concepts and extreme personal awareness. They use analogies which help them solve higher-order, relational matching tasks spontaneously.
Crows remember people and cars for years and have metacognition and counting.
Crows have object permanence; which is the ability to remember the existence of an object when it cannot be observed by sight, sound, touch, smell, or any other way.
Crows have been found to understand mental time travel and have very complex inner mental life. The characteristics used are content, structure, and flexibility. They have complex memories of experiences including a description of what happened and the time and place.i. Experiments show that crows remember where and when they hide different types of food. They are aware that some of the food is still edible and some has been hidden for too long, and they go only for the edible food. This means they remember how long ago they buried it and how long the food is good. They are able to tell the difference between similar occurrences at other times and locations.
ii. Crows are able to plan for breakfast the next day despite many different circumstances. They prepare food for tomorrow when they know they will not be given breakfast without any past training. These are spontaneous and instant mental events.
Another advanced behaviour of crows involves gaze and gesture. Crows have extremely accurate vision and gesture through positions and gaze. They respond to human gaze and gestures if they aren’t threatening. These cues from human gaze to find food are much faster if the bird knows the human.
Crows are quite sophisticated in protecting their hidden supplies but they do not hide from their close family and mates.
These characteristics and behaviour are very similar to an intelligent customer on the internet who is hesitant to adopt newer technologies. What works to gain the trust of the crow might be applicable to the technology-spooked customer. So, let’s look at these techniques:
The best way to get on a crow’s good side is through the stomach!Find some food that the crow seems to like.
Food for the customer is useful data to make him/her feel comfortable about the technology.
Referrals, recommendations, technology know-hows including some potential threats and benefits should be fed to the new target customer. Providing tips on security to consumers who visit your site can help them understand how much of their online security is in their own hands. It can also create a sense of goodwill. Customers will be happy to learn these tips, and may be inclined to spend more time with you.
Put out the peanuts consistently and don’t look directly at the bird when you do so initially
When you are providing data to the customer, though you are collecting lot of personal information and his learning behaviour, ensure you don’t make it obvious to him as his biggest concern is solution compromising his privacy.
Crows might take their own sweet time to come and take the food you have served. But be patient.
When you provide added services to the customer, he might not acknowledge in the beginning. Have patience and give him enough time to feel comfortable to adopt the new technology or solution.
Crows watch other birds (such as sparrows, mynahs, etc.) feed on the food before they start to eat
The zero moment of trust (ZMOT) of the new customer gets largely influenced by ultimate moment of truth (UMOT) of other customers shared experience. Ensure you have demonstrated right references and recommendations.
Stock the food and ensure you don’t run out to feed the crows
Once you start the engagement with the customer, ensure you have enough data points to keep him engaged. Frequent push of information is key to sustain the customer.
Establish a regular feeding schedule and over time crows will get more comfortable with you and start to expect food from you, and from there, you can build a bond of trust
When he starts adopting new technology and solution, start engagement very slowly, build the trust and then have a different customer experience solution to keep him engaged on the new platform/technology. Also give consumers more confidence to work with a provider that researches the security of websites and issues certifications of authenticity like VeriSign
Once the trust is formed, you can look at the crows in their eyes and build a bond but don’t try to get too close.
Once the bond is built with the customer, use data analytics and machine learning to give him more data to customise your service to his personal needs and usage behaviour. Make it more private for him. This will make him addictive. Always be dependable, steadfast, and observant. Ensure you use smarter predictive technology but be sensitive when it becomes pervasive. Avoid intrusion into your customer life in areas, which are not related to your product or service.
The most common concern among potential online shoppers is data loss, which the customer refers to the exposure of credit card numbers, names, addresses, and other data that online merchants routinely collect from shoppers. New technologies, such as end-to-end encryption, do help ensure the safety of consumer information as it travels over the network, and businesses are increasingly investing in such technologies. If customers do not know about these technologies, no investment in the world will encourage e-commerce-shy customers to shun their inhibitions. So, it is very important to let consumers know what kind of security measures are being taken to protect their personal data.
Neighbour crows may get wind of what you are doing and challenge the family that normally occupies your yard
Once the customer gets addicted, there are his other trusted peer group who might influence him to get away from the newfound love of your solution/product. Ensure you engage with his peer group earlier in the cycle to build a better trust circle around your target customer.
Too much food to the crows can get out of control and your house might become a communal site
Ensure you keep your service/product exclusive and controlled. Once it becomes a commodity, both early adopters and late adopters might be repelled with everyone using the service. Ensure value and brand doesn’t get diluted.
So next time before you introduce a new product or a service in an area which is new to the customer, sharpen your customer engagement skills by studying the behaviour of a crow and first gain its trust!
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.
When pigeons see Avro the peregrine falcon, they flee.
It’s a smart move: not only are peregrine falcons the fastest animal on earth, capable of reaching speeds of 390 km per hour in a dive, but pigeons are a staple food source for peregrines in downtown Vancouver.
That’s the kind of predator-prey relationship TransLink hopes to tap into to keep SkyTrain stations free of pigeons, which caused 142 train delays in 2017.
As part of a new six-week Translink pilot project Avro has been riding the SkyTrain everyday with his handler, Kim Kamstra, scaring pigeons away from the tracks and stations by simply looking at them.
On any given morning in December, Kamstra says there would be more than 70 pigeons at 22nd Station in New Westminster. Three weeks into the pilot project, there are none.
“Instinctually it’s a predator-prey relationship,” he said.
“But it’s humane because [Avro] is tethered to my fist. He’s not flying off to kill any animals. The smart pigeons exit really quickly.”
It’s the first method that has worked, according to Vivienne King, president of SkyTrain.
“We’ve tried nets, we’ve tried spikes, we’ve even tried mimicking the sounds of the falcons … and the pigeons keep coming back.”
But so far, the fear of a real falcon has kept them away, said Kamstra.
The pair start their day at 22nd station, then ride the train to VCC-Clark, Burrard, Renfrew, Rupert, and Holdom. At each stop, Kamstra walks around the station with Avro perched on his fist.
“We start travelling to each station randomly because that’s very upsetting to the pigeons, knowing this predator shows up randomly,” he said.
But the pigeons will eventually realize Avro is not actively hunting any of them, said Kamstra.
“Surprise,” he said. “I’ll change birds.”
Kamstra co-owns Raptors Ridge Birds of Prey Inc. and has 20 working birds in his roost. He brought another falcon to various SkyTrain stations on Tuesday to keep the pigeons “on their toes,” he explained.
He says he has more than enough raptors and handlers to patrol the entire SkyTrain network, but it will be up to TransLink whether to expand or even continuing funding the program.
Three visits to each station every day for six weeks is costing Translink $18,000, according to King.
When the project ends on January 28, staff will then analyze the resulting data and bring it to the board, who will decide whether the project is worth continuing.
But no matter what the decision is, there is one thing both animal welfare advocates and SkyTrain are asking people to do – stop feeding the pigeons.
“The problem is we deal with all of this, the pigeons move on, and then people feed the birds,” said King.
A sign at Burrard Station warns people that feeding birds is against the law. Not only does it attract pigeons back to the site, but it is also bad for pigeons’ health, and the health of bigger animals that eat pigeons, said Kamstra.
“Please, please, don’t feed the birds,” said King.
“We’re trying to make the system a little safer for everyone.”
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.
