by johnnymarin | Jul 6, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
WALNUT CREEK, Calif. — With his auburn feathers, white tail and three-foot wingspan, Remmy, a Harris’s hawk, makes for an impressive — and incongruous — sight at an upscale outdoor shopping mall anchored by Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom.
But he’s supposed to be there. He has a job to do.
Remmy was hired two years ago by Broadway Plaza after an extensive renovation that added 20 new stores, restaurants, revamped walkways and a two-story parking garage. Unfortunately, the transformed mall attracted not only new customers but also dozens of pigeons, which nested in garage rafters, scavenged for food and splattered the walkways with corrosive and bacteria-infused droppings.
“We had a major pigeon problem and were unsure of the best way to get it under control,” says Shelly Dress, senior manager of property management at the mall.
That’s where Remmy came in. After rejecting other options, such as fabric netting that would prevent pigeon nesting in certain spots, Dress turned to the Hawk Pros, a company based in Southern California that uses falconry to eradicate pest birds. At any given time, the firm has five to 10 birds of prey on assignment at sites such as the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the U.S. Bank Tower, also in L.A.
Remmy and his colleagues are part of a growing trend of using raptors to intimidate nuisance birds such as pigeons and seagulls, a practice that avoids the use of chemicals and — unlike in the ancient hunting sport of falconry — scares targets but lets them live. Some U.S. farmers deploy them to protect crops. Harris’s hawks patrol the grass courts at Wimbledon and Trafalgar Square in London. Falcons haze pigeons and crows at resorts in Dubai.
Since Remmy and his owner and handler, Bridget Maguire-Colton, have been coming to Broadway Plaza on a regular basis, the pigeon population has dropped from a few dozen to just a few, most of them in pockets of the garage. Dress initially hired the Hawk Pros for 12 days a month, Dress said, but Remmy was so effective that he now needs to stop by the mall only eight days a month, for three hours at a time, to ensure that the pigeons stay away.
With super-keen eyesight and the ability to rotate his head for 200-degree vision, Remmy surveys the shopping center for signs of pigeons. And when the pigeons at Broadway Plaza see Remmy, they take notice.
On a recent day, Maguire-Colton released the 2-year-old hawk from her gloved hand. He flew to the top of a cosmetics store, Lush, and scanned the outdoor eating area. Not seeing any pigeons, he swooped back down to his trainer’s hand.
The parking garage, however, was a different story. Up in the rafters was a pigeon that apparently hadn’t received the memo announcing Remmy’s hire as the mall’s official bird bouncer. Taking flight, Remmy darted toward the blacklisted bird. After several ensuing squawks, the smaller bird retreated, flying out of the open-air garage to parts unknown. Seemingly satisfied with a job well done, Remmy returned to Maguire-Colton and received a small piece of meat for his efforts.
“A scared pigeon is an educated pigeon,” Maguire-Colton says. “That pigeon will return to its flock and let the other birds know there’s a hawk here who means business. Pigeons are smart birds — they will remember where the hawk is and will seek out another venue for shelter, water and food.”
Maguire-Colton, a lifelong bird lover who is a licensed falconer, purchased Remmy from a California breeder when he was 5 months old. When she began training him at around 7 months old, she taught him to focus on pigeons. When he’s not working, he hangs out in a large enclosure at her home with her other Harris’s hawk, TK, or goes hunting with her for rabbits and pheasants.
“Harris’s hawks have a natural instinct to hunt,” said Maguire-Colton, who keeps Remmy on a long leash, letting him off only when he searches for prey. To call him back, she uses whistles and commands and rewards him for following directions.
Although Remmy appears fearless, he does shiver when a pet dog passes by. Maguire-Colton said she thinks he sees dogs as coyotes, one of the hawk’s predators in the wild. (He has an especially strong dislike for dogs in sweaters.)
Remmy’s an all-weather bird, in California at least. But when temperatures hit triple digits, Maguire-Colton brings a water bottle for him and keeps Remmy in shaded areas to prevent overheating. Sometimes, she said, she dips her finger into the mall fountains, and if it doesn’t taste too strongly of chlorine, she lets the hawk take a quick dip.
Since Remmy began patrolling the mall two years ago, most of its pigeons have departed, but the garage is a popular nesting spot for the stragglers that remain. (Nik Childers)
Unsurprisingly, Remmy has established a fan following at Broadway Plaza. On this day, a man with two small children stopped to inquire about the bird’s species and job description. Later, two tourists from Japan approached to ask whether they could pose for a photo with Remmy.
“Hiring Remmy was the best money we’ve spent,” Dress said. “He not only keeps the mall free of pigeons, he’s also become something of a local celebrity.”
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 johnnymarin | Jul 5, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
SIR – Gemma Demaline (‘Please leave the poor pigeons out of this’, Craven Herald letters, June 14) is clearly right that the rubbish dumped near the railway bridge has indeed its origin in a human not avian source.
However she is in error on other matters.
My wife’s widescreen wipers are imperfectly good order but, had she been in a stream of traffic when her vision was suddenly obscured by pigeon droppings, she would have had much less than
one second in which to turn on the wipers, press the spray button and take evasive action – hardly feasible.
Fortunately there was, on this occasion, no other vehicle close by either ahead or behind.
Secondly, the natural habitat for the pigeons has not been destroyed – not one of the many trees by the side of the road has been removed so there is plenty of alternate roosting sites.
Of course, birds cannot avoid defecation, but Network Rail, who own the bridge, could make it secure from roosting birds without causing any harm to them.
On occasions, I have noticed a number of birds that appear to have been poisoned, so there must be those who are attempting to take the matter into their own hands – an action which I deplore.
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 johnnymarin | Jul 4, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Forest officials of Unai range in Tapi district detained eight tribal youths and stripped them for allegedly hunting birds like sparrows, mynahs and pigeons on Tuesday. The eight youths, who had to spend the whole night in detention in their underpants, were released on Wednesday after each of them paid a penalty of Rs 1,000.
Range Forest Officer Raghuveersingh Kosada justified the officials’ action on the tribals youths, saying, “the purpose of stripping them was to help them understand the importance of birds as it is also living beings and they should not be killed”.
Kosada said the sarpanch of Pati village, from where the eight youths hail, have been warned against any more such activities. “We have strictly told the village sarpanch and parents of those arrested that such activities of killing birds will not be entertained,” the Forest Officer said.
Defending the youths’ action , village sarpanch Dilkhush Gamit said: “There is a general tradition that the village youths go into the forest and kill birds and cook a meal of it. Our village youngsters had not killed peacock or any other animal. They were just sparrows, mynahs and pigeons. This kind of punishment of stripping them is new to us. We all illiterate and afraid of them (officials), so we cannot do anything against them.”
One of the arrested youth’s father called the forest officials action “harsh”. “My son helps me in the agricultural field, and during night he left home to meet his friends. It is quite routine that youths go to forest and hunt birds. It’s the tradition of our tribal community. To make our children naked and detain them for whole night in the forest office is a harsh punishment. Till now, no forest officer resorted to such an action,” the father said.
According to forest officials, they received a complaint about youths of Pati village in Dolvan taluka hunting birds and cooking their meat inside the forest. Acting on it, the forest officials carried out night patrolling on Tuesday when they detained eight youths. On frisking, officials claimed, they recovered a catapult and carcasses of pigeons, mynahs and sparrows from their bags. They were brought to Unai Range forest office and booked under Wildlife Protection Act before they were stripped to their underwear.
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 johnnymarin | Jul 3, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A pigeon problem in southwest Albuquerque has neighbors frustrated and worried.
Andrea Sutphin says the problem is the result of a vacant house.
“All I can hear when I’m sleeping is ‘boogedy-boo, boogedy-boo,’ which is really annoying,” said Sutphin.
But the noise isn’t the only problem.
“When it’s windy, all the fecal material and the debris fly out into my yard,” said Sutphin.
She says pigeons are nesting under the solar panels and she’s concerned about her health. Sutphin has been a registered nurse for more than 30 years. She says she knows pigeons can carry dangerous diseases. She says she’s already noticed the health impacts on her and her daughter.
“I do feel like both of us get up in the morning, we’re hoarse. She’s always telling me I’m trying to cough that thing that lives in my throat,” said Sutphin.
KOB contacted the Albuquerque Environmental Health Department. They said a crew will be out to investigate the problem. If they determine the pigeons are a nuisance, the owner of the vacant home will be responsible for fixing the issue.
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 johnnymarin | Jul 2, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
A man in Caerphilly may be forced to have his homing pigeons culled in a row with Caerphilly Council over housing.
Matthew Graves jointly owned the pigeons with his late father which are housed in his council house in Castle View, Pwllypant.
Following the death of his father, Matthew and his wife applied to move from their council home in Churchill Park into his father’s but housing officials refused to allow the transfer. They stated that there were other applicants with a greater need.
Local Plaid Cymru councillor Colin Mann claims Welsh Homing Pigeon Union advised him that the pigeons couldn’t be moved which would force Matthew to have them culled.
These pigeons are homing pigeons and I have been advised clearly by the Welsh Homing Pigeon Union that they cannot be moved. This leaves the only alternative is for the council to have the pigeons culled which clearly would be appalling.
Members of the Graves family have lived at Castle View since it was built 50 or 60 years ago. They are the only tenants. What Matthew Graves and his wife are requesting is merely a transfer of tenancy from their Churchill Park home, which is more modern.
The council will not lose a property by allowing a transfer and it seems to me that the family are caught up in red tape. Surely, the council housing department should use some common sense and, therefore, avoid these homing pigeons having to be put down. The stance they are taking seems ridiculous to me.
Caerphilly Council say the pigeons will not be destroyed by them and they are happy to work with the family to reach a solution about their future. They also said there is no legal entitlement for Matthew and his wife to move into his father’s property.
Caerphilly operates a Common Housing Register for both new and housing transfer applicants to register their interest in being housed. The selection of a property is determined by our policy, with allocations being determined by location and type of housing required and also the priority need of the applicant. Applicants are placed into one of three bands depending on an assessment of their circumstances. Those assessed with the greatest need are afforded the highest priority.
In this specific case there is no legal entitlement of the family to the property and they already have a tenancy for a property that suits their needs. Due to the prioritisation of applicant need and the fact that the property in question is located within an area of high demand, it is unlikely that the family will be shortlisted for the property.
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)
