by Pigeon Patrol | Sep 17, 2019 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Control, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
By Karoline Kan, CNN • 6th April 2019
Every day during the racing season, 55-year-old Zhang Yajun wakes at 4 a.m. and carefully loads bamboo cages containing his 76 cherished racing pigeons into a van. Then he drives up to 200 kilometers (124 miles) from his Beijing apartment to release them. They are in training for the October and November racing season, during which time millions of dollars can be won in total prize money across races.
Zhang is just one of some 100,000 pigeon breeders living in Beijing, according to Sun Yan, the deputy general-secretary of the Beijing Changping District Racing Pigeons Association.
“Pigeon racing is a culture, but it’s also a sport,” Sun says.
On a crisp fall morning, Zhang opens the cages in a cornfield at Niutuo in Hebei province, 80 km (50 miles) south of Beijing. Forty minutes later, he uses his phone connection to a rooftop camera to watch the birds arriving home. He’s happy with their speed.
Zhang, who was a state-owned beverage factory manager before retiring in the early 2000s, says he spends about 100,000 yuan ($14,900) a year on his pigeons. That covers food, medicine, race entry fees and transport costs for training sessions — as well as equipment such as his rooftop camera gear.
Each spring, Zhang says, some 100 pigeons are born on his roof but by fall only about 20 are left. The rest have either succumbed to illness or died of injuries suffered from hitting telegraph poles or other obstacles. Or else they just got lost on the way home.
But pigeon racing also has a darker side.
Zhang says “bird-napping” — when pigeons are baited and netted during training sessions before being sold off — is a common problem.
And then there is the cheating.
In April last year, two men hid their birds in milk cartons and caught a bullet train in Henan before releasing them in Shanghai, 750 km (466 miles) away. But the birds’ unusually fast speed aroused suspicion, and the men were fined and given suspended three-year prison sentences for fraudulently obtaining prize money totaling about $147,000.
However; Beijing is becoming less and less friendly to bird fanciers.
In the spring of 2017, under a city beautification campaign targeting two-story buildings in the lanes known as hutongs, many rooftop pigeon lofts were subsequently demolished.
The government classified them as illegal buildings.
Breeder Zhang Jian says four large pigeon cages on his roof were demolished, although he still surreptitiously keeps four other cages housing about 100 pigeons. Most of his neighbors have known Zhang Jian since he was a boy and he says they understand his passion for the birds.
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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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 29, 2019 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Control, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Phil Mailloux fires a noise maker in the air at the Windsor Airport in Windsor on Friday, September 21, 2012. Mailoux is part of the team that keeps the airport free of potentially deadly pests. (TYLER BROWNBRIDGE / The Windsor Star)
To discover a vast varmint-free oasis in this city, go no further than the Windsor International Airport. It’s legal to hunt, trap, chase, haze and harass any bird or animal that shows its unwanted face within YQG’s 2,000 acres of fenced-off territory.
Trap cages containing pigeons as live lures are just one of the devices deployed to keep down the numbers of raptors, including American kestrels, red-tailed and Cooper’s hawks, snowy and great-horned owls and even peregrine falcons. Such birds are kept in cages for 24 hours and then transported elsewhere, including Holiday Beach.
Chicken wire edging and even glued-on golf tees keep birds off landing lights and other runway fixtures. Airfield directional signs are now encased in gravel piles to keep skunks from digging down and creating nesting burrows.
“We use the biology of the critter to let them know this is not a safe place to be,” said Roberts. Wildlife control trucks that can be quickly deployed come equipped with noise-making sirens and distress callers, and staff have firearms and an array of “pyrotech” devices at the ready, including bangers and screamers and screeching “wizards.”
Have a Pigeon Problem?
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 eight years in a row.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279, or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 25, 2019 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Control, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Pigeons are helping researchers gather data on climate change. (University of Birmingham/Cover Images)
Pigeons have become the latest recruits in helping researchers gather data on climate change.
Scientists at the University of Birmingham have developed a tiny set of sensors resembling a small backpack that can be strapped onto the back of homing pigeons. These little sensors help researchers collect data on urban microclimates, including fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and winds that can have major effects on living in major cities.
The pigeons themselves come from local volunteers that raise them and who agree to work with the scientists. Pigeons are helping researchers gather data on climate change.
Known for their abilities to return to their nest, homing pigeons have been used as far back as Ghengis Khan to carry messages across long distances. Using homing pigeons means that the researchers are sure to get their instruments back and can download the information before sending the birds on their way to collect more data.
The design of the backpack conceived to keep the safety and comfort of the birds in mind. Each weighs less than 3% of the pigeon’s body weight, which is the standard for bird tracking devices. Sensors in the backpacks help researchers collect data on urban microclimates (University of Birmingham/Cover Images)
‘If [the pigeon owners] are not happy with any aspect of putting the sensors on their back, then they don’t have to fly their birds,’ explains Rick Thomas, the research fellow who leads the study. The welfare of the birds is utterly paramount and, they’re not likely to cause the same issues as drones, explained Thomas.
The pigeons all come from local volunteer groups.![Pigeons have become the latest recruits in helping researchers gather data on climate change. Scientists at the University of Birmingham in the U.K. have developed a tiny set of sensors resembling a small backpack that can be strapped onto the back of pigeons. These little sensors help researchers collect data on urban microclimates ??? the fluctuations in temperature, humidity, and winds that can have major effects on living in major cities. So where do the pigeons come from? The group works with local volunteers who raise homing pigeons. Known for their abilities to return to their nest, homing pigeons have been used as far back as Ghengis Khan to carry messages across long distances. Using homing pigeons means that the researchers are sure to get their instruments back and can download the information before sending the birds on their way to collect more data. The design of the backpack conceived to keep the safety and comfort of the birds in mind. Each weighs less than 3 percent of the pigeon???s body weight, which is the standard for bird tracking devices. Thomas???s wife sewed each backpack, going through several versions until they found the perfect fit. ???If [the pigeon owners] are not happy with any aspect of putting the sensors on their back, then they don???t have to fly their birds,??? explains Rick Thomas, the research fellow who leads the study. ???The welfare of the birds is utterly paramount.??? Thomas also pointed out several good reasons to use birds rather than something like drone technology. For one, drones are not allowed to fly freely in any area, particularly after the trouble a drone caused at Gatwick airport in December. Secondly, different technology would not be as cost effective as what???s possible with the pigeons. Thus far, the group???s band of pigeons have logged over 620 miles with their backpacks over the course of 41 flights. The hopes are that the climate data can be used by scientists to help them predict how pollution](https://i2.wp.com/metro.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/SEI_58347563.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&zoom=1&resize=540%2C719&ssl=1)
Drones are not allowed to fly freely in any area, particularly after the trouble a drone caused at Gatwick airport in December. What’s more, drone technology would not be as cost effective as what’s possible with the pigeons.
Thus far, the group’s band of pigeons have logged over 620 miles with their backpacks over the course of 41 flights. Impressive!
Read more: https://metro.co.uk/2019/03/25/scientists-recruited-pigeons-help-stop-climate-change-9008203
Have a Pigeon Problem?
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 eight years in a row.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279, or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 24, 2019 | Bird Netting
For pigeons, it seems, leadership is largely a question of speed.
Researchers compared pigeons’ relative influence over flock direction to their solo flight characteristics. The studies showed that a pigeon’s degree of leadership could be predicted by its speed in earlier flights.
“This changes our understanding of how the flocks are structured and why flocks of this species have consistent leadership hierarchies,” said Dora Biro of the University of Oxford in London.
The latest GPS loggers allow the researchers to track not only the birds’ overall routes, but also the sub-second time delays with which they react to each other while flying as a flock.
“We can control the composition of the flocks and the starting points for their homeward journeys,” said Benjamin Pettit, first author of the study.
When the researchers tested the birds individually after a series of flock flights, they found that leaders had learned straighter homing routes than followers.
The new findings offer an elegantly simple explanation for the phenomenon of leadership in birds, with important implications for how spatial knowledge is generated and retained in navigating flocks.
“We also have a good understanding of their individual spatial cognition, in particular how their homing routes develop over repeated flights in the same area,” Pettit noted.
“Some birds are naturally faster and consistently get to the front, where they end up doing more of the navigation, which means on future flights they know the way better,” Biro added.
“You can compare this to a ‘passenger-driver’ like effect: drivers in a car have to pay attention while passengers are often unable to recall the route they were driven along, especially if they remained passive in the navigation process,” Biro explained.
A very simple, self-organising mechanism–such as that based on variation in speed–is sufficient for leadership to arise.
Have a Pigeon Problem?
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 eight years in a row.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279, or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 23, 2019 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Control, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Pigeon backpacks measure air pollution in London.
Air pollution caused by diesel vehicles in London is bad – so bad that it is blamed for 9,500 premature deaths a year and has prompted Britain’s Supreme Court to order the government to make a plan for cleaning up the skies.
Now what is commonly seen as another scourge of the city, the pigeon, is helping in the fight against smog. On Monday, 10 birds outfitted in miniature backpacks carrying pollution sensors and GPS trackers took to the air, and they started tweeting – via beak, perhaps, but definitely via Twitter – their devices’ readings of nitrogen dioxide and ozone. Londoners who tweet at the Pigeon Air Patrol’s Twitter handle, @PigeonAir, are getting responses from the birds about air pollution in their area, and a live map of the pigeons’ location can be viewed online.
The patrol is, by the admission of the technology and marketing companies that created it, a publicity stunt meant to raise awareness about the city’s harmful air. Birds, it should be noted, are also subject to all sorts of nefarious ailments caused by air pollution, including lung damage and low body weight.
“There’s something about taking what is seen as a flying rat and reversing that into something quite positive,” Pierre Duquesnoy, creative director at marketing agency DigitasLBI and the brains behind the pigeon pollution monitors, told the Guardian.
Plume Labs, the tech firm, gave assurance that a veterinarian was involved in the project to ensure the safety of the pigeons, whose names include Coco, Julius and Norbert.
The London pigeons are not the first birds to don backpacks for an environmental cause.
Vultures in Lima, Peru, have been adorned with GPS trackers and GoPro cameras to hunt down illegal garbage dumping sites.
Have a Pigeon Problem?
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 eight years in a row.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279, or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
