by johnnymarin | Dec 13, 2017 | Bird Deterrent Products
This friendly pigeon likes to hug.
We all see a lot of pigeons around us every day; sometimes we do not notice them, sometimes we feed them, but maybe they need more than that.
On this unusual video footage, a man offers to embrace a pigeon. The dove does not think for a long time and accepts the offer. He enjoys cuddling with the man’s hand and he seems to like it very much. It turns out pigeons love to hug! Let’s see how it happened.
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 | Dec 12, 2017 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
A downtown Mt. Pleasant building owner has until the end of the month to take action against pigeons roosting in his storefront awning or face a misdemeanor citation from the city.
The hard deadline was handed to Norm Curtiss – owner of the building that houses Downtown Discount – as social media buzzed through September with community members wondering why significant amounts of pigeon excrement were allowed to build up on the sidewalks under the store’s awning.
Curtiss declined to comment on the issue.
City officials say that pigeon problem areas have been discussed for years and, while some business owners have taken steps to address roosting and nesting areas, others haven’t been successful with attempts or haven’t had the means to do so.
Further, a desire to gain compliance rather than using enforcement, coupled with a long summer filled with flood damage assessment and also a lack of specific pigeon dropping action plans spelled out in city code, prolonged official action, the city contends.
A roosting and nesting population of pigeons is not a new issue in downtown Mt. Pleasant.
Two years ago the city hired Bob Andrews, a pest control expert at Central Michigan University, to help with preventing the same problem.
At the time, Andrews and his team eliminated 100 pigeons from the downtown area and evaluated businesses for issues that would contribute to roosting and nesting pigeons if not addressed, according to documents obtained by the Morning Sun through the Freedom of Information Act.
Business owners were asked in general to remove trash from alleyways, to close up broken windows and to clean and close up awnings.
Andrews also suggested that bird slides and spikes could be used on ornate trim and facades to prevent birds from roosting.
“If downtown had proper deterrence and exclusion a small population could be managed under bridges or overpasses… with follow-through from business owners and property managers you will make a significant difference,” Andrews wrote.
At the time, many business owners hee ded the advice, said Downtown Development Director Michelle Sponseller, who was cautiously optimistic in September of 2015 after the pigeon culling.
“Although this is terrific news there are lingering related issues that we and various property owners need to address so that we don’t end up back where we were with pigeons in a year or two,” she wrote to several city leaders.
Indeed, by the end of 2016, those same city leaders were again talking about a booming pigeon population roosting and nesting in those places where Andrews’ advice was unheeded.
That included the awning of Downtown Discount, where chicken wire intended to keep pigeons out only appears to make the area even more like a coop for the birds.
With just over a year of experience heading Mt. Pleasant’s code enforcement, Assistant Fire Chief Mike Dunham started 2017 seriously looking into how to best address an again-growing problem of pigeon droppings on Mt. Pleasant sidewalks; he hoped for compliance from building owners.
“Our goal is to be proactive,” he said. “We get more ’buy-in’ and we can educate on regulations if they voluntarily comply. I hope they do it because they want to beautify the city. For the community.”
In a round-robin email started in June between Dunham, Sponseller, city manager Nancy Ridley, Community Services and Economic Development Director William Mrdeza, Fire Chief Rick Beltinck, and Director of Public Safety Paul Lauria possible legal enforcement options were discussed based on an opinion shared among the group from the city’s attorney.
Citing attorney-client privilege, the city withheld the opinion from the FOIA request; the emails indicate the attorney offered two possible options and also questioned whether a property owner can actually be the cause of pigeon droppings on sidewalks.
Ultimately on June 21 after speaking with Curtiss yet again, Dunham asked the group for more time to allow voluntary compliance.
“The city attorney is not overly confident we would be successful in prosecuting property owners for allowing pigeons to roost in their awnings,” Dunham wrote. “I spoke with (Curtiss) yesterday for quite some time… it’s my feeling he doesn’t want them either.”
A week later, historic flooding in Isabella County pulled Dunham from general code enforcement in the city to damage assessment for the entire county, changing his priorities through the summer.
In that time, no progress was made on the Downtown Discount awning as questions started to percolate through the community about the fecal matter covered sidewalks in the center of downtown.
As the problem worsened and social media pigeon excrement buzz peaked, Dunham got what he thought was positive news – not only did Curtiss say he would remove the awning over the Labor Day weekend he did, at least in part; the canvas covering was gone.
“I was hopeful that this completed compliance and I headed downtown thinking I would be celebrating,” Dunham said. “Then I saw that underneath that awning was a more permanent structure; a wooding awning with a steel covering.”
A few more weeks of stalled progress on the removal, and Dunham sent Curtiss notice that under Mt. Pleasant’s nuisance code Curtiss has until Oct. 29 to follow specific action – close the awning to bird access, remove the awning completely or remove and replace with a bird-proof structure.
What will happen in court if a citation is issued is unclear, one reason the city hesitated to enforce a code in the first place.
“We like to be sure enforcement is going to be upheld,” Ridley said. “In this case we are looking to enforce a nuisance.”
In Mt. Pleasant, nuisance code in this situation isn’t as cut and dry as mowing a lawn or removing trash from a yard, Dunham said.
“Ordinances that spell out the process make it clear,” Dunham said. “But even when we are very clear on that, we still try to work with owners first..at least in those cases we have a deadline.”
Right now, city commissioners have plans to discuss a more specific blight ordinance in the city at an as-yet unscheduled work session, though pigeon excrement specifically hasn’t been discussed, Ridley said.
“My hope is that we can draft an ordinance,” Dunham said. “That we can get specific.”
Among the group of city leaders, many were quick to blame themselves for the long passing of time before taking decisive action regarding flith-covered sidewalks and for the public backlash that raged on Facebook for a few weeks.
“At the end of the day, the buck stops with me,” Ridley said. “Ultimately it’s on my shoulders.”
In the meantime things are looking brighter: at the beginning of October the sidewalks were power washed, a process requested more than a year ago by Sponseller.
The $7,300 per year expense is now a recurring contract, ensuring sidewalks are deep cleaned often enough for more basic upkeep during the rest of the year.
“That’s part of the solution ultimately,” Dunham said. “Clean the sidewalks and public places, remove roosting and nesting areas, and clear rules.”
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 | Dec 11, 2017 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
When horse trainer Gary Portelli met Yu Long Investments’ Yuesheng Zhang earlier this week, the Chinese billionaire had one thing on his mind: pigeons.
Four days before today’s inaugural, $10 million Everest race — Mr Zhang had arrived in Sydney’s west to inspect the horse that would leap forth from his $600,000 slot in the lucrative event. “He came to the stables on Tuesday to see the horse, but he was more interested in seeing my racing pigeons,” Portelli said.
The man who trains champion racehorse She Will Reign at his farm in Warwick Farm has, since he was young, kept thousands of racing birds. They’ve been a hobby and a pastime on countless cold winter Saturdays. It’s a passion, he learned, that he shares with Mr Zhang.
“He can’t speak a word of English … It was like we were able to communicate through the birds,” he told 2GB’s Ray Hadley. “He’s in there catching birds, laughing, carrying on. I said, ‘we came away with a little bit of pigeon English together’.”
The Chinese investor recently won a pigeon race worth $800,000 in his home country.
“Racing pigeons in China have gone berserk,” Portelli said. “I find it a fascinating sport.”
There are birds bred to fly sprints, as well as middle and long distances, reaching speeds of between one and two kilometres per minute. An increasingly obscure sport that attracts several thousand people Australia-wide, pigeons — like horse racing — this week bridged the gulf between a foreign billionaire and a Sydney trainer.
Meanwhile, Portelli’s She Will Reign is a fairytale underdog. Sold as a yearling for $20,000 — a steal, in racing circles — the daughter of Manhattan Rain and Courghette was the Cinderella filly that fit the 2017 Golden Slipper.
Owned by a syndicate of 19, more than 150 friends and family turn up to support her on race day. A truckie, a carpenter and an ice-cream maker are some of those who own a tiny percentage of the horse, who has a big chance of winning the trophy today, to be presented by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.
“These (horses) are the best sprinters collectively put together for a long time,” Portelli said. “You could probably run the race 12 different times and get 12 different winners from different barrier draws. The last 100m, they’ll all be going good till then. That’s where it’ll change.”
Rossi Kewley is one of She Will Reign’s owners. “It’s crazy. This race is set up for the millionaires and billionaires, but if you’ve got the right horse it doesn’t matter,” he said. The 32-year-old ice-cream maker bought a share in February last year.
Trent Hill’s daughter, Sienna, has grown up with horses as a regular topic of family conversation.
“We’ve got a kid who doesn’t want to hear bedtime stories,” the 45-year-old truckie said. “She wants to see re-runs of She Will Reign.”
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 | Dec 10, 2017 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Residents of an historic building have been living in a sewage and pigeon nightmare.
And it’s all because the owner of a long-closed shop has failed to keep it maintained.
The back of the shop is now being used as a pigeon loft with local birds able to fly right in.
Now fed-up neighbours Kate McGuiness and Mary McIntosh have made a public plea for action.
They are campaigning for landlord Tommy McAvenna, 72, to stump-up for repairs to his disused shop in the old Co-op building in Portland Street on Troon.
And retired Kate, addressing Troon Community Council last week, said: “An estate agent has told us the flats are unsaleable because of the mess below us.
“We should not have to live like this.
“We have pigeons flying about and nasty smells in the close.
“This is a C-listed building and when I wished to put a vented slate on the back of the roof I was told not to damage the historical nature of the place.
“Yet the front façade has been allowed to go to rack and ruin.”
Mr McAvenna, who has other property in the town, bought the shop in 1998.
It was the former premises of disgraced lawyer Peter Anderson, jailed for defrauding clients.
A letter sent to the landlord was returned to the council unopened and it lay there for six weeks, says McGuiness.
She added: “A 28 day notice has now been issued but still there has been no action.
“In mid June I stood on my doorstep to watch the Glasgow taxis coming into town.
“I was so embarrassed at the comments of the people standing there about the state of the place that I went back into my house.
“We are asking for community support in moving matters along. This is downright insanitary. As it is a private building, environmental health can only ask for access and cannot insist.”
The residents have pleaded their case to South Ayrshire Council.
Mary McIntosh said: “I am concerned about the structure of my property and am concerned about the smells.
“My kitchen has been flooded with raw sewage after it came up through the drains.”
Mr McAvenna was unavailable for comment on multiple days.
South Ayrshire Councillor Craig Mackay confirmed a formal repairs notice has now been sent.
He said: “That 28-day period is about to expire and hopefully we can more forward.”
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 | Dec 9, 2017 | Pigeons in the News
The gloves are off. And the cat is wondering if it will be once more out of the bag. Quite possibly, it might be set among the pigeons. Which, these days appear to be a role played by our state institutions, which have become used to ruffling a few feathers here and there.
This week has seen Hafiz Saeed return to the Pakistani spotlight. For two very important reasons.
Firstly, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) has refused to register the Milli Muslim League (MML) as a political party, thereby scuppering its electoral hopes for next year. This is a welcome move. And it is heartening to see that the ECP acted upon the request of the Interior Ministry, pending an independent investigation. Though not before the ‘political’ party contested the NA 120 by-election in Nawaz Sharif’s old hood.
Though, as to be expected, the MML isn’t taking any of this lying down. Prior to this latest development, it had already set up offices in Peshawar with an eye on by-polls there. Yet it’s after the ECP ruling that things have taken an interesting, if not alarming, turn. The MML says it’s suing the ECP for defamation — to the cool tune of Rs 100 million — for daring to refer to it as a proscribed outfit.
Secondly, the Lahore High Court is this week expected to move to have Hafiz Saeed, who is wanted by India for his role in the Mumbai terrorist attacks, released from house arrest unless and until the political set-up can bring concrete evidence against him of his misdemeanours. Today, all of this is a lose-lose situation for Pakistan and its international standing. Not only will this add fuel to the Trump fire about support for certain undesirables — it will undermine considerably this country’s recent calls to put the Kashmir issue back under the UN auspices, after an overdue absence.
Yet for ordinary Pakistanis, the domestic plot thickens. At the time of the MML’s infamous participation in NA 120, a retired Army officer had ‘come clean’ about what he termed as the military establishment’s strategy to mainstream — not disarm — its proxies. Last week, the head of the military’s public relations wing confirmed that he was aware of what he described as the government’s mainstreaming plan. While the Interior Ministry disclosed that it had approached the ECP upon the recommendation of the security establishment. Regardless of who is passing the buck to whom — neither the civvies nor the khakis has denied the existence of this plan.
The matter of the MML versus the ECP could have been avoided. Meaning that the government committed a gross misstep when it placed Hafeez Saeed under house arrest back in January of this year. At the time, no concrete grounds were given for his detention. Though many members of Pakistan’s religious right pointed to the timing of this, which coincided with Donald Trump taking his place in the White House hot seat and the ruling party’s intermittent flirtations with neighbouring India.
Be that as it may, the way forward for any functioning democracy is to seek relief from the courts. Thus Hafiz Saeed should have faced due process before the Anti-Terrorism Court; a process that might or might not have included access by a visiting Indian investigating team. That this was never on the cards raises questions as to whom is protecting whom; and which side would be more damaged by the fallout of such a move.
If we were the cat, we wouldn’t settle for pigeons. We would go to London to see the Queen.
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)
