by johnnymarin | Oct 19, 2017 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Budgie lovers are in a flap over a city pet bylaw they say is turning dozens of respectable, longstanding bird keepers into scofflaws.
Several members of the decades-old Hamilton and District Budgerigar Society Inc. showed up at a city planning meeting Tuesday to appeal for an exemption from the city’s animal control bylaw – which infamously limits all residents to no more than four pets.
The limit introduced in 2012 is already unpopular with owners of cats, dogs and other more traditional pets.
But it is really ruffling feathers now for avian aficionados who routinely keep 40 to 120 birds – typically on the higher end if they participate in birds shows, said society vice-president Scott Aird.
“For that, you need at least 100 birds,” said Aird, whose relatively modest “chatter” of 60 budgies earned the wrath of bylaw a few months ago and resulted in both a $125 fine and an upcoming December court date.
For now, a bird-loving acquaintance is boarding Aird’s illegal brood. But other urban club members are also becoming worried about losing their birds to a neighbourhood dispute.
Budgie owners represent hundreds, and probably thousands, of illegal feathered friends – and Aird suggested that doesn’t include all of the equally off-limits small “cage birds” that are likely flying under the radar.
Aird said he was told his bylaw visit was prompted by a noise complaint. But despite the name, he argued a “chatter” of indoor budgies is less noisy than say, four legal macaw parrots or four excitable dogs in the backyard.
“Our birds are contained, they’re largely indoors in homes, garages or specially constructed out-buildings,” he said.
Aird said the budgie group disagreed with the bylaw limit when it was approved, but wasn’t aware of the impending change in time to formally oppose it.
The rule didn’t ruffle any feathers, however, until bylaw officers started showing up on doorsteps.
“We’ve been here (as a society) for 70 years,” said Aird. “We’re law-abiding. But it is impossible for us to meet the letter of this law.”
The group asked Tuesday for a bylaw exemption for all “small cage birds,” noting the city has already granted an exception to owners of racing pigeons.
Councillors received the presentation, but didn’t ask for a staff report or suggestion a motion.
That leaves budgie lovers pondering an appeal to help for national avian organizations, noting pigeon owners benefited from lobbying by the Canadian Racing Pigeon Union.
(That group memorably argued to councillors that owners raised “athletes,” not pets.)
Aird noted councillors even seemed friendlier towards community requests for backyard chickens, even if that pitch has been narrowly turned down in the past.
“If you can do it for pigeons, I feel like it’s not unreasonable to consider an exception for us,” he said.
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 | Oct 18, 2017 | Bird Netting
THE Gauteng Pigeon Union (GPU) liberated the pigeons in a combined liberation from Cradock in the Eastern Cape on Saturday.
The weather was partly cloudy with no wind at 6.30am when the pigeons were liberated.
This race was also a car nomination race where members of the various unions and federations could nominate pigeons at R150 each with the chance of either winning a car/bakkie or receiving a cash payout, depending on how many fanciers participated.
The results of the car race will only be known in a couple of weeks, once all the results have been verified.
Riverpark Pigeon Club had 16 members flying 180 pigeons in this race. Cradock is an average distance of 714km for club members. The winds on the way home for the pigeons were mild north-westerly in places and the temperatures in the Free State were in the mid to late 20s, making for a better race than the previous week.
Winning by a margin of five minutes and five seconds, and his first win of the season, was Connie Coertse. Connie also earned bragging rights as he only basketed the one pigeon for this race.
The time margin difference for second and third places was the same (0:05:05) and the only way the computer system could calculate these two positions was on the velocity of the pigeons.
In second place, by only 18mm, was Beano Daschner, followed by Tallies Lofts (Johan Taljaard). This is the second time this season that the club has had such a close margin between two positions on the result sheet.
Coertse’s Blue Bar White Flight hen GPU 15 1591 had a nett flying time of eight hours 58 minutes and 11 seconds and it took 36 minutes and 29 seconds to fill the top 30 positions. The rest of the results were:
Connie Coertse 1st; Beano Daschner 2nd, 10th; Tallies Lofts (Johan Taljaard) 3rd, 8th, 13th, 18th; Flip van Staden 4th, 21st, 29th; Sky Lofts (Corrie Moller) 5th, 23rd; Doves Nest Guest House (Gawie Botha) 6th, 14th, 19th, 24th, 30th; Blackie Swart 7th, 9th, 11th, 26th; Le Roux Lofts (Pieter le Roux) 12th; Hilton Pitout 15th; Pieter van den Broeck 16th, 25th; G & E Lofts (Graham Cheary & Elaine Russell) 17th, 20th; Fred van Rensburg 22nd, 27th and Reinhold Brichta 28th.
On Saturday the GPU will liberate the pigeons from Richmond in the Northern Cape for the Old Bird National in a combined liberation.
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 | Oct 17, 2017 | Bird Netting
The Miami man convicted last month of murdering a friend over prized racing pigeons has died after a suspected suicide attempt in jail.
Lazaro Romero, 47, was found unresponsive inside his cell at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center earlier this month just as South Florida was scrambling to prepare for the arrival of Hurricane Irma. Romero was taken to a nearby hospital, where he later died on Sept. 7.
His death is being investigated by Miami-Dade police detectives. Authorities have not disclosed how Romero died, and the Miami-Dade Medical Examiner’s Office has yet to rule on a cause and manner of death.
It was a tragic end for Romero, who was convicted of the November 2013 stabbing death of Yoan Vazquez in Miami. The killing roiled the small but devoted South Florida community devoted to the sport of pigeon racing. The sport is particularly popular in Cuba, where Vazquez and Romero first learned how racing pigeons.
“All around, this case has been an enormous tragedy,” said his defense attorney, Julia Seifer-Smith. “I’ve only known Lazaro to have an incredible remorse about it having happened. He’s only shown me and my co-counsel kindness and he has an incredible love for his family and overwhelming pride in his sons.”
A Miami-Dade jail spokesman declined to comment because of the ongoing investigation.
Prosecutors said Romero believed Vazquez owed him 20 prized racing pigeons, and went with his brother to the man’s home to get them back at knife point. Romero and his brother attacked Vazquez in his backyard — while the man’s 6-year-old daughter watched.
Romero did not stab Vazquez; it was his brother, Freddy Romero, who delivered the fatal knife thrusts. Freddy Romero pleaded guilty and is now doing 25 years in prison.
At trial, Romero’s defense lawyers said he never planned to hurt Vazquez — and had no idea that his brother would fatally stab the man.
The jury on Aug. 31 deliberated less than two hours before deciding he was guilty of second-degree murder. Romero had been out on bail before the trial, but was taken back into custody after his conviction.
He faced up to life in prison, and was to be sentenced sometime in the coming months.
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 | Oct 16, 2017 | Bird Netting
Video has emerged of a group of men believed to have been catching pigeons for food in Exeter.
The footage was shot by a man who was in Sidwell Street shopping with his young daughter last month.
The driver says he saw one man scattering seeds then was shocked to see another grab a white pigeon and stuff it into a rucksack.
He caught a few seconds on vide while pretending to be talking on the phone as he was scared to attract the attention of the group, who he says were loud and aggressive.
Afterwards, he went to Heavitree police station to report the men.
He told Devonlive.com the group appeared drunk and were “speaking and laughing loudly”.
“My daughter felt intimidated even just being in the car,” added the man, who asked not to be named but has given police his details.
“The men were sat on the bench – it looked like they were having fun, like it was planned.
Sidwell Street traders’ have spoke of their horror after witnessing street drinkers stuff 14 pigeons into a rucksack in the space of 20 minutes
“They spread the seeds then waited for the pigeons to come. One captured a white pigeon and the other opened the bag and dropped it in.
“That’s when I thought I am going to the police. People were looking wondering what was going on but these guys didn’t look like the sort of people you could ask why there were doing this.
“I thought it was disgusting, to see humans behaving like this in the middle of a city centre. It was very aggressive and they were doing it in front of children.”
Sidwell Street traders’ spoke of their horror after witnessing street drinkers stuff 14 live pigeons into a rucksack – in a cruel act believed to be food-gathering.
PCSO Sarah Giles, part of the city centre’s policing team, described the unbelievable incident as part of ‘blatant pigeon eating’ recognised by police, and has pinpointed a particular group of drinkers responsible.
One anonymous trader said the incident, on August 31, which took place over 20 minutes, was “horrifying” to witness.
She described how she, and passers-by, saw a man known for drinking regularly at the spot, coaxing pigeons with bird seed.
“I was horrified. I know there are too many pigeons and I’ve never been a fan, but how can you be so cruel to an animal? That to me was cruel.
“If I was a bigger person I would have taken the rucksack off them, but it was two strapping blokes.”
“It’s all alcohol related, they sit on Sidwell Street drinking at all hours of the day. There aren’t enough police around.”
PCSO Giles said geese and swans have been reportedly captured by the river in the past, and that it is all down to a particular group of “street attached” drinkers.
It is ingrained issue, one she wishes she could solve.
She said: “They have money to spend on booze, so they have the money to buy food. ”
“Many of this group are housed, in B&B’s, bedsits or small flats.
The incident happened just one week after the murder of a seagull on the same street.
Shoppers, including small children, watched as a woman on Sidwell Street stamped on the head of the bird at 3pm on Friday, August 25.
PCSO Giles believes traders on Sidwell Street need to band together to stamp out the anti-social behaviour which has become commonplace on the key route into Exeter city centre.
She worries it will soon fall foul of the “broken window” theory – that if you leave a broken window unfixed another will break, and the area will soon be disrespected.
“We need to get community cohesion going, we need a sense of identity in Sidwell Street. We don’t have the option to police it every day and a traders group would be benefitial.”
She is also positive the recently introduced PSPO will help combat the problems, offering greater leverage with the drinkers.
“It is still early days, but I am hugely optimistic it will help,” she added.
Police said they were investigating the incident and are currently studying CCTV of the area.
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 | Oct 15, 2017 | Bird Netting
When I informed my wife that I was heading out to join my friend David Hanson for an afternoon pigeon shoot with the new air powered “Wing Shot” air shotgun by Air Venturi, her reply was something like, “Not those little pigeons that hang around city parks? Surely not!”
I assured her the birds we were going after probably had never even been in the city limits of Lone Oak, the nearest “town” to where we were hunting. These were “wild”, feral birds that made their living just like other wild birds, eating seeds and grain around farms in the area. Little did I know just how “wild” these birds really are!
A few days before the hunt, the UPS man delivered my new air shotgun, complete with pre-loaded shot cups with #6 and #8 shot. I’ve been shooting and hunting with PCP air rifles for several years. These are not your grandfather’s air rifles. They charge up to 3,000 psi. of air pressure via scuba or carbon fiber tanks and the big bore rifles have enough power to harvest any animal in North America. I have a .25 caliber that is absolutely lethal on small game. But this Wing Shot air shotgun was totally new to me.
I promptly charged the shotgun to 3,000 psi., loaded it with a shot cup containing a little over an ounce of #6 shot, placed a quarter inch piece of plywood against a safe backstop, stapled a square of paper to the plywood, stepped back 25 yards, centered the shotgun bead on the center of the paper and fired my first shot. With the discharge of the pressure, I knew the shotgun was shooting hard. Upon closer inspection of my target, I was amazed at just how hard!
The pattern from the choke was well dispersed in a 14-inch diameter circle on the paper; the shot had penetrated through the quarter-inch plywood. I was convinced this gun had plenty of power to use on a bird hunt. Air powered guns are not legal on any game animals or birds in Texas with the exception of squirrels. This rules out the use of air on dove or quail or any of the migratory species but feral pigeons aren’t game birds and neither is the exotic dove species such as the Eurasian dove that is becoming common through much of the state.
Hanson had scouted a big hay barn situated in the middle of a cow pasture the day before and asked his “kin folks” that owned the land if we might go out for a late afternoon shoot. We pulled up to within a couple hundred yards of the barn and through binoculars, could see a big flock of feral pigeons setting on the beams that supported the roof. Occasionally, a small flock would fly out to pick grit from a sand pile out in the field or fly to a nearby electrical line. Hanson and I had an ice cooler along for the birds we expected to harvest. We even had a plan for cooking them. Grilled pigeon breast with jalapeno and garlic wrapped in bacon was on the menu and from our vantage point a couple hundred yards away, this should be an easy shoot! Were we about to get educated in the ways of the feral pigeon! These most definitely weren’t the docile “park” birds my wife gave reference to.
The field was wide open and when we approached within a hundred yards of the barn, every pigeon took wing and flew directly to land on a highline wire about 400 yards distant. No problem, we thought. We will just set inside the barn and shoot them as they flew back. There was no mass return flight as we witnessed when we spooked the birds. Occasionally a bird or two would approach well out of range, circle a time or two and return to their highline perch. These pigeons were as wary as any game birds I’ve hunted, actually more wary. A turkey, duck or goose for that matter, can be called within shotgun range. Spinning wing decoys are usually highly effective for bringing dove within range. These pigeons had obviously graduated from the class of “Hunter Avoidance 101.”
About thirty minutes before dark, the desire to roost caused the birds to come back to the barn but much to our despair, they didn’t simply fly inside the enclosure and land on a rafter. No, they circled high and then landed “ON TOP OF THE ROOF!” These birds were smart and we came to the conclusion that to harvest them, we would have to devise a better plan.
Picture this — two grown men inside a big, open hay barn, hidden beside the tires of trailers or tractors, listening to what sounded like hundreds of bird feet clicking on top of the metal roof. These birds were driving us crazy! Only fifteen feet above our heads it sounded as though these pigeons were having a big square dance. We could hear them cooing and clicking up their heels!
Finally a pigeon that had either been consuming too many fermented berries or possibly tired of just being “one of the flock”, hovered outside the roof, contemplating coming in and landing on a comfortable steel beam inside the barn. Hanson jerked the trigger on the Wing Shot and the pattern centered the bird. It was obvious that the power of compressed air in a shotgun generates enough power to cleanly harvest birds but Hanson and I felt a bit cheated by these “super” pigeons. The next time I hear someone use the term, “pigeon brain”, do I ever have a story to relate that might just change their way of thinking about these “dumb” little birds!
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)
