by Ryan Ponto | Jun 14, 2017 | Bird Netting
Q: How did Dothan get rid of its pigeons? It seems like I haven’t seen a pigeon in years.
A: Dothan still has pigeons but not as many as in years past. Mostly likely a decline in food sources and fewer places to nest led to the decline.
Pigeons were introduced to North America in the early 1600s. Domesticated pigeons escaped from breeders and formed feral flocks. Pigeons often live in cities because the ledges of buildings and other structures mimic the sea cliffs and mountains their ancestors inhabited.
When pigeon flocks grow too large, there are humane methods to control their numbers. The Humane Society of the United States lists three steps to solve a pigeon problem.
According to the HSUS, most conflicts with pigeons can be tied at one point or another to feeding, intentionally or otherwise.
“Pigeons get fed plenty of handouts and garbage, but there are also well-intentioned pigeon lovers who regularly feed the birds,” according to the group’s website. “This does the pigeons more harm than good as the pigeons begin to gather in large numbers, often leading to inhumane and ineffective attempts to reduce their numbers.
“When such troubles arise, the best thing for the birds is to reduce feeding gradually over several weeks. The flock will gradually disperse until the remaining number of birds matches what the area can naturally support.”
“Even when not feeding on purpose, we humans are messy, leaving leftovers and dropped crumbs everywhere,” according to the website. “Pigeons hang around town squares, public parks, and other trafficked areas to help themselves to what we leave behind, especially when convenient roosting and nesting sites are nearby. To discourage pigeons from gathering, food attractants need to be cleaned up regularly.
“In suburban neighborhoods, too, homeowners may mistakenly feed pigeons or they may be providing food for pigeons inadvertently when feeding their backyard birds by tossing seed on the ground, rather than putting it in birdfeeders. To discourage pigeons visiting your yard, change the type, amount, and timing of feeding. If most of the pigeons fail to move elsewhere, you’ll need to stop feeding all birds for a couple weeks. (Don’t worry; the birds won’t starve.) When you resume feeding, only put out seed in birdfeeders and keep the ground below them cleaned up.”
Prevent roosting and nesting
“Pigeons look for flat surfaces for roosting and nesting,” according to the website. “Encourage them to do these things elsewhere by making flat surfaces unavailable to them. With the correct application of the right product, roosting structures can be rendered virtually pigeon-free.”
The group suggests a variety of devices that can be used to change flat nesting spots into inaccessible spaces and prevent pigeons from roosting in areas where they’re not wanted, from installing netting and “bird wires” to attaching wood or metal sheathing at an angle over window ledges and other flat surfaces to keep pigeons from landing.
The group says to never use polybutylene gel, a sticky repellent that can harm all birds and any animal that comes in contact with it.
Limit flock size with pigeon birth control
“As year-round nesters, a pair of pigeons can raise a dozen or more young each year,” according to the website. A bird contraceptive know as OvoControl is available that limits growth of pigeon flocks.
The kibble-type food causes birds who eat it regularly to lay eggs that fail to develop.
“In March 2010, OvoControl received landmark general-use approval by the Environmental Protection Agency,” according to the website. “Combined with exclusion and other humane measures to discourage roosting and nesting, OvoControl effectively reduces hatching rates in pigeons, thereby limiting flock sizes and diminishing problems associated with large numbers of pigeons.”
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 13, 2017 | Bird Netting
Eric celebrated his 80th birthday last weekend and he is still showing the younger guys how to race pigeons.
Last Saturday, the first yearling pigeon races of the 2017 season took place from Vrede (139km) and Paul Roux (180km).
Three pigeons arrived about 16 minutes before the rest from Vrede.
Eric Holder took first and second, with Labusch Lofts third. Eric celebrated his 80th birthday recently and he is still showing the younger guys how to race pigeons.
Tiekie Crouse won the race from Paul Roux.
The winning pigeon from Vrede flew an average speed of 84km/h and from Paul Roux 102km/h.
The full results were as follows:
Vrede: Eric Holder 1,2,25; Labusch Lofts (Lappies) 3,4,7,8,10,11; Lewis Hay 5,12,13,16,17,18,26,27; Mark Clayton 6,22,23; Tiekie Crouse 9,14,19,21; Paul Manuel 24,28,29,30.
Paul Roux: Tiekie Crouse 1,9,15,16; Mark Clayton 2,27,28,29; Eric Holder 3,24,25; Bloodstock Lofts (Pat Emslie) 4,5,6,7,8,11,12,14; Paul Manuel 10,13,26; Jimmy Hanlon 20,21,22,23,27,28,29; Lewis Hay 30.
Over the weekend, the open series continued with races from Middelburg and Bloemfontein.
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 12, 2017 | Bird Netting
Nakrekal: Every morning the pleasant sounds of winged beauties awakens the neighborhood at Padmashali colony located on Musi road in Nakrekal town. It is exhilarating to watch the pairs of exotic pairs like African love birds, Budgies, Cocktail, Finches, Fancy hens, Pigeons,Diamond doves etc.
Bird lover Pradeep’s house looks like a mini sanctuary and as we walk around, Pradeep says, one should always blink in front of a bird . if you stare at it intently, it will freak out just like people. It is his child hood hobby and he is glad to be able to keep his passion alive.
Pradeep, a private teacher by profession, said that as part of bird conservation endeavor he had started rearing birds with two pigeons in the year 2002 and now he has as many as 300 wide variety of birds which are natives of different countries.
Pradeep takes lot of care of the birds and considers them as his children. He feeds the birds with hygienic food which consists of Red millet, Brown millet, Jowar, Bajra, Wheat, Sunflower, Corn, Paddy, Niger seed, Egg shell, Calcium blocks.
He spends Rs. 4000 per month to provide 1.5 quintal food to all the 300 birds and gives them multi-vitamins and antibiotics to protect them from routine and unexpected diseases.
Speaking to the Hans India, he informed that, restrictions of forest department was preventing him from rearing Indian native birds.Once the department relaxes the rules, bird lovers’ like him are ready to breed them with utmost care. He requested the people to conserve the birds to maintain ecological balance.
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 11, 2017 | Bird Netting
When Ron McBride comes to his usual spot at Clover Point, he’s always in good company.
It’s where the 65-year-old from New York has spent the last five years surrounded by hundreds of his closest friends: pigeons.
“I’m out for two to three hours sometimes,” McBride said. “Sometimes all day if I feel like it.”
It’s a change of pace for McBride.
“I had a very high-pressure job for 30 years and I sort of broke,” McBride said.
He decided to retire and turn to nature for a remedy.
“This is what my psychologist said was giving back to nature and I love it, I’ll tell you that,” McBride said.
“It’s just too relaxing.”
Even when the pigeons fly over and land near McBride, he swears by his practice.
“The pressure you have it’s just gone,” McBride said.
“It’s too hard to explain you have to do it to experience it”
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 Ryan Ponto | Jun 10, 2017 | Bird Netting
WALNUT CREEK (CBS SF) — An outdoor mall in Walnut Creek has brought in a hawk to help with a pigeon problem.
Downtown Walnut Creek’s Broadway Plaza is a lovely place to visit — unless you’re a pigeon.
“They are called the wolves of the air,” explained falconer Bridget Maguire-Colton as her trained hawk Remmy flapped his wings.
Remmy is a Harris hawk usually found in the deserts of Arizona chasing doves. But now this bird of prey is chasing pigeons away from the suburban East Bay mall.
It seems to be working.
“Have you seen any pigeons today?” asked Maguire-Colton with a laugh.
There were none visible. Maguire-Colton patrols the plaza with Remmy keeping a hawk eye out for any intruders.
Every once in a while, she releases Remmy so he can get a better look from above.
Remmy rarely catches a pigeon. The hawk’s shriek alone usually clears the area for blocks around.
Remmy has also become an instant celebrity. Shoppers at Broadway Plaza are shocked to see the hawk.
“I think it genius! It’s a really cool idea,” said one shopper.
While pigeons may get used to the plastic owls sometimes used on buildings to keep the pesky birds away, experts say they never lose respect for sharp claws and scream of a hawk.
Currently, there are about a half dozen malls using hawks to scare off pigeons but the many sun-drenched outdoor malls in California could push that number higher given the success rate.
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)
