by johnnymarin | May 15, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
So you thought that being a policeman only involves glamorous tasks like chasing smugglers? The cops working for the Carrier Pigeon Service in Cuttack would disagree. Their daily to-do list includes mopping pigeon droppings, feeding pigeons, changing their water — in general, looking after the precious birds in their keep round the clock.
It is a tedious job, true, but the cops have never complained over the last seven decades. Indeed, it is because of their efforts that the world’s only police-run pigeon messenger service still thrives. Last month, on Odiya New Year, a small fleet of pigeons flew with messages from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack, covering 25 km in an amazing 20 minutes.
The pigeon messenger service dates back to 1946, when World War II had just ended. During the war, the military had used trained pigeons to ferry messages. The Odisha police decided to preserve the legacy even after the war ended, using the pigeons to send messages to places which did not have either wireless or telephone links.
That involved maintaining a flock of Belgian Homers, best suited to act as messengers because of their homing skills. No matter where they are released, Homer pigeons, with their uncanny knack for identifying their loft, will find their way back home. What also helps is their sharp eyesight and unique body build, which reduces air resistance, enabling them to fly long distances. Homer pigeons can fly at an average speed of 70-80 km per hour and cover a distance of 250 km at a stretch, even at night and in inhospitable conditions.
The service was first introduced in the mountainous Koraput district and was soon expanded to cover 38 places: at one point, the Carrier Pigeon Service boasted of a 1,500-strong trained fleet. In 1982, when massive floods hit coastal Odisha, disrupting road connectivity for weeks, pigeons were the ones delivering messages. They were so much an integral part of the police administration that till 2010 it was mandatory for newly-recruited officers to clear a 10-mark test on pigeon service.
In April 1948, when Jawaharlal Nehru had visited Odisha, messages about his public meetings were delivered in advance by pigeons. Former President R. Venkataraman launched 300 pigeons as a gesture of peace during Cuttack’s millennium celebrations in 1989.
The service used to have three categories — static, boomerang and mobile. “Static was a one-way service put into use during floods and cyclones; boomerang was a two-way communication system between police stations in inaccessible areas; and mobile pigeons were carried by police units on the move and used for communicating with headquarters,” says B.N. Das, Superintendent of Police (Signal). Usually, pigeons were released in pairs to lessen the chances of their being stalked by hawks and kites.
Golak Behari Das, a retired sub-inspector of police, who spent more than half his service tenure with the famed pigeons, says, “In the 1980s, our carrier pigeons used to fly to remote areas affected by left-wing extremism where the wireless network had limited range. They were very effective.”
But what relevance could a pigeon messenger service have in these days of email and WhatsApp? Back in 2000, the Comptroller and Auditor General of India had expressed doubts about its relevance, deeming it a “wasteful expenditure” and recommending that it be wound up.
In response, intellectuals, conservationists and traditionalists in Odisha protested vehemently and demanded that at least a skeletal service be maintained for its heritage value. The State government stopped the service in March 2008, but about 150 pigeons continue to be maintained for ceremonial purposes in Cuttack and at the Police Training College in Angul. The service costs the exchequer about ₹1 lakh each year, and the sub-inspector and two constables employed in the service draw salaries from the government like any other police personnel.
The pigeon messengers have proved to be a charming anachronism. Intach has taken an interest in the service: the demo flight on New Year’s Day was an Intach initiative. “The survival of this service has been ensured by the dedicated men who run the police pigeon service,” says Amiya Bhusan Tripathy, former Director General of Police and the State Convener of Intach.
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 | May 14, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Stepping out in blistering hot this summer is an arduous task to do. Waves of heat directly hit your face like that from a furnace. And during a weather like this, my heart goes out to those who have to work under the direct sun and do their job with much commitment. Among them is the traffic police force, who are always at their feet, come sun or rain.
And one such traffic cop from Bengaluru was nursing a pigeon. In the picture that is being shared widely on social media, the official who is dressed in uniform can be seen holding a pigeon in his hand. According to the tweet, the traffic cop who was positioned at Commercial Street was helping the bird which was hurt with some water.
The tweet reads, “A good Samaritan cop of #NammaBengaluru helping out a hurt and thirsty pigeon in Commercial Street. He went on to feed it some water[sic].” The tweet was retweeted by Lokesh, a constable who coordinates the social media unit of the Bengaluru City Police. Tweeting he said, “What really matter is being kind to every kind not only mankind. [sic]”
While Bengaluru is known for its soothing weather, this summer did not spare the city either. The southern city is equally reeling in the sweltering heat with temperature touching 40 degree Celsius last month. We can too do our bit in helping birds live through the summer with a little effort. Try keeping a bowl of water in your balcony, near the window or anywhere from where birds can drink. Many sparrows and other small birds die in this harsh weather due to lack of availability of water to them.
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 | May 13, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Back in 2001 the then London Mayor Ken Livingstone announced his plans to reduce the number of pigeons in Trafalgar Square.
But not everyone was a fan of the idea. Animal rights group PETA argued the decision would “spell disaster for London’s pigeon population”.
It became a massive deal, with news of the pigeons’ plight even reaching the US.
Protests began and one advertising company saw the opportunity to join in and get some attention at the same time.
They sent people dressed as giant pigeons to hold up traffic near Trafalgar Square.
That must have got road users in a flap!
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 | May 12, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Located in the north-east region of Bangkok in Thailand, Lop Buri, which is known as the “Monkey City,” now has another major problem. Pigeons have become a nuisance in the Thai city as the numbers have been increasing four to five times each year.
According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the government officials earlier this week asked residents to trap the birds and organize a cooking competition. The initiative was taken in hope of curbing the bird menace.
Plaek Thepparak, the highest government official in Mueang district, came up with the aforementioned idea.
He told AFP: “The number of pigeons increases four to five times each year, if we don’t do anything the problem will get worse.”
He also said that the birds were creating inconvenience everywhere by defecating on government offices, historical sites, temples, and houses.
“Before people can drink rainwater but now they have to buy drinking water because rainwater is dirty from bird droppings,” he added.
That’s not it. The residents will also be awarded 10 baht ($0.30) per trapped bird. All the trapped birds will be reportedly moved to a quarantine center in a nearby province.
The town also hosted a “pigeon menu” cooking competition along with cash prizes this week. And, among most of the dishes, the most common one was a simply fried pigeon served with a side of Thailand’s classic papaya salad.
The most interesting part of the story is that monkeys are the main attraction in Lop Buri province. But now the increasing numbers of pigeons have outnumbered the monkeys also.
“There are about 3,000 monkeys but there are hundreds of thousands of pigeon,” Plaek added.
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 | May 11, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
Some years ago, Gordon Corera, the BBC’s security correspondent, covered a strange story about a dead pigeon found in a chimney in Surrey. Attached to the pigeon’s leg was a message that stumped even the code-breakers at Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters.
Corera, determined to decode the message, visited the National Archives in Kew. There, perusing the contents of an unusual file, he chanced upon the incredible story of Operation Columba: a top-secret British mission to collect intelligence from behind enemy lines during the Second World War using homing pigeons (Columba livia is their scientific name).
So starved of useful knowledge about enemy movements were the British that, at one point, MI14, a military intelligence unit at the War Office created specifically to gather information about the German effort, briefly considered employing the services of “an astrologer and water diviner, ‘Smokey Joe’, from Yorkshire”. Pigeons, in this desperate situation, were a boon. The homing instinct of pigeons, as Corera writes, is an inexplicable super-power. Blindfolded and dropped hundreds of miles from their lofts, pigeons make their way “home” in a matter of hours. Scientists cannot explain how they manage to do this.
At the outbreak of the Second World War, pigeon fanciers – collectively known as “the Fancy” – in Britain were called on to register their birds; any pigeon found without a ring was culled and owners who hadn’t registered a pigeon weren’t allowed to buy bird food. Some 18,000 lofts were registered with the National Pigeon Service in 1939. And between April 1941 and September 1944, 16,544 pigeons were dropped in an arc stretching from Denmark to the south of France.
Each pigeon, with a tiny green Bakelite cylinder the size of a pen-top tied to its leg, was placed inside a special container along with two sheets of rice paper, a pencil, a questionnaire and a resistance newspaper. The boxes were dropped from an altitude of 600 to 1,000 feet by aircraft flying at 180 miles an hour – easy targets for enemy fire.
The exercise was animated by the hope that men and women under Nazi occupation might pick up the box, recognise its purpose, write down German positions on the rice paper, insert it in the green canister, tie it to the pigeon’s leg and release the bird into the skies. Some of the pigeons ended up as dinner. Some were probably never found. Yet, astonishingly, Operation Columba yielded results.
Corera narrates the poignant story of a Belgian priest who, upon finding a Columba pigeon in July 1941, laboured with a small band of patriotic anti-Nazis to share intelligence with the British; the information they supplied – written in minute characters on the rice paper – was so detailed that it filled a dozen pages when transcribed in England. The group, calling itself Leopold Vindictive, posed for a photograph before releasing the bird at 8.15am a few days after coming upon it; the pigeon was home by 3.30pm.
Members of the Leopold Vindictive were willing to risk their lives to spy for Britain. But, as Operation Columba became hampered by petty bureaucracy, they were eventually discovered and killed by the Nazis. Most of the pigeons, too, lost their lives on their flight home. The Germans released hawks against the British pigeons.
Corera’s previous book, Shopping For Bombs, meticulously pieced together the story of the nuclear black market built by AQ Khan, the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. He brings to this book the same rigour. Although it sags a little in the middle, Secret Pigeon Service is a riveting and revelatory book.
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)
