Pigeon birth control program expanded to eight SkyTrain stations

Pigeon birth control program expanded to eight SkyTrain stations

A pilot study to see if feeding pigeons birth control can lower their numbers at Vancouver’s SkyTrain stations has expanded to include eight stations in the region.

The program works by installing a feeder and a camera on TransLink property at stations where there’s a pigeon problem. The feed contains OvoControl, a product that interferes with birds’ eggs’ ability to hatch.

As the birds who call the stations home die of natural causes, researchers and TransLink staff hope there won’t be as many young birds to take their place, and pigeon numbers will decrease over time.

“We think TransLink can be a real leader in humane wildlife control,” Sara Dubois, the BC SPCA’s chief scientific officer, told Daily Hive in a phone interview.

“We’re trying to manage them in a way that’s safe for them and for trains.”

Dubois and the UBC graduate students she’s working with installed the first feeder in January 2019.

Now, the program has been expanded to include eight stations for the study. Four stations feed birds OvoControl, and the other four contain regular food. Over time, the researchers will see whether the birth control significantly reduces pigeon flocks at stations.

It’s still possible for new birds to travel to the stations, Dubois said. But if they stay and eat the birth control consistently, their reproductive abilities will soon be curbed as well.

Pigeons have long caused problems for the transit authority, because their presence on tracks can stop trains and delay customers. Staff also have to spend time cleaning up their excrement from platforms.

Dubois recounted one incident where a pigeon nest caught on fire and service on the Expo Line had to be stopped for several hours.

Previously, TransLink has installed spikes and netting to keep pigeons out, but those methods haven’t been effective. Dubois doesn’t want to see the birds killed, and sees using birth control as an effective way to keep pigeons safe and trains moving.

TransLink and the BC SPCA aren’t revealing which stations have the birth control feeders so that the equipment doesn’t get vandalized. Dubois said that earlier this year they already had one camera and feeder go missing.

If the birth control proves effective, Dubois says it could be a relatively cheap way to reduce the number of birds causing SkyTrain problems.

“It’s really inexpensive compared to the cost of maintenance, cleaning, and trains being down,” she said.

Source

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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.

Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.

Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca

Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosting / Vancouver Pigeon Control /Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / Pigeon Deterrent?  Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest /Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons/ What to do about pigeons/ sparrows , Damage by Sparrows, How To Keep Raccoons Away,  Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests/ De-fence / Pigeon Nesting/ Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping/ woodpecker control/ Professional Bird Control Company/ Keep The Birds Away/ Birds/rats/ seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/ dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/ pidgeon control/flying rats/ pigeon Problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/ bird guard

Homing in on the hate: are pigeons pals or pests?

Homing in on the hate: are pigeons pals or pests?

I’m ambivalent about pigeons. Growing up, I ignored them while neighbours fed hundreds on the pavement. I figured as an adult I’d ignore them as they flew past (and often into) the glass walls of my workplace too. What I didn’t anticipate was how much hate I’d see around me for the bird, how quickly and casually they’d be dismissed as stupid, and how gleefully people would refer to them as ‘sky rats’.

Was it always like this? In cave paintings dating from 4500 BCE Iraq, humans seem quite at peace with pigeons. At the Olympics, they still release doves to honour the trained pigeons that once carried race results across Ancient Greece.

In 1850, when the news service Reuters was launched, they had on their staff 45 pigeons trained to transmit headlines and stock updates. Britain had a National Pigeon Service during WWII. Before satellites, pigeons flew into enemy zones with tiny cameras. In 2016, American performance artist Duke Riley trained 2,000 of them to fly, their legs fitted with tiny LEDs, in choreographed formation over Brooklyn, for 30 minutes.

Source

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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.

Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.

Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca

Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosting / Vancouver Pigeon Control /Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / Pigeon Deterrent?  Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest /Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons/ What to do about pigeons/ sparrows , Damage by Sparrows, How To Keep Raccoons Away,  Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests/ De-fence / Pigeon Nesting/ Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping/ woodpecker control/ Professional Bird Control Company/ Keep The Birds Away/ Birds/rats/ seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/ dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/ pidgeon control/flying rats/ pigeon Problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/ bird guard

Pigeon King Wants to Go It Alone

Pigeon King Wants to Go It Alone

The man known as “Pigeon King” is a lone duck when it comes to his pending trial. Arlan Galbraith has asked the judge presiding over his multi-million-dollar fraud case if he can represent himself. Galbraith is charged with fraud and bankruptcy act charges relating to his Waterloo-based business Pigeon King International, which folded in 2008. Galbraith sold thousands of pigeons to farmers and bought back their offspring to sell to other farmers. There was no end market for the birds, and farmers, both local, and across Canada and the US lost upwards of $20-million on pigeons.

Source

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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.

Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.

Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca

Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosting / Vancouver Pigeon Control /Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / Pigeon Deterrent?  Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest /Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons/ What to do about pigeons/ sparrows , Damage by Sparrows, How To Keep Raccoons Away,  Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests/ De-fence / Pigeon Nesting/ Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping/ woodpecker control/ Professional Bird Control Company/ Keep The Birds Away/ Birds/rats/ seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/ dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/ pidgeon control/flying rats/ pigeon Problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/ bird guard

How Pigeons Became Rats: The Cultural-Spatial Logic of Problem Animals

How Pigeons Became Rats: The Cultural-Spatial Logic of Problem Animals

How do animals become problems? Drawing on interactionist theories of social problems and cultural geography, I argue that the construction of animals as problems relies upon cultural understandings of nature/culture relationships, which in turn entail “imaginative geographies.” Specifically, modernity posits a firm boundary between nature and culture. Animals have their place, but are experienced as “out of place”—and often problematic—when they are perceived to transgress spaces designated for human habitation. Relying on New York Times articles from 1851 to 2006, and articles from 51 other newspapers from 1980 to 2006, this article focuses on the process by which pigeons as a species were problematized. I contend that pigeons have come to represent the antithesis of the ideal metropolis, which is orderly and sanitized, with nature subdued and compartmentalized. While typified as a health issue, the pigeon’s primary “offense” is that it “pollutes” habitats dedicated for human use. The catch phrase “rats with wings” neatly summarizes society’s evaluations of, and anxieties about, this bird. This metaphor reflects a framing of pigeons by claims-makers that renders them out of place in the cityscape.

Source

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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.

Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.

Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca

Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosting / Vancouver Pigeon Control /Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / Pigeon Deterrent?  Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest /Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons/ What to do about pigeons/ sparrows , Damage by Sparrows, How To Keep Raccoons Away,  Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests/ De-fence / Pigeon Nesting/ Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping/ woodpecker control/ Professional Bird Control Company/ Keep The Birds Away/ Birds/rats/ seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/ dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/ pidgeon control/flying rats/ pigeon Problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/ bird guard

Fact Or Fiction: Never Feed Rice To Birds

Fact Or Fiction: Never Feed Rice To Birds

We’ve all heard the warning: don’t feed rice to birds or don’t throw rice at weddings because birds will eat it. Fact is, rice cooked or uncooked won’t hurt wild birds at all. The rumor is that uncooked rice hits the bird’s tummy and then swells causing its stomach to explode. It’s simply not true. It’s not hot enough in a bird’s stomach to actually “cook” the rice. So, the rice doesn’t swell and cause any sort of an explosion.

According to Snopes.com, the rumor was perpetuated in a 1996 Ann Landers column. But, no need to worry. Birds eat rice during migration all the time, and they do just fine. While the  rumor that eating rice kills birds isn’t true, fact is it’s been so popular that the rumor has pretty much killed the tradition of throwing rice at weddings. It may be for the best. Rice probably isn’t the easiest thing for churches to have to clean. Many people have switched from throwing rice to throwing white millet at weddings. It’s environmentally friendly for the birds, and it’s soft on the happy couple.

Source

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 Bird Gel and the best Ultrasonic and audible sound devices on the market today.

Voted Best Canadian wholesaler for Bird Deterrent products ten years in a row.

Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca

Pigeon/Pigeon Patrol / Pigeons Roosting / Vancouver Pigeon Control /Bird Spikes / Bird Control / Bird Deterrent / Pigeon Deterrent?  Surrey Pigeon Control / Pest /Seagull deterrent / Vancouver Pigeon Blog / Birds Inside Home / Pigeons in the cities / Ice Pigeons/ What to do about pigeons/ sparrows , Damage by Sparrows, How To Keep Raccoons Away,  Why Are Raccoons Considered Pests/ De-fence / Pigeon Nesting/ Bird Droppings / Pigeon Dropping/ woodpecker control/ Professional Bird Control Company/ Keep The Birds Away/ Birds/rats/ seagull/pigeon/woodpecker/ dove/sparrow/pidgeon control/pidgeon problem/ pidgeon control/flying rats/ pigeon Problems/ bird netting/bird gel/bird spray/bird nails/ bird guard