by Ryan Ponto | Feb 23, 2017 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent
IT is not often one takes notice of a pigeon, but with the help of kindhearted Karyn Lund and a small push from social media, a six-week old racing pigeon was returned to its owner.
Something happened during one of its first flights, forcing it to land. With his luck he landed in food heaven, the Campus Cafe at Curro HCA High School. “Being a huge animal lover, cruelty-free living is my family’s thing, I Googled what the right thing to do was. Apparently homing pigeons like to hang out for a few days and then sometimes make their way home,” said Karyn Lund, the tuckshop owner.
The pigeon, nicknamed Mr Snax due to his love for popcorn and fries, found that Karyn’s handbag was the perfect place to nest. “Without wanting to be too invasive I eventually coaxed him into allowing me to pick him up. I retrieved the number off of the ring on his foot and asked for help on Upper Highway Info. Within minutes I had located his dad, Bruce Symons, and he is happy and back home with his pigeon friends,” said Karyn.
The Highway Mail caught up with Bruce to find out more about the sport of pigeon racing. The 40-year-old father of two is a member of the Hillcrest Pigeon racing Club which has 12 members, who are better known as pigeon fanciers. “The sport has been going on for hundreds of years and the local club has been running since 1976. In the old days it was called the poor man’s horse racing, It isn’t so much like that anymore as it definitely isn’t a cheap sport now,” he laughed.
What inspired you to get into pigeon racing?
When I was a child I had pigeons and it was a passion. I started racing in 2002 and there’s a drive to get better and better.
How do you train a pigeon?
It starts at home. When April arrives we chase the pigeons out the loft and do that for a couple of days. When they fly away from home we call it ranging. They then get their bearings right. The training consists of a 30km trip, then 50km, 90km. 120km and then 150km until we have the long training toss, sometimes ranging up to 800km. The birds fly back home from a certain point.
What is the worst part of pigeon racing?
Breeding the babies and the natural predators catch them. It is heartbreaking when you lose them. We lose about 40 per cent of our pigeons to wildlife.
What is the most rewarding part of racing for you?
When the pigeons come home. When that pigeon comes back, he has not only come back home but he has come back for you. I get goosebumps every time.
What three words would you use to describe the sport?
Rewarding. Exciting. Humbling.
Has a pigeon never returned before?
It does happen where a pigeon doesn’t come back. They could have been caught or killed and some of them just decide they don’t want to race anymore and become commons, a feral pigeon or rats of the sky.
What is the average time you need to train a pigeon?
To train a pigeon to fitness you only need six weeks.
Which breed of pigeon works best in the races?
The pacific racing pigeon as they have more muscle and better brain capacity.
How many pigeons do you currently own?
I have 130 babies and about 50 old birds.
Describe your typical competition day:
I am generally pacing up and down. Get a bottle of wine from my wife and we put on a potjie or braai.
Complete this sentence: Pigeons are… “the athletes of the sky.”
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 | Feb 22, 2017 | Animal Deterrent Products
It’s a last opportunity to qualify for the Pertemps Final at Haydock on Saturday but there may be an unusual element to this particular Qualifier with virtually none of the field likely to actually secure a run at the Festival unless they can up their ratings by a couple of pounds with a big run.
Mydor just about falls into category, having been handed a British mark of 133, whereas 135 has been the bottom-rating for the Final for the last three years. However, the Irish pigeon is adamant that Tony Martin’s runner he can overcome that problem by scoring here under Brian Hughes.
He hasn’t always been the most consistent performer, but cheekpieces have improved his application of late and he ran particularly well at Leopardstown on his latest start.
Warrantor is a young stayer who is still to produce his best over fences and should reward an each-way interest in the Betfred Grand National Trial at Haydock on Saturday.
Warren Greatrex has always held a candle for the eight year old despite the gelding’s somewhat patchy career so far over the larger obstacles. However, his two performances this season, a close second in a valuable handicap at the Open meeting at Cheltenham in November, and a respectable fifth on the same course on New Year’s Day suggest he is progressing nicely.
His stable are now in much better form than at any stage of the season, and he is likely to be well at home on what is likely to be dead tacky ground.
Fletchers Flyer has had his problems this winter, but he deserves his place in the line-up for the Reynoldstown Novices’ Chase at Ascot and should prove hard to beat. Harry Fry has some attractive targets for this highly-talented gelding upcoming, and he showed he can hold his own against top company when winning a handicap at the Punchestown Festival as a very raw novice.
The fact that the victory came during the embryonic stages of this campaign means he still qualifies for a race like this, and, not for the first time, this looks a relatively weak race for Grade Two level.
Beyond Conceit can retain his 100 per cent record over hurdles in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle on the same card. A smart performer on the Flat for Andrew Balding, he made light work of the opposition on his hurdling bow at Newbury four and a half weeks ago. Nicky Henderson is looking at one of the novice events at the Festival for the eight year old in just over three weeks’ time, and has given him a nice break since the win to try and ensure he is at his most potent for this very important warm-up race.
Divine Spear, a stablemate of Beyond Conceit, is improving with racing and he is fancied to add to his Fontwell win over Christmas in the Les Ambassadeurs Casino Handicap Hurdle. He still showed signs of inexperience when a staying-on third at Cheltenham last time, and should give promising claimer Ned Curtis another great ride in this open-looking race.
At Wincanton, Ben Pauling’s Whin Park was not unfancied when down the field in a bumper at Warwick on his debut and he should go well at a decent price in what looks a weak race for the Betway National Hunt Novices’ Hurdle.
There are two all-weather cards in Britain on Saturday and both could prove unusually informative as we move into a stage of the year when the major Flat stables are getting ready to fire their guns again.
Flight Of Fantasy was unlucky to get collared at Kempton last time, having seemed as if she had put the race to bed at the two-furlong pole and plenty will fancy her to gain appropriate compensation in the 32Red Maiden Fillies’ Stakes at Lingfield.
However, there’s a good word for the unraced First Moon, with Josephine Gordon aboard, as she makes her debut in the same race for Hugo Palmer. A Khalid Abdullah-owned filly, she reportedly excelled in a recent gallop.
Amy Murphy has proved a profitable trainer for Catching Pigeons readers to follow in recent weeks and she introduces Gwendolyn on her first run for the yard in the Betway Dash Handicap.
This is Gwendolyn’s third Newmarket yard and she hasn’t joined the stable looking especially well-handicapped, but there must be the possibility that she will find improvement for the in-form Murphy and could be worth a small bet if the price is right.
The two Jamies, Osborne and Spencer, are a very successful combination when they get together and should go close with Hungarian Rhapsody in the 32Red Maiden at Kempton on Saturday evening. The son of Exceed And Excel carries the familiar white colours of Michael Buckley, and has shown enough at home to suggest a bold show on his first racecourse appearance.
Queen Odessa beat the very highly rated Kayf Grace in a bumper last season and she should step up on her only outing so far this term in the 32Red Casino Mares Only Novices Hurdle at Market Rasen on Sunday. Although she has not seen action for three months, she should be fit enough and this looks a run-of-the-mill event.
There are few more popular horses in Newmarket than Stand Guard, who already holds the honour of having won more All-weather races in Britain than any other horse.
He’s 13 and clearly getting no quicker in his old age but John Butler believes there might just be a little more juice to be squeezed from these pips and he was a shade unfortunate to get undone by a ridiculously slow early gallop at Kempton earlier this week.
Stand Guard has an entry at Southwell on Tuesday and at first glance looks to have been found a very good opportunity to win again on a surface where he has plenty of old form in the book.
Claimantakinforgan will not have been missed much by racecourse commentators during a mid-season break, but this impressive Haydock bumper winner is held in high regard at Seven Barrows and his cheery fan club are looking forward to seeing him back in action, perhaps as early as this week
He is better than his most recent outing at Ascot suggests and is back in good form on gallops after his mid-term hols.
The valuable £50,000 Goffs Bumper at Newbury just after Cheltenham could be an early lucrative spring target.
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 | Feb 21, 2017 | Bird Deterrent Products
Council chiefs in Stoke-on-Trent have defended spending £75,000 on tackling the city’s pigeon problem.
Latest figures show that the council spends more than any other authority outside London on ridding the streets of the winged menace.
In the last three years, Stoke-on-Trent City Council has spent £75,000 on a range of measures including pigeon-proofing buildings, clearing up pigeon mess and removing dead pigeons.
A spokesperson from Stoke-on-Trent City Council said: “We have a duty to ensure our city is clean, well maintained and attractive for residents, businesses and visitors.
“More than a third of the money we have spent in the last three years has gone on permanent, long-term solutions to protect our buildings.
“This will create a cleaner and healthier environment for everyone and preserve the heritage of our city.”
Technical officer at the British Pest Control Association Natalie Bungay, said: “Pest control will be carried out against pigeons when complaints from the public come in.
“People don’t like to see them and complain about being swooped on and the mess that they create.
“This is a large problem throughout the country, but councils deal with them in different ways.
“The councils want to protect their buildings from the mess that pigeons make.”
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 | Feb 20, 2017 | Bird Netting
LAHORE – At least five persons received bullet wounds as two groups clashed over pigeons’ race in Kahna police precincts yesterday evening. The victims were shifted to a hospital where the condition of one of the injured was said to be serious till late Sunday night.
Heavy police contingents reached the spot and arrested six men in connection with the fatal shooting. Police said that two groups opened fire on each other as they clashed during the pigeon race. As a result, five people sustained bullet wounds. Four of the injured were identified by police as Asif, Aslam, Sharafat, and Nafees. The police also registered a case and were investigating the incident.
Kite flying
Many people defied the police crackdown and continued kite-flying in various parts of the provincial metropolis yesterday.
A police spokesman on Sunday said that at least 107 persons were arrested by police during the crackdown launched across the city to implement the ban on kite-flying. The police also filed more than 90 cases against the violators under the kit-flying act.
In 2005, Pakistan’s Supreme Court had banned the spring festival over a number of deaths caused by the use of sharp and glass coated strings. The festival of kite-flying was completely banned across the Punjab province
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 | Feb 19, 2017 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
SAO PAULO, Brazil — A pigeon in Brazil was busted for trying to smuggle a cell phone into a Sao Paulo state prison.
Guards at the Franco da Rocha prison caught the pigeon with a cell phone strapped to its body. Prison officials believe the bird was trying to deliver the phone to an inmate.
The guards were tipped off to the scheme when they saw several inmates running around trying to capture the pigeon.
Once guards captured the bird they discovered it carrying a small pouch containing a cellphone and battery.
Officials said they are investigating which inmate was behind the failed cell phone scheme.
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)
