by Ryan Ponto | Feb 13, 2017 | Pigeon Spikes
London boroughs spend the most to rid their streets of pigeons and gulls of anywhere in the country, it has been revealed.
Council spending on bird control across England has almost doubled over the last three years, new research shows.
The Borough of Southwark spent by far the most on bird control compared to other English councils, forking out £393,000 since 2013.
The next biggest spender was the Borough of Hackney which spent £162,000.
The third was the Greater London Authority which spent £137,000 on pigeon-proofing.
Analysis of data provided by the two thirds of English councils which responded to the BBC’s Freedom of Information (FOI) request, found that overall spending rose from £452,000 in 2013-14 to £830,000 in 2015-16.
Most councils said they used spikes on buildings to deter pigeons and gulls from landing, others said they used hawks or trained marksman to control bird numbers.
The British Pest Control Association told the BBC they thought the increase in spending might be due to the greater understanding of the diseases carried by the birds.
Experts warn that while pigeon-proofing may be the most humane way to control bird populations it may just move the problem elsewhere, as they simply move to an adjacent building or street.
But the Royal Society of the Protection of Birds said it “would always advocate non-lethal measures in the first instance.”
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 12, 2017 | Bird Deterrent Products
IF YOU are one who enjoys reading the comments on Facebook posts, chances are you have come across a headbanging purple bird.
The meaning of the purple bird is very confusing with the meme going from innocent sticker to a right-wing symbol used by fascists and Neo-Nazis.
Originating from Florida artist and Adobe creative resident Syd Weller, the “Trash Dove” is part of a sticker set featuring a large-eyed purple pigeon in various situations — most notably the bird vigorously thrashing its head up and down.
The sticker suddenly went viral after being featured alongside a dancing cat on a Facebook page with millions of followers.
After going viral, Trash Dove became the focus of dozens of memes and fan art, which includes porn based on the purple pigeon.
But now the symbol has moved past light trolling and is considered to be an alt-right meme used to spread neo-Nazi propaganda.
A campaign dubbed “Operation Nazi Bird” from 4chan’s /pol/ message board — the epicentre of far-right extremist activity — was responsible for the shift.
The campaign called for the alt-right to use the bird to clog up the comment section of prominent leftist Facebook pages.
Users are also being encouraged to start photoshopping Trash Dove into images of Nazi propaganda, with users quick to comply.
Is the Trash Dove meme a symbol for Neo-Nazis?Source:Supplied
While not everyone associates the meme with Nazi propaganda, it’s apparent some people have been taking the bait.
People are starting to get upset over this meme.Source:Supplied
So in closing, Trash Dove started as a simple Facebook sticker, before far-right trolls on 4chan attempted to make it a neo-Nazi symbol. Where it will go to now is anyone’s guess.
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 11, 2017 | UltraSonic Bird Control
This week’s bird mystery is the opposite of the one presented here last week. Last week, we had a bird that was seen and not heard; this week, we have a bird that was heard but not seen.
The sound was a kind of cooing, or perhaps hooting, that I heard while I was sitting at my desk last month. At first, I thought it was the mourning dove on the battery-driven bird clock that my Secret Santa gave me at a Herald holiday party a decade ago.
Yes, the clock is still working.
I even went downstairs to check if the hour was right.
But then I heard the cooing sound again, not on the hour and not at nearly the same time as I had heard it the first time.
The mystery deepened.
I considered the possibility that the sound could be coming from a mourning dove. Mourning doves have been known to winter here, but they are not hardy birds, mostly because their feet freeze. This leaves them unable to forage, and they starve to death.
This has been a tough winter.
So probably not a mourning dove.
Besides, the sound wasn’t quite right. The cadence was different. It had a slightly hollow sound, unlike the rich, full cooing notes of the mourning dove.
Other possibilities
So, then I wondered if it could be an owl. This is the season for owls. They’re establishing territories and establishing themselves ahead of the breeding and nesting season. There’s been a great-horned owl hanging around my place. Great-horned owls are mostly nocturnal, but it wouldn’t be impossible for an owl to be calling, especially on an overcast, gray February day.
An owl then.
Another possibility I considered was the rock dove or common pigeon. I rejected that out of hand, again because the sound was wrong and because pigeons are show-offs, seldom bothering to hide themselves. Plus, they usually occur in crowds.
So what’s left?
There’s one other possibility, and that must have occurred to some of you.
But I rejected the Eurasian collared dove because I hadn’t seen the bird, and if a collared dove were around, I would expect it to be feasting at my feeders, but I never caught it there.
Collared doves were a possibility, I knew. They’ve colonized many of the small towns in northeastern North Dakota, where they often scavenge spilled grain near elevators. I’ve had many reports from people entertaining collared doves at feeders in small towns, and some from larger communities such as Devils Lake and Grand Forks.
But I’d never heard any from the countryside.
So I was predisposed to doubt the bird could be a collared dove.
But that is what it turned out to be. I know this because I encountered two of the birds when I walked up to the mailbox late one morning. Actually, it wasn’t so much of an encounter as it was a “fly by.” The birds were heading west at velocity, moving from one sheltering evergreen to another on the other side of the yard.
There was no doubt they were collared doves. They were doves, clearly, by the elongated shape of the body and the pointed wings. They were not mourning doves because they were too large. Plus, they showed off the telltale sign of collared doves, the collar itself. This is a narrow black band at the back of the neck that is usually pretty easily seen.
The collar separates the collared dove instantly from the other doves that occur here. The rock dove is a plumper bird with shorter wings. It occurs in a broad color range. The mourning dove is similar to the collared dove in shape and general habits, but it is a more richly colored bird, brown overall but with subtle shades of tawny and rust. Plus, it has a decidedly pointed tail, giving it a kind of arrow-shape pattern in flight.
The Eurasian collared dove is a plainer bird overall, usually appearing dull gray or off white, but sometimes showing some shades of brown or even pink. It has a square tail. Importantly, too, it has outsized bright legs and feet, bright red in color—tough looking feet. These may be the assets that allow collared doves to survive winters in the Red River Valley.
The collared dove is a relatively recent immigrant, arriving in the United States about 1975 and in North Dakota in 1999. It’s become pretty well established—and for me from now on an expected, not a surprising, species.
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 10, 2017 | Pigeons in the News
Fifteen pigeons were released around 7.30 am at the Kilinochchi railway station in celebration of the 69th Independence Day on February 4 and the birds returned to their home in Wattala with messages of peace and unity and of course phone numbers so Loni de Lanerolle could call the dignitaries still somewhere in the North to say their messages were received.
The whole trip took the pigeons less than four hours. Attended by religious heads, the Government Agent S. Arumainayagam and senior police officers, the event was organized by Loni de Lanerolle, a pegion fancier, who is an animal enthusiast and trainer of racing pigeons since childhood.
He hopes to revive the spectacle of messenger pigeons by carrying out a series of such events across the country. We were greeted by Papaya the macaw. The blue-yellow-green beauty had a lousy loud call that totally contradicted its good looks. But it was quite harmless despite its inquisitive bahaviour. Two beagles (dogs) were dozing off in a coop and it was the two Chihuahuas (breed of dog) who announced our arrival with barking and tail wagging at the same time. A few tortoises were doing their lawn rounds and the place was a mini zoo. Apparently pigeons were not Pigeon-man Loni’s only interest. He is an all-round animal enthusiast.
The pigeons were in coops while some were perched on a wooden bird perch. They were robust and the plumage around their necks glittered in sea green, pink and brown the likes of which can only exist in nature.
Their living room had the ambiance of an upcountry cottage, or one of those quaint old houses you find only in old English novels. The living room had wooden carpetted floors and one wall consisted of photographs that spanned six De Lanerolle generations. The only thing that was missing was a fireplace. Loni and his wife Monika designed their house in Wattala together. A photograph of two riders on a beach adorned another wall and with muscles gleaming and horses’ hooves splashing on the water, the photograph taken with an Instamatic camera was very lively. Loni once owned a stable with 16 horses and had previously won the Governer’s Cup. Now the stables have been replaced by a tea factory, owned and run by the Lanerolles. Loni’s olfactory senses have gone for a six because of the tea. “I was the first one to flavour tea in Sri Lanka,” informs Loni. Back in 1981 he worked with tea for many hours in his room, due to which he effectively loss his sense of smell.
He was the first to import a thoroughbred in 1996. One of Loni’s sons took to horses and is the only British qualified horse trainer in the country also known as BHSI or British Horse Society Instructor who trains members of the island’s Mounted police. “When the other kids were getting ready to go to school, my kids were out riding on the beach or learning how to bait a hook at 3am in the morning,” said Monika. That’s all their parents were interested in, the great outdoors.
“My boys can shoot,” said Loni who recalled that one of them won the Junior Nationals.
“Whatever the father did the boys also followed suit,” chipped in Monika.
When asked how she put up with a house full of people who loved the great outdoors, Monika said, “I was the only child in my family and when I married Loni it was like taking over a farm. His parents were only too glad to get rid of his pigeons and ponies,” recalled Monika laughing.
In fact, Loni bought a pair of eagles with his first salary. He bought a pony next. At one time he had owned 21 Persian cats. Ever heard of geese guarding houses? Loni’s geese do. They previously owned a watch dog in the form of a blue coot as well. “Whenever someone came to our house the blue coot would fly from its watch post and peck the visitor’s toes,” said Loni. He revealed that geese are equally territorial, guarding their home against any intruder. He owned a pair of carrier pigeons when he was very young and recalled famous stories of pigeons been used to send messages from the frontline to the main camp during wars.
Loni’s 30-strong flock consists of birds of documented champion bloodlines from Germany and Switzerland and claims that they have never fallen ill. His flock is given special vitamins imported from Australia and a special concoction of bird feed made from various grains, such as Kollu and corn according to his own ratios. “It’s an instinct,” says Monika. “He just knows what to give the birds.”
Loni can identify each bird just by looking at it. And he knows what to give them. If they look a little tired or dozing off, he gives them more Kollu as it gives them more energy.
Loni had his first pigeon trial in Puttalam against his father’s warning that he’d lose the birds. But Loni trusted his featured companions more than anyone else. It was a rainy day and the pigeon returned the following day. But he also lost a few. Once Loni released some of his pigeons at Elephant Pass and his gardener filmed the whole episode. Loni did not realize that a falcon swooped down on one of the birds which he knew only after viewing the video footage.
Ten years ago one of Loni’s friends in Germany sent him eight pigeons. They were able to get them cleared from Sri Lanka Customs, but two escaped while in quarantine. A month later his friend from Germany called to ask him whether he let two birds out in Frankfurt. Apparently they escaped from Colombo and flew 10,000 miles back to Frankfurt.
Being a hunting man Loni bagged many migratory ducks in Puttalam. “These ducks are ringed with markers and they come from Siberia which is much further than Germany. But racing homers (pigeons) are much faster than ducks”, said Loni. Loni uses his pigeons to deliver messages only when the occasion calls for it especially when there are dignitaries and the release of pigeons is deemed necessary as a symbol of peace and unity.
“Most of them (dignitaries) don’t believe that pigeons can actually carry messages. So when the birds fly back with the phone numbers and we call them, they are quite shocked,” said Loni. “Sometimes the pigeons have beaten the dignitaries to Colombo.” The trick of the trade is to keep the ladies at home, something that most pigeon breeders know. But Loni has gone a step further and usually keeps the males and females in separate cages. The night before they are to be let out he allows the lads to meet their ladies. Once they are released, whether it’s Colombo or Kilinochchi or Point Pedro, they find their way to their partners.
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 9, 2017 | Pigeon Spikes
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Pigeons are disappearing from New York City streets, but not for natural reasons.
As CBS2’s Valerie Castro reported, some say the birds meet a violent death across state lines after being illegally snatched up in broad daylight.
Pigeons are affectionately – or perhaps derisively – called flying rats. Indeed, they may not be the most beloved New York City wildlife.
But the NYPD said removing them from city streets is illegal.
That has not seemed to stop one man, who was seen trapping at least a dozen unsuspecting birds in Greenpoint, Brooklyn earlier this week.
“It’s really bizarre,” said one woman who witnessed the trapping.
The woman, who does not want to be identified, said birdseed was used as a lure
“With a massive net — looked like a big butterfly net — he captured a bunch of pigeons and threw them in to a van, and then drove off,” she said.
Someone who appeared to be the same man was captured on cellphone video in the East Village last year, walking away with a net full of birds.
In the most recent incident, he was seen on surveillance video walking down the sidewalk with the large net and he appeared to pounce on the unsuspecting birds just around the corner. Another angle showed some pigeons fluttering away after the net was thrown.
The man hurries across the street with his catch to the waiting van.
“It’s obvious that he knew what he was doing was wrong, and he was probably doing something kind of nefarious with the pigeons and that’s why he didn’t want to be caught,” the woman said.
The Humane Society of the United States said the practice is an ongoing problem.
“Pigeon netting has been going on for some time,” said Brian Shapiro of the Humane Society.
The Humane Society claimed the pigeons caught in New York are sold across state lines to Pennsylvania, one of the few states that allows live pigeon shoots.
The practice is controversial, but legislative bills to end it in that state have never passed.
“I think it’s more than coincidence that whenever we see events happening in Pennsylvania, that we hear of pigeon nettings happening here in New York City,” Shapiro said.
The Humane Society of the United States said there is a bird shooting event in Pennsylvania this weekend. But where the birds are coming from is unclear.
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)
