The strange tale of the bird ladies of Sellafield

by Pigeon Patrol | Sep 19, 2024 | Bird Netting

Growing up, I loved hearing Tom Lehrer sing “Poisoning the Pigeons in the Park.” Not that I wished harm on the innocent birds. In fact I was something of an aspiring birder at the time. I just enjoyed Lehrer’s dark humor.

But the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility, on England’s northwest coast, made that song a reality. Sellafield was poisoning pigeons routinely with its radioactive releases. It was just that, for a while, no one knew it.

Not until, that is, two middle-aged twin sisters, living in the nearby small town of Seascale, began overpopulating their garden with pigeons. Jane and Barrie Robinson fed and cared for the birds out of love. They called their place the Singing Surf pigeon sanctuary.

But the neighbors weren’t so happy about it. Adhering to to the usual pigeon cliché about “flying rats”, and fearing a health hazard from all the droppings, they called authorities on the bird ladies of Sellafield. And the strange tale began to unfold.

It was February 1998, and an inspector from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) came to the Robinson home. Concerned that the birds might be radioactive, given their habit of roosting on the Sellafield roofs, he collected and culled 150 pigeons, who were taken to the reprocessing center for testing. The findings sparked alarming headlines.

“Sellafield scare over radioactive pigeons”, blared The Independent, a national broadsheet newspaper at the time (now online only.) The article said that “a radiation scare” was underway and that “urgent analysis of the dead birds is being carried out.”

The Robinson pigeons showed “significant” levels of radiation. The rattled RSPCA inspector was tested for his own exposure and the group said that in future its staff would wear hazmat suits when handling animals in the Sellafield area.

Another 200 birds were culled and eventually 2,000. The Robinson’s garden was deemed a radioactive waste site and had to be excavated and removed for disposal, taken to the nearby Drigg radioactive waste dump, along with the tarmac driveway. All the garden furniture went, too. Eventually the UK government was forced to issue a ban on handling or eating pigeons within a 10-mile radius of Sellafield.

On Seascale beach there are plenty of warnings about dogs, but none about the Sellafield radioactive contamination there. (Photo: Linda Pentz Gunter)

Of course, the pigeon scare was not the first time radiation exposure had raised concerns in the region. Cumbrians Opposed to a Radioactive Environment had long been watchdogging Sellafield and calling out its inadequate response to accidents and leaks at the facility, as well as the harm it was doing to health and the environment.

The health impacts had been brought into stark focus by a 1991 study by MJ Gardner, who found elevated rates of leukemia among local children.

Gardner noted that “Cohort studies indicated that the excess of leukemia was concentrated among children born in Seascale and was not found among those moving in after birth and suggested that any causal factors may be acting before birth or very early in life.”

The study’s most startling revelation was a connection between the “raised incidence of leukemia in children and father’s recorded external radiation dose during work at Sellafield before his child’s conception.”

But back to the pigeon story and fast forward to June 2, 2010, when it goes from bizarre to worse.

Warning Poisonous Gas Dead Bird Symbol Sign, Vector Illustration, Isolate On White Background Label. EPS10

A 52-year old man called Derrick Bird — yes, that was his name — went on a mass shooting rampage. This was an unusual event in the UK then and now. The first person Bird killed was his own twin brother, David. Then he killed another twin, Jane Robinson, one of the two bird ladies of Sellafield.

Before he was done, Bird had slaughtered 12 people, and wounded 11, before taking his own life. Other than the killing of his twin, the victims appeared to have been chosen at random.

According to a BBC story on the murders, “The coffin of animal lover Jane Robinson was adorned with a pigeon made of dyed grey chrysanthemums and birds’ feathers.”

Bird kills bird woman whose birds were killed….it doesn’t get much stranger.

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

Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.

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

Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den, 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 De-fence, Pigeon Nesting, Bird Droppings, Pigeon Dropping, woodpecker control,  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 control, Bird deterrents, Pigeon deterrents, Bird control, solutions, Pigeon prevention, Pigeon repellent, Bird proofing, Pest bird management, Pigeon spikes, Bird netting, Humane bird control, Bird exclusion, Urban bird control, Anti-roosting devices, Pigeon removal, Bird barriers

Boca Raton pigeon problem is a mess

by Pigeon Patrol | Sep 19, 2024 | Bird Netting

BOCA RATON — In a community proud of its well-off residents, fancy shops and upscale resorts, pigeon droppings outside City Hall are taken seriously.

City workers have used pressure sprayers to wash the droppings away and tried electricity and a recording of a hawk screeching to scare off the pigeons, but the birds — and their mess — remain.

“The pigeons hang out on the light fixtures and the droppings get on the sidewalk right in front of the front door,” Assistant City Manager George Brown said.

In their first attempt to get rid of the birds, workers rigged 12-volt wires around the City Hall’s windows, where the pigeons like to roost. That’s not enough electricity to kill the birds, but workers hoped it would make them uncomfortable enough to move, which they did — a few feet away to some light fixtures.

This month, workers installed a speaker on the roof, hoping that recordings of screeching hawks would drive them away. The pigeons, in their own way, just laughed.

“They just decided they like it here for some reason,” Brown said.

Tim Brown, the education director at a nearby wildlife hospital, said the common pigeon — which is actually the African rock dove — lives on stone outcroppings in the wild, making them perfect city dwellers.

“Architecturally, we build all these wonderful habitats for pigeons,” he said. To get rid of the birds, he suggests chicken wire, which would be unsightly, or installing strips studded with needles.

But city officials have other ideas.

“Poison corn,” said Bob DiChristopher, deputy director of municipal services. After a moment’s pause, he added: “That’s just a joke.”

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

Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.

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

Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den, 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 De-fence, Pigeon Nesting, Bird Droppings, Pigeon Dropping, woodpecker control,  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 control, Bird deterrents, Pigeon deterrents, Bird control, solutions, Pigeon prevention, Pigeon repellent, Bird proofing, Pest bird management, Pigeon spikes, Bird netting, Humane bird control, Bird exclusion, Urban bird control, Anti-roosting devices, Pigeon removal, Bird barriers

Where Did All the Pigeons Go?

by Pigeon Patrol | Jul 9, 2024 | Bird Netting

Where Did All the Pigeons Go?

People have been commenting on the disappearance of city pigeons for several years, and not just in Portland.

Pigeons? Downtown? Are you feeling feverish, Karrie? Everyone knows there’s never been anything but crows downtown. Pigeons, indeed! Next you’ll be telling me Oceania hasn’t always been at war with Eurasia.

Just kidding! People besides you have been commenting on the disappearance of city pigeons for several years, and not just in Portland: Seattle, San Francisco, Philadelphia and even New York City have all seen dropoffs in the birds’ population. Estimates of the decline nationwide range from 30% to 46% since the 1970s.

What’s going on? Experts point to many factors: modern construction trends that provide fewer nesting spaces, pollution that taxes the birds’ respiratory systems and contaminates food sources, diseases like avian influenza, human activities like trapping or unhealthy feeding, and even climate change, which may disrupt the pigeons’ ability to find food and shelter.

In other words, they don’t know. A popular theory on message boards is that pigeons are being outcompeted by wily crows. This jibes with the anecdotal ob

servation that crows seem to be becoming more numerous, at least in Portland. But I ask you: If crows are so perfectly adapted, why haven’t they been Portland’s dominant avian scavenger this whole time? It seems likelier that pigeons are tanking for their own reasons; crows are just seizing the opportunity.

Still, that does invite the question: Why did pigeons beat out crows in the first place? Well, baby birds need protein to grow. Adult pigeons have the ability to produce a high-protein secretion, called “crop milk,” to feed them. This guaranteed protein supply lets pigeons breed year round. Crows, which have to scare up protein wherever they can, only breed in the spring, when protein-filled bugs and worms are plentiful.

That said, crop milk doesn’t seem to be helping pigeons much now. Perhaps someday we’ll learn why. In the meantime, I can’t help noticing that pigeons’ 1970s heyday seems to coincide nicely with the peregrine falcon’s DDT-fueled near-extinction. Since then, our local population of falcons (a major pigeon predator) has been steadily increasing, even as pigeons’ numbers have waned. I’m not saying it’s a conspiracy, but if somebody catches a crow and a falcon working together to paint the pigeons out of some historical photo—well, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

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

Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.

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

Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den, 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 De-fence, Pigeon Nesting, Bird Droppings, Pigeon Dropping, woodpecker control,  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 control, Bird deterrents, Pigeon deterrents, Bird control, solutions, Pigeon prevention, Pigeon repellent, Bird proofing, Pest bird management, Pigeon spikes, Bird netting, Humane bird control, Bird exclusion, Urban bird control, Anti-roosting devices, Pigeon removal, Bird barriers

Pigeon accused of spying for China freed in India after 8-month detention

by Pigeon Patrol | Jul 9, 2024 | Bird Netting

Pigeon accused of spying for China freed in India after 8-month detention

A pigeon is released from an animal hospital in Mumbai on Jan. 30 after being held for eight months on suspicion of spying for China. (Anshuman Poyrekar/Hindustan Times/AP)

A pigeon held for eight months on suspicion of spying for China has been released after Indian authorities determined it was no avian agent of espionage, but a disoriented Taiwanese racing bird that had lost its ay.

Police found the pigeon near a port in Mumbai in May with two metal rings tied to its leg and what looked like Chinese writing on the underside of its wings. For eight months, the alleged secret agent was held in custody, first by police and then by the city’s Bai Sakarbai Dinshaw Petit Hospital for Animals, which confirmed local media reports about the pigeon and its origin.

Mumbai police told The Washington Post that after “deep and proper inquiry and investigations,” they did not find “any suspicious material or fact” associated with the pigeon. It was released last week and is in fine health, according to the hospital.

The animal rights nonprofit PETA helped secure the bird’s release. “Like all birds, pigeons should be free to soar in the skies, forage for food, and raise their young as a couple,” PETA India Director Poorva Joshipura said in a statement, which noted that pigeons demonstrate self-awareness and intelligence.

Experts say the bird probably got lost during a race off the coast of Taiwan and may have hitched a ride on a boat to make the roughly 3,000-mile journey.

“A racing pigeon can fly for up to 1,000 kilometers [about 620 miles] in a day, but for it to fly to India, it had to make stops,” said Yang Tsung-te, the head of the Taiwanese racing pigeon trading platform Nice Pigeon, adding that some racing pigeons from the island have made it as far as the United States and Canada.

Alabama racing pigeon ends mysterious trip across the Pacific in Australian man’s backyard

The espionage allegations follow concern in the United States last year over Chinese spy balloons and amid continued tensions between China and India, two nuclear powers that share a contested border and have been vying for influence in the region.

It’s also not the first time Indian authorities wrongfully locked up a pigeon for alleged spying. A similar incident in 2015 sparked amusement in India and Pakistan, and in 2020, police briefly held a Pakistani fisherman’s pigeon after it flew over the countries’ heavily militarized border.

Although the allegations might sound absurd in an age of satellites and cyberespionage, pigeons do have a history of use in reconnaissance operations.

During World War I, Germany deployed pigeons with cameras strapped onto their chests, and in World War II, Allied forces used the birds to exchange secret messages, according to the National Audubon Society, an American nonprofit organization dedicated to bird conservation. Because pigeons are a “common species,” the camera-equipped birds could conceal their intelligence collection “among the activities of thousands of other birds,” according to the CIA, which also developed such a camera.

According to the International Spy Museum in Washington, pigeons were “distinguished by their speed and ability to return home in any weather.”

Those same qualities make pigeons good for racing — a much more common use of the birds these days. During races, pigeons are released sometimes hundreds of miles from home and owners wait for them to return.

Pigeon racing in Iraq: Pricey birds, obsessive owners and, alas, stone-throwing bandits

Colin Jerolmack, a professor at New York University and the author of “The Global Pigeon,” said it was “quite comical” that Indian authorities saw Chinese writing and assumed espionage, especially considering the enormous popularity of pigeon racing there and the fact that China has many “more sophisticated” tools than a pigeon.

Once dubbed “the poor man’s horse racing,” it is becoming big business, he said, noting that winning pigeons can fetch tens of thousands of dollars at auction — or much more.

In Taiwanese competitions, rather than racing over land, pigeons are brought out to sea and released 124 miles to 310 miles offshore, said Ya-Ching Huang, a researcher at Boston University who has studied Taiwan’s pigeon racing culture. Because of this format, “it’s not uncommon for pigeons to end up landing in neighboring countries or on boats that take them even further away,” she said.

While pigeon fanciers maintain that the birds receive great care during training, animal rights groups and ethicists have long criticized the sport. According to PETA, millions of pigeons die every year in Taiwan’s seasonal races, with many drowning from exhaustion, dying in storms or being killed for being too slow.

In racing and espionage, “pigeons are used as tools for human ends,” said Jan Deckers, a researcher at Newcastle University in Britain who studies animal ethics. “No pigeon chooses to release themselves a long way away from their lofts and to carry messages, tags or rings back home.”

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

Canada’s top wholesaler for bird deterrent products for twelve consecutive years.

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

Bird Gone, Pigeon Gone, Pigeon problems, pigeon spikes, 1-877-4NO-BIRD, 4-S Gel, Bird Control, Pigeon Control, bird repellent, Bird Spikes, sonic bird repellent, stainless steel bird spikes, bird spikes Vancouver, Ultra Sonic Bird Control, Bird Netting, Plastic Bird Spikes, Canada bird spike deterrents, Pigeon Pests, B Gone Pigeon, Pigeon Patrol, pest controller, pest control operator, pest control technician, Pigeon Control Products, humane pigeon spikes, pigeon deterrents, pigeon traps, Pigeon repellents, Sound & Laser Deterrents, wildlife control, raccoon, skunk, squirrel deterrent, De-Fence Spikes, Dragons Den, 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 De-fence, Pigeon Nesting, Bird Droppings, Pigeon Dropping, woodpecker control,  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 control, Bird deterrents, Pigeon deterrents, Bird control, solutions, Pigeon prevention, Pigeon repellent, Bird proofing, Pest bird management, Pigeon spikes, Bird netting, Humane bird control, Bird exclusion, Urban bird control, Anti-roosting devices, Pigeon removal, Bird barriers