by Pigeon Patrol | Dec 16, 2019 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Control, Pigeon Droppings, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
The Standing Policy Committee on Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services on Monday reviewed a report prepared in response to a request by Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.
The centre asked the city to stop using the neurotoxin, saying it’s an inhumane way to control pests.
Around 2,300 pigeons put down, 635,000 kg of feces cleaned from Saskatoon bridge
According to a description on Avitrol’s website, the product works by causing “behaviours similar to an epileptic seizure.”
“This may include flying erratically, vocalizing, trembling, dilation of the pupils and other symptoms,” the description says.
Witnessing these behaviours can encourage unaffected birds to leave a location.
“Flocks can be frightened away from sites little or no mortality.”
According to the report, Avitrol is no longer used in other cities including Halifax, San Francisco and New York.
The committee heard how in the past the city used Avitrol to remove pests, but currently there are no sites where the city or its contractors are using the poison.
However the city does not have anything in writing that bans private use of Avitrol.
City hall to pursue pest management strategy for Saskatoon
Concern is raised over the city’s use of neurotoxins to control pigeon populations
PHIL TANK, SASKATOON STARPHOENIX
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.
Contact us at 1- 877– 4– NO-BIRD, (604) 585-9279 or visit our website at www.pigeonpatrol.ca
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by Pigeon Patrol | Sep 1, 2019 | Bird Netting, Bird Spike, Bird Spikes, Pigeon Control, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Bird feces being rubbed on a woman’s face.
NEW YORK — Bird poop for beauty?
That’s what goes into facials at a luxury spa where the traditional Japanese treatment using imported Asian nightingale excrement mixed with rice bran goes for $180 a pop.
About 100 women and men go into the Shizuka New York skin care salon, just off Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue, each month to get the treatment, which is promoted as a way to keep the face soft and smooth using an enzyme in the poop to gently exfoliate the skin.
Spa owner Shizuka Bernstein, a Tokyo native married to an American, has been offering what she calls the Geisha Facial for about five years.
“I try to bring Japanese beauty secrets to the United States,” says Bernstein, who learned the treatment from her mother.
The Geisha Facial poop treatment, while relatively rare in the United States, is no secret in Japan, where it was first used in the 1600s by actors and geishas.
“That’s why Japanese grandmothers have beautiful complexions,” says Duke Klauck, owner of the Ten Thousand Waves health spa in Santa Fe, N.M., which offers a Nightingale Facial for $129.
In this Wednesday, July 17, 2013 photo, salon owner Shizuka Bernstein mixes ingredients for what she calls a Geisha Facial at Shizuka New York skin care in New York. The facial, which Bernstein has been offering for five years, is a traditional Japanese treatment using imported Asian nightingale excrement mixed with rice bran, and goes for $180 a pop. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
In this Wednesday, July 17, 2013 photo, salon owner Shizuka Bernstein mixes ingredients for what she calls a Geisha Facial at Shizuka New York skin care in New York. The facial, which Bernstein has been offering for five years, is a traditional Japanese treatment using imported Asian nightingale excrement mixed with rice bran, and goes for $180 a pop.
On a recent afternoon in Manhattan, Mari Miyoshi arrived at the sixth-floor Shizuka New York spa to try the treatment for the first time.
“I’m a stressed-out New Yorker,” the 35-year-old occupational therapist announced as she reclined on a table, relaxing amid aromas of camellia, lavender and rose.
The treatment begins with steam to open the pores and soften the skin. Cream is applied. And then comes what Bernstein calls “the nightingale part.”
She pours the cream-coloured poop, dried and finely ground, into a bowl, mixing it with the rice bran using a small spatula. She applies the potion to Miyoshi’s face with a brush, rubbing it in with her hands.
Does it smell?
“Yes, but like toasted rice,” Miyoshi says.
After about five minutes, it comes off with a foaming cleanser and Miyoshi’s face is draped in a warm, wet towel bathed in lavender and geranium essences. Finally, the grand finale — a green-tea collagen mask.
“Sooooo nice,” Bernstein says softly, looking at Miyoshi’s radiant face.
Dr. Michele Green, a Manhattan cosmetic dermatologist, says that while the nightingale facial “definitely has some rejuvenating effect, I don’t think it’s any different than, say, an apricot scrub or a mask that you could buy in a local pharmacy.”
A common misconception is that any old bird poop, even from pigeons, is used. Bernstein says only droppings from birds of the nightingale species are used because they live on seeds, producing the natural enzyme that is the active ingredient.
“We don’t do Central Park facials,” she says, “because those birds eat garbage.”
by Pigeon Patrol | Aug 8, 2019 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Crews tasked with cleaning a Saskatchewan bridge are in for a dirty job.
The City of Saskatoon said that over the last 50 years one of its bridges has accumulated nearly 350 tonnes of pigeon poop – which is roughly equal to 230 cars parked on the bridge.
It said the feces adds unnecessary weight and the pigeon droppings contain uric acid which can damage concrete, affecting the integrity of the bridge.
This also means the extermination of about 1,500 members of the feathered flock that makes the Sid Buckwold Bridge home.
The city said relocating or displacing the birds is not recommended because they are likely to fly back or move into other private properties or civic spaces. Homing pigeons are likely to return to their original roosting areas, making relocation difficult as a long term solution.
A local wildlife advocate is disappointed and questions why alternatives can’t be found that would allow the birds to live. “In Saskatchewan, a very, very, very common response is if it pisses you off, shoot it,” said Jan Shadick, volunteer director of Living Sky Wildlife Rehabilitation.
Regina and Vancouver rely on pigeon spikes, protective netting or cages to keep pigeons off their facilities. Toronto and Calgary do not practice Pigeon control.
Here at Pigeon Patrol, we manufacture, sell, and install humane bird exclusion products, such as bird spikes and netting.
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by Ryan Ponto | Mar 20, 2017 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
PESKY pigeons are being given a run for their money after council bosses brought in a hawk to scare them away – and stop them dumping their unpleasant payloads on people’s heads.
The harris hawk and its handler have been seen several times on the roof of the county council’s social services offices in Clacton.
The airborne attacker sends seagulls and pigeons screeching into the air as the hawk is released from the roof of the Magnet House building in Jackson Road.
An Essex Council spokesman said: “Due to the continued roosting of pigeons and seagulls on top of Magnet House, our partners Mitie are currently trialling the use of a hawk as a deterrent, to prevent the build-up of bird droppings at the building’s entrances.
“This method is highly effective and environmentally friendly, as the hawk’s presence should quickly make an area undesirable for pest species, and in doing so help to keep Magnet House clean and safe in future.”
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 | Mar 19, 2017 | Pigeon Spikes
Fifteen years ago, the center of London was densely populated — not just with people, but also with birds. Particularly pigeons.
Huge flocks of them would fill the capital’s parks and squares. But something has changed. The pigeons are gone. One reason for the pigeon decline can be seen in Trafalgar Square at 7 a.m. every weekday.
Not far from Big Ben, the square is the very center of the city. Even early in the day it bustles with commuters, tourists and school parties. But among all that activity there is a hunter on the loose. A silent killer. One who watches over every movement — from the National Gallery on the north side to Charing Cross Station on the south. Up close to him, you notice powerful shoulders, a penetrating gaze — and also a tendency to twist his head around to the back looking for prey.
That hunter’s name is Lemmy, and he is a Harris’s hawk.
Lemmy is employed by the Greater London Authority to ensure that places like Trafalgar Square remain free of pigeons, and therefore free of their waste. He works in a team: his handler, Paul Picknell, is employed by Hawkforce, one of London’s leading avian security firms.
Speaking to Picknell, there is no mistaking his love for his work buddy. “He’s a work colleague, he’s a friend. [But he is] essentially a wild animal. Never tame. In amongst all these people — he’ll totally ignore everybody apart from me,” he says. “It’s almost a telepathetic communication.”
Until the early 2000s, pigeons ruled Trafalgar Square and other open spaces in the center of London. You could buy food to feed them. Even Mary Poppins had a song advising Londoners to feed the birds.
Things changed in 2003, when the mayor of London declared war on the birds. So many pigeons produced a lot of … waste. And that’s not hygienic.
The pigeon feed stall was closed. If Mary Poppins tried to feed the birds now, she would be hit with a fine. But a humane and natural way to move the pigeons on was needed. And that’s where Picknell and Lemmy come in.
As Picknell is talking, Lemmy suddenly gags and vomits up a small oily lump of yellowish paste onto the sidewalk. Picknell is relieved. “Oh. That’s what we’re waiting for,” he says. “That’s the cast. It’s basically beaks, the feathers, the claws of the food he had yesterday that he can’t digest.”
He picks it up and rubs it carefully between his fingers for a diagnosis. It crumbles under his thumbnail. “That one’s quite normal looking. Nothing wrong with this bird. He’s ready to go now.”
Although Harris’s hawks do hunt birds like pigeons, the idea is not for Lemmy to kill while on duty. He is fed exclusively from a small plastic box of raw chicken scraps. Picknell takes a large handful and fills his pocket with these snacks at the start of every shift.
Instead, the idea is to use Lemmy’s presence to deter and intimidate pigeons. “It’s a visual thing. It’s a presence,” says Picknell. “The pigeons are aware there’s a bird of prey — there’s predator around, therefore they stay away.”
There’s an air of “The Sopranos” when Picknell describes the effect Lemmy’s presence has on pigeons. “I suppose he does intimidate them,” he says. “The big kid’s around. Keep yourself to yourself. Stay out the way.”
Unlike other forms of pest control, such as poisoning or shooting, the use of hawks is environmentally friendly and ultimately humane. It is also popular: Picknell and Limmy are constantly pestered for selfies. Some hawks like the attention more than others, Picknell says. Lemmy is not too keen on having his feathers ruffled.
There was some backlash at first — a renegade pro-pigeon activist group is still rumored to carry out vigilante bread distributions somewhere nearby — but the square today is much cleaner. And almost completely free of pigeons.
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)
