Combating Downtown Orlando vulture problem

– When you look up at the Orange County Courthouse, you may spot vultures in the sky or on a top floor.

“There was a circle of about 50 or 60 of them when I saw them,” said Michael Deen, who works at the courthouse. “I guess it’s kind of ominous.”

But experts say the birds of prey just like how the building is laid out with places to perch and rising air currents.

“You’ve got to have the right structure and they apparently have the perfect structure for vultures,” said Dianna Flynt with the Audubon Center for Birds of Prey in Maitland.

Orange County officials say the vultures haven’t been around the courthouse for a while because a hawk moved in. They’ve returned over the last few weeks with the predator now gone.

Flynt says the birds aren’t dangerous but they can cause some problems.

“They’re nosy and they’re curious and they have a tendency to be very destructive to some things,” she explained.

Damage to the building and bird droppings is why the county is working to get the vultures to move out. We’re told a bird deterrent system is in the works. That could include wires so the birds don’t perch there. County officials say they don’t know how much the plan will cost yet.

 

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)

Clay pigeons used in string of vandalism

AMES, Iowa —

Boone and Ames police are investigating about 14 reports of vehicles being damaged by clay pigeons overnight Sunday.

Mathew Boley said he is still unhappy about what he woke up to Sunday morning outside his home in Ames.

“I came outside and there were clay pigeons all over the ground next to my car, a few scratches and nice circle size welts on the side of it,” Boley said.

Police said they hope the public will provide helpful information for the ongoing investigating.

“We really would ask the public to come forward if they have any information, if they saw suspicious activity near Aplin Road or Story Street sometime Saturday night,” said Commander Jason Tuttle, of the Ames Police Department.

Residents in Boone said they experienced the same type of vandalism.

“I just noticed there were these clay things all over the road and especially on vehicles all the way up to First Street here,” Boone resident Ryioko Peterson said. “It was car after car.”

John Wilson said he saw the same as he was getting into his car to attend Sunday morning church service. He said he is frustrated and cannot understand why anyone could commit what appears to be a random act.

“People gotta have better things to do than mess around, tearing up people and destroying property,” Wilson said.

Police advise residents to park their vehicle in a garage or driveway if possible to protect their cars. Otherwise, police said it is best to park under a street light.

 

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)

A story for the birds: How Ontario pigeons helped win WWI

Army Capt. Ray L. Delhauer in 1922 arranged for three World War I fliers to attend the first L.A. County Fair where they greeted the crowds — from their cages.

These three war heroes — with the names of Mocker, Spike and President Wilson — were carrier pigeons, birds that had played key roles in serving the military in France, explained Ray Nolan, a member of the Los Angeles Pigeon Club which holds its national pageant this weekend in Ontario.

Delhauer, who lived most of his 67 years in Ontario, might be called the father of the Army pigeon corps, both during and after the first World War. And that love of the birds continued after he became a faculty member at Chaffey High in Ontario, encouraging hundreds of students there to learn about and raise pigeons as a hobby.

Lest you think pigeon could serve no real role in wartime, the military relied on these birds to play vital roles in communications. In those days, radios were at best rudimentary and telephone lines often were tapped by the enemy. As many as 10,000 pigeons carried messages for both sides during the war.

One of those, Spike, was credited with 52 deliveries of messages from the trenches to army headquarters, each time dodging bad weather and enemy sharpshooters. Spike survived these harrowing tasks and lived to age 17, dying in retirement at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, according to the San Bernardino Sun of April 26, 1935.

This love of pigeons like Spike was a lifelong avocation for Delhauer whose family came to Ontario from Ohio when he was 4 months old.

He turned his hobby to good use after he was called to service in 1916-17 as a member of Ontario’s National Guard company. At Nogales, Arizona, during the border troubles with Mexico, he brought some of his birds and established a station, using them to carry messages, reported the Sun on Aug. 16, 1921.

When America moved closer to entering the World War, Delhauer urged the military to begin breeding and training pigeons to serve as messengers.

After some initial reluctance, Army officials assigned him to begin training not only the birds but those who would handle them in combat. Many of his own Ontario pigeons were “enlisted” for breeding purposes at the training center at Fort Monmouth.

In addition to being in the trenches, pigeons were often used by Army and Navy pilots. They would carry birds with them on reconnaissance missions and release them to carry back information or to contact rescuers when planes were downed.

The British also used pigeons, including a legendary bird, The Duke. The pigeon carried numerous messages across the English Channel from France to London. The Duke was given to Delhauer after the war and lived in Ontario until his death in 1930.

Delhauer remained in the Army for a few years after the war, continuing to expand the military program. After retiring in 1925, he was hired at Chaffey High where, for 23 years, he was not only a teacher but ran the pigeon-breeding activities in the school’s agricultural program.

At times the school’s Pigeon Club had as many as 100 members, and students regularly entered their birds in local competitions. At the 1933 L.A. County Fair, 46 Chaffey pigeons received 44 awards.

Delhauer was an impassioned advocate of the benefits of young people raising pigeons.

“Every effort should be made to encourage every boy to becoming interested in a growing bird or animal,” he was quoted in the Ontario Daily Report, Aug. 12, 1946. “All normal boys are interested in live things. Pigeon raising can help round out the character and help develop the boy.”

While at Chaffey High, Delhauer continued working on a global scale. He encouraged the nation’s new air mail program to carry pigeons in planes in case they were forced down in a crash or bad weather. He also undertook a program for the military to breed a pigeon whose camouflaged coloring would make it harder to be seen by an enemy on the battlefield.

He retired from Chaffey in 1948 but his white pigeons were a fixture when they were released as part of the annual Memorial Day ceremonies at Bellevue Cemetery. Delhauer died in 1951 at age 67.

This weekend, Ontario will play host to more than 4,000 birds on display at the Pageant of Pigeons, an event put on by the Los Angeles Pigeon Club for more than a century. Previous shows have also been at the Orange Show in San Bernardino and the fairgrounds in Pomona.

Entries are from all over the nation and birds from as far away as Dubai and Australia will be displayed, according to Nolan.

The event will be at the Ontario Convention Center, 2000 E. Convention Center Way, on Thursday afternoon and all day Friday and Saturday.

Admission is free, though there is a charge for parking. Information: www.losangelespigeonclub.com.

 

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)

Migratory birds in peril from trappers

Autumn again and countless birds are preparing to fly south for the winter, unaware of what their journey will bring. During China’s National Day holiday in early October, volunteers took down two large swathes of illegal bird nets, stretching over 20 kilometres.

Over 8,000 birds were trapped in the nets, with only 3,000 of them still alive. Many Chinese people watching this on the news were unaware of the mass slaughter of wild birds being carried out in the countryside around their cities.

Net gains, net losses

Members of the China National Net Removal Centre have been busy lately. The 300 members of this WeChat social media group are dedicated to taking down bird nets found in forests, reeds, and farmers’ fields. Some are over 10-metres high and 40 or 50-metres long. Wherever nets are found the voluntary teams take them down.

At this time of the year the number of clashes between trappers and activists spikes. A number of important migratory pathways pass through China each year. Populous cities such as Tangshan and Tianjin lie on the East Asia-Australasian flyway, used by around five million birds travelling between Alaska in the north-west and south Asia. Bird trapping is rife along the China-stretch of this path which has become a battleground for removal teams and hunters.

Liu Yidan, China’s best known volunteer bird conservationist, is mainly active around Tianjin, a big industrial city north of Beijing. She told chinadialogue that she has freed 40,000 birds so far this year.

Migratory flyways pass through populous areas, which are often rich in resources and suitable for both agriculture and industry. This can bring people and birds into conflict. Image: WWF China / Li Yiwei, Zhang Yimo

Those concerned about the safety of migratory birds have been able to find each other and connect via social networks. The WeChat forum used by many of the net-removal volunteers keeps its 300 members up-to-date on efforts to save the birds.

Blogs and other online platforms facilitate discussions between the animal rights activists and the public. One volunteer who blogs under the pseudonym “net removal worker” writes in one article about taking down 90 bird nets in six days in the township of Chenjia, on Chongming Island, Shanghai. Chongming is known as a winter refuge for migratory birds.

E-retailers must take responsibility

But the nets are going up faster than they can be taken down. The volunteers have found that online shopping sites have spurred the trade in captured birds. They complain that Taobao, China’s largest online retailer which is owned by Alibaba, has made it easier and cheaper for hunters to acquire tools, meaning disaster for migratory birds and other animals.

A search on Taobao for “bird nets” brings up 5,000 suggested purchases, including one net that is 5-metres high and 30-metres wide for only 30 yuan (US$5). Cheap prices and quick delivery makes acquiring nets simple.

One volunteer, who preferred to remain anonymous, complained that: “Nets, lures; you can get anything you want on Taobao, and the sellers even tell you how to use them. E-commerce has sent the bamboo partridge to the brink of extinction.”

The trade in captured birds is also increasingly reliant on the internet. A 2014 report from the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Wanted – Dead or Alive, Exposing Online Wildlife Trade, exposed illegal online trading of many CITES Appendix 1 and 2 listed endangered species. In China the online trading of live wild birds takes place on sites like Alibaba’s Taobao, second only to that in turtles and tortoises.

The industry behind the nets

Zhang Yimo, head of the WWF China’s migratory birds network, told chinadialogue that flyways in China are much more densely populated than in other places where migratory birds rest, such as Russia and Alaska. And so the birds come into conflict with people more often, relatively speaking.

The netting of the birds is just one part of a business. Many of the wild creatures are then sold to restaurants in large numbers. In the chat room one volunteer reported large numbers of nets in a Zhejiang tourist spot, with restaurants openly advertising wild-caught game. The Yellow-breasted Bunting, once a common sight, is now as endangered as the Giant Panda.

Also, some Chinese people like to keep birds as pets, and a rare songbird can mean huge profits. According to one volunteer, one Siberian Ruby Throat hummingbird, known for its pleasant song, can fetch as much as 8,000 yuan (US$1,156).

Effects of new law remain to be seen

Zhou Haixiang, head of the Ecology and Environment Laboratory at Shenyang Ligong University, does not think taking down the nets will prevent trapping. He toldchinadialogue that this has no deterrent effect and that efforts should be directed towards catching the poachers.

“A net is cheap, you take one down and they will put another up,” said Zhou Haixiang.

Some of the volunteers are disappointed by the lack of law enforcement. “Net removal worker” wrote on his blog:

“Just taking the nets down simply isn’t enough. If you don’t strike at the people trapping birds, trading birds, eating birds and keeping birds then you can take down as many nets as you like but they will just get put back up.”

The punishment for trapping birds under Chinese law is minor but the potential profits are huge. For many it is worth the risk. Zhou Haixiang explained that in some places farmers make several thousand yuan a year by planting crops. However, you can make more, and faster, by spending a few days trapping birds during the migration season.

Zhou thinks the most effective approach would be to fine anyone caught with a wild migratory bird, regardless of whether they are the buyer, seller, or poacher.

There are differing opinions on whether the new Wild Animal Protection Law, due to come into effect in 2017, will offer much protection to migratory birds. The sale of nets online will be restricted, as the law is expected to ban online trading platforms from allowing the illegal sale of wild animals and hunting implements. It also bans the use of poisons and nets to hunt wild animals.

Xie Yan, a deputy researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Zoology, said that the new law is the first law designed to protect the birds’ habitats and to ban hunting, including on the migratory routes of birds that are not necessarily protected species.

But Zhou Haixiang thinks the law still focuses too much on the protection of rare and endangered species, rather than the ecosystem as a whole.

More importantly, it’s hard to see the new law having much impact if enforcement isn’t improved.

“The question now is how to ensure the law is strictly enforced,” said Liu Detian, head of the Liaoning Panjing Society for the Protection of Chinese Black-headed Gulls. Under the law, the poaching of more than twenty wild animals is to be treated harshly; and one net can easily catch hundreds of birds. Lu thinks law enforcement agencies aren’t doing enough to combat bird netting, and imposing fines just means the poachers trap more birds to cover the costs. He thinks prison sentences are needed to solve the problem.

According to Zhang Yimo, as the internet makes it easy to buy and sell trapping tools and wild animals, there is a need for the authorities in charge of online commerce, businesses and wildlife protectors to cooperate. The roads and railways authorities, including delivery firms, should also work to prevent breaches of the law.

On October 18, the State Forestry Administration launched a 40-day “Net Clearing Action”, intended to remove illegal bird nets and smash the underground networks trapping, transporting and trading trapped birds. So perhaps this migratory season, the volunteers will have a bit more official support and the birds will face less danger. But as Zhang Yimo says, to ensure the long-term safety of migratory birds, “strong law enforcement is crucial, and that will be very hard to achieve.”

 

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)

Look back

25 years ago

NOV. 28, 1991

Senate Minority Leader Bob Dole on Wednesday secured $56.2 million to make U.S. 81 a four-lane expressway between Concordia and the Nebraska border. “This will help Salina a lot,” the Kansas Republican said. “It will create a lot of jobs in the area, there will be twice as many people coming through and there will be a lot more commerce.” Dole made a last-minute amendment to the nation’s six-year highway bill to get $73.6 million in reimbursements for the state’s construction of portions of interstate highways. Of that, $49.2 million goes to U.S. 81 along with $7 million he had previously secured.

NOV. 29, 1991

More than two years after a pigeon panel was convened to determine how to control pigeons in downtown Salina, the pigeon panel is no more. The pigeons? They’re still happy in downtown Salina, merrily making life interesting for downtown visitors who dare look up to the pigeons perched atop building roofs. Pigeons became a concern because of their droppings, which some found offensive and a possible health risk. The city is still on a waiting list to have some rare peregrine falcons relocated in Salina. The peregrine falcon is a raptor that preys solely on birds and has been used successfully in other cities to control pigeons.

DEC. 1, 1991

Three or four times a week by his estimate — through messages left with the court clerk, the defendant’s attorney, or on a hurriedly scribbled note — another domestic abuse case dissolves before City Prosecutor Gary Denning’s eyes. A new law that takes effect statewide Jan. 1 requires law officers arrest people suspected of abusing their mates. The law applies to any parties in a close relationship — be they married, unmarried, heterosexual or homosexual. The policy is at work in Salina and Saline County, where abusers are held in jail for up to six hours before being allowed to post bond. Most are charged with misdemeanors and referred to Salina Municipal Court for prosecution.

DEC. 3, 1991

The 1991 Smoky Hill River Festival turned a profit of $23,472, which is attributed mostly to the excellent weather for the three-day festival in June, festival organizers said. It was the first time since 1988 that the festival turned a profit. The biggest income producers continued to be button sales ($94,788) and vendor/exhibitor fees ($63,084). The festival generated income of $259,448. Expenses were $235,976.

50 years ago

NOV. 28, 1966

GOODLAND — Construction of a sugar beet factory near Goodland is expected to begin within one week. The new plant is an economic shot in the arm for the Goodland area. During construction, 300 workers will be employed. Construction will take around one and a half years to complete. The new plant will also provide stable year-round employment. About 50 persons will man the plant after its completion. During peak processing months, at least 200 persons will work in the various departments.

NOV. 29, 1966

A decision on ambulance service in Salina and for much of the rest of Saline county may be near.The two Salina funeral homes, Chapel and Rush Smith, which now provide ambulance service, want to discontinue it Dec. 23. The new plan calls for the director’s office to be set up in the sheriff’s department. One of the ambulances also would be housed near the sheriff’s office with the city providing places for two other ambulances and for personnel to sleep. The housing and telephone service available from the law enforcement agencies would save on the expenses of operation.

DEC. 2, 1966

COLBY — Cable TV will soon be at Colby. Construction of a reception tower will begin Jan. 2 and the system will be on the air shortly after this. The tower will be 350 to 400 feet tall and on land owned by Francis Dible, one and a half miles southeast of the Colby Community junior college. Services will be provided by Multi-Vue TV and besides the networks, there will also be a 24-hour weather scanner channel and 24-hour program of music.

DEC. 4, 1966

Appropriately, the information came in during the “graveyard” shift. The increase in traffic deaths is almost 10 percent. Through November, across the nation, 28,590 persons have died this year. In 1965, 26,379 persons had died. Saline County has also added to totals in the first half of the year. There have been no deaths in the county since June 24, but by then 30 persons had died in 12 accidents.

75 years ago

NOV. 28, 1941

BELLEVILLE — Whether it’s a two-penny or six-penny nail, a nail from Sweden, Arabia or Iceland, an 18-inch cotter key or an odd-sized screw that you want, you can probably find it at 2110 H. Street. For W.E. Muth of Belleville has assembled more than 2,000 nails, screws and fasteners during the first six months of effort in that direction … and he says that he’s barely started. Although handicapped by ill health, which doesn’t permit him to get away from home often, Mr. Muth has developed a “sixth sense” for nails. For seldom does he return from even a short jaunt without some new specimens and he has his friends organized and working for him too, 79 of them. Begun in May of this year, his collection of 2,000 items includes 729 different nails, 448 screws, 203 tacks, 72 set screws, 110 screw eyes and screw hooks, 66 staples, 128 rivets and 64 cotter keys.

NOV. 29, 1941

Officers of this county are sitting back at present and watching the fun at Abilene, where the state seeks to convict Emerson Nichols, of Harlan, on a charge of possessing the liquor that intoxicates. For Saline county has a “hold order” on Nichols. It was November 5 when Sheriff Paul Shanahan came up on a bootlegger’s car a short distance east of Salina on the North Street Road and would have succeeded in running it down had it not been for the mud. Two men in the car fought off the sheriff, who fell as the auto drew away, tearing his topcoat and burning a shoulder. The ‘leggers threw out six pints of alcohol as they left and later abandoned their car at Bennington.

DEC. 1, 1941

McPHERSON — Mrs. Chester Ribeau, slight, dark-haired 60-year-old housewife, was held without bond for trial in the current term of district court on a first degree murder charge in the slaying of her 34-year-old fourth husband early today. Mrs. Ribeau broke into sobs as county attorney Kenneth Hodge read the murder charge , filed a few hours after she appeared before dawn at the county jail and told officers her husband had beaten her most of the night. When Sheriff’s deputies went to the residence they found Ribeau seated in a rocking chair beside a radio that still was playing and a shotgun wound in the back of the head.

DEC. 2, 1941

HAYS — A Hays bachelor got up with the sun as usual Tuesday morning and went off to work in the oil fields north of Hays. Later that morning, as usual, his landlord showed up to clean his room and tidy things up a bit. The landlord opened the door to the bachelor’s room — gasped, and immediately closed it again. Determined he set out looking for his tenant. After all, he told himself, no renters of his were going to take advantage of him and have women in their rooms. Finding his bachelor tenant, he proceeded to discuss in pointed, emphatic language, exactly what he thought of his renter’s actions. “But,” the bachelor said, barely squeezing a word in edge-wise, “that’s my wife. We were married last night.” The landlord apologized profusely.

100 years ago

NOV. 28, 1916

The November term of district court opened this morning with the heaviest docket ever listed in the county. One hundred and seventy seven cases are listed on the docket prepared by District Clerk Hedquist. Eleven naturalization cases, the first work of the term, are under way this afternoon. The jury men have been summoned to report and it is not anticipated that court will get under way much before the beginning of next week.

NOV. 29, 1916

Boy Scouts will shine again. This time they will help the board of public welfare in distributing baskets of food to the poor Thursday. Two Boy Scouts to the car will be the arrangement and by this plan welfare officers says the food would be quickly distributed. The city will be divided into districts similar to those used during the clean up campaign.

DEC. 4, 1916

McPHERSON — Should a minister of the gospel use more moral discretion than a justice of the peace when performing a marriage ceremony, or should he consider himself performing an ordinary legal act and forget his technical moral obligation? This question is now under advisement in the divorce suit of Mrs. Sadie Rollings against Harry Rollings. Mrs. Rollings claimed she was intoxicated. She testified she would not have done so had she been sober. The Rev. Mr. Jacob Rader admitted to the court that he performed the ceremony while Mrs. Rollings was considerably under the influence of intoxicants, but said she appeared to know what she was doing, and, as it was a civil contract under the law, he merely performed a legal duty.

125 years ago

NOV. 28, 1891

The council met in special session to consider the matter of city lights. An ordinance was passed abrogating the gas lights and accepting a contract with the company by which the city is to take seven arc lights in the place of the gas street lights now used. In the 1st ward, one light will be on Third and Ash and one at Second and Elm. One will be located at Fourth and Walnut in the 4th ward and one at Oakdale and Iron between 1st and 4th wards. The light now located at Prescott and Eighth is to be removed to Santa Fe and Prescott. This will make 26 arc lights in all, and as they are to be raised several feet higher, the light will be greatly improved.

NOV. 29, 1891

TESCOTT — In this country town there lives a little old man who sells milk, carrying it from house to house morning and evening in a small handcart. There is nothing strange about that, but his companion on these daily trips is the very strangest you ever heard of — an old gray goose, who follows him about in the most dignified manner, and stands watch over the cart, letting no one go near it in his master’s absence. His name is Major, and his master says that he is just as useful as a dog would be.

DEC. 4, 1891

ABILENE — The sensational disappearance of the Simmons children, who have been missing the past four days, was settled today. They were found several miles out in the country, where they had wandered on a runaway tour. The parents’ theory of abduction by an alien was due to their excited imagination.

 

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)