by Ryan Ponto | Nov 14, 2016 | Pigeon Spikes, UltraSonic Bird Control
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan — If any further proof were needed that geopolitical intrigue can stalk the humblest of Pakistan’s inhabitants, consider the recent cases of two Pakistani birds.
The first is a pigeon, a species that people all over the country raise on their rooftops as a simple, inexpensive pleasure and a brief escape from their daily struggles with poverty, corruption and clogged streets below.
Some weeks ago, tensions were running especially high between Pakistan and its perennial next-door rival India. The source was Kashmir, the disputed border region where Muslim protesters had been blinded with pellet guns and Indian soldiers had been burned to death in a late-night attack by insurgents.
Into the fog of belligerent rhetoric between the two nuclear powers wandered a white pigeon, which was caught and caged by Indian security forces in a border district adjoining Kashmir.
I realize I am sticking my neck out but would the Indian authorities please set the poor captive pigeon free?
According to Indian news agencies, the bird was suspected of having “Pakistani links” and was carrying a warning message for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The arresting officer posed with his feathered prisoner, and the image soon circulated on social media.
Around the same time, Indian authorities in Kashmir said that they had also discovered 150 dehydrated pigeons stuffed into a car and that they suspected the birds had been smuggled for purposes of espionage. An official was quoted as saying the pigeons had suspicious multicoloured rings attached to their feet. All were turned over to an animal welfare agency while police investigated the case.
Irfan Husain, a columnist for Pakistan’s Dawn newspaper, suggested that the avian seizures were a sign that India remains “a deeply insecure country” despite its large size, rapidly growing economy and military might. “I realize I am sticking my neck out,” he wrote, “but would the Indian authorities please set the poor captive pigeon free?”
No such outcry has yet been raised about the potential plight of another Pakistani bird, the houbara bustard, a grey-speckled, pheasantlike creature mostly found in North Africa. In Pakistan, this rare variety of bustard is considered an endangered species, and hunting it is banned in some regions.
KARIM SAHIB/AFP/Getty ImagesA falcon, right, tries to catch a houbara bustard during a falconry competition in Hameem in 2014.
This past week, the bustard too ran afoul of international politics, this time at the hands of Pakistan’s friends. Parties of Middle Eastern royals often bring trained falcons to hunt smaller birds in Pakistan’s northern mountains and southern deserts. For years, among their favourite targets have been bustards.
Last year, wildlife groups petitioned Pakistani courts to ban bustard-hunting, and the Supreme Court granted their request. But the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif appealed, arguing it had “adversely affected the country’s diplomatic ties with the Middle Eastern countries” and noting that hunts by “foreign dignitaries also bring in considerable funds.”
One of the Sharif government’s closest allies is Qatar, and last month, a Qatari prince came to the prime minister’s rescue in a corruption case before the Supreme Court, where political opponents have accused him of hiding assets abroad, including a group of luxury apartments in London.
Sharif, who has vowed to resign if found guilty, said he had broken no laws but was struggling to explain how his family had acquired the apartments without a money trail or tax bill. Suddenly, the Qatari prince provided a letter stating that his family had given them to the Sharifs as part of an old business settlement.
This week, a Qatari prince from the same family was issued a special permit to hunt 100 bustards in northwestern Khyber-Paktunkhwa province. According to Dawn, the province’s wildlife conservator objected, saying it was a protected species. The matter has not been resolved, but the paper reported that another Qatari royal had recently “faced some resistance” while attempting to hunt bustards in Balochistan province.
“He immediately called the prime minister on the phone,” Dawn reported Sunday, “and things were sorted out.”
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 | Nov 13, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products
No matter your own personal feelings about street pigeons, a visit to a major European city just wouldn’t be the same without encountering the ubiquitous winged urbanites in overwhelming droves: bathing en masse in fountains, teetering upon — and defecating from — the ledges of historic buildings, congregating in public squares in such great numbers that the pavement morphs into a filthy, squawking sea of feathers, beaks and imperious attitudes.
Similar to London, Venice and Paris, Barcelona has long struggled with taming its own sizable — and seemingly perpetually multiplying — feral pigeon (Columba livia domestica) population. City-dwelling descendants of the wild rock dove have all but taken over — and left their unsightly mark on — some of the Catalan capital city’s most popular and iconic plazas and public spaces including Plaça de Catalunya, Plaça Reial, Plaça de Sant Jaume, Parc Güell and the stressfully pigeon-heavy area around Font Màgica.
Joining animal control authorities in neighboring municipalities, Barcelona officials have signaled that it’s high time that they ramp up their pigeon control game by employing what might seem like a most unusual tactic — a tactic that’s been heralded by animal welfare activists as being exceptionally ethical when compared to other more gruesome methods of curbing feral pigeon populations.
They’re putting pigeons on the pill.
Avoiding the cull
Citing a recent article published by El Mundo, Motherboard reports that animal control authorities were initially going to go the quick and dirty route: a large-scale culling in which hundreds of birds would be rounded up and killed. However, the government was ultimately persuaded by numerous animal rights groups to consider a just-as-effective method that, ideally, will not result in a single pigeon death: providing the birds with birth control.
Following an extensive pigeon census that will help officials better understand exactly how many pigeons they are dealing with (current estimates in Barcelona hover around 85,000), 40 bird feeders stocked with contraceptive-laced pellets will be installed in particularly pigeon-heavy areas. The pellets will contain nicarbazin, an anti-parasitic drug first used to treat poultry. While effective as a coccidiostat, a well documented side-effect of the drug is that it renders female birds infertile by halting egg formation. In turn, nicarbazin has emerged as an increasingly popular choice amongst animal control experts looking to control pesky bird populations — feral pigeons and Canadian geese, in particular — without resorting to gratuitous slaughter.
A spokesman with the Barcelona city council tells the Daily Mail that officials anticipate that by providing the scourge of street pigeons with birth control, the population could drop by as much as 20 percent within just one year. Within just a few years, the population could be reduced by 70 to 80 percent.
Considering the rather harrowing current state of pigeons in Barcelona, a reduction of 80 percent will likely be viewed by most as welcoming news. But while Barcelona’s wealth of historic building and monuments will be less poop-stained and its residents and visitors less inconvenienced/intimidated thanks to such a dramatic drop in numbers, one does wonder about a virtually pigeon-free city. For better or worse, the birds are part of the urban fabric in Spain’s second largest city. Would a pigeon-free — or pigeon-lite — Plaça de Catalunya have the same authentic charm as a Plaça de Catalunya that’s swarming with hundreds of birds? Will another bird take over in the pigeons’ absence? And what will become of those little old Spanish pensioners who never, ever leave home without a small paper bag filled with breadcrumbs?
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 | Nov 12, 2016 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
News — In response to a request for answers to questions posed at a special Committee of the Whole meeting on the 2017 budget, Public Works Manager Mark Segsworth submitted a report at South Frontenac Council’s regular meeting last week in Sydenham.
Of those responses, street lights and salt dome doors generated the most debate.
Segsworth told Council that the cost to run a streetlight is about $0.13 per day per light.
“The majority of our lights are 43w or 0.043 Kw and run for about 12 hours per day,” he said. “At a rate of $0.25/Kw-hour that’s 0.516 Kw per day for an estimated cost of $0.13/day per light.”
He said enough money has been set aside for about three streetlights for intersection lighting along arterial roads based on a figure of $10,000 per light if no pole is present.
“We don’t have locations yet but there are lots of potential places for streetlights,” he said.
But doors for salt domes drew more response, especially when Segsworth noted that false rumours of $10,000 per dome were circulating.
“I’m not anticipating $10,000 for doors,” he said. “More like $5,000.”
Segsworth noted that they aren’t using the domes to store winter sand an salt any more, for example the OPP boat is stored at the Hartington dome along with some cold mix and other road supplies. However, the domes seem to be popular with pigeons and with no doors on them, the birds come and go as they please, leaving droppings in their wake. This creates health and safety issues, Segsworth said.
“They (the domes) were built without doors and I don’t know a more cost effective way of dealing with the pigeons,” Segsworth said. “We have big clay owls but the bottom line is the pigeons get in and they’re problematic.”
The report also pointed to several roads projects, such as Green Bay Bridge, Carrying Place Road and Deer Creek Road.
But the suggestion that the Township buy a new garbage truck with compacting capabilities didn’t sit well with Mayor Ron Vandewal.
Segsworth said they have one truck without packing capabilities that sometimes has to be emptied three times a day, meaning extra travel time for staff. He suggested trading that one in on a truck that has packing capabilities.
“The budget we were close to passing had these things taken out,” Vandewal said. “You’re going to get zero dollars for that truck.
“Let it go to its life spawn.
“As far as which road gets done, if the budget numbers are the same, I don’t care which road it is.”
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 | Nov 11, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products
Planet Earth II’s final episode last night left viewers brimming with amazement once more, this time at a giant predatory fish who hunts down pigeons.
The ancient French city of Albi plays host to ‘monstrous’ Wels catfish, who have ‘virtually exterminated the local fish stocks’ over forty years, according to David Attenborough.
And BBC One viewers could barely stomach footage of pigeons being ambushed by the scaly killers as they took a casual dip in the River Tarn.
Because pretty much everyone can agree birds are meant to eat fish, seeing the finned catfish get their own back felt all kinds of wrong.
Apparently it’s the pigeons’ biggest strength — a lack of fear — that allows the beasts to prey on them so easily.
It seems a catish is only able to pick off one pigeon at a time, usually by pulling down their feet with their mouths.
Seeing as pigeons have lived in Albi for as long as we humans have, it’s rather unfortunate that they’re now being hunted by an upstart, watery intruder.
‘After thousands of years living in this city, pigeons are now having to learn to avoid a fish,’ said Attenborough.
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 | Nov 10, 2016 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Netting
A bar assistant who slipped in pigeon poop at the open air restaurant in which she worked at Dublin’s Heuston railway station, has been awarded almost €25,000 damages against CIÉ.
Circuit Court President, Mr Justice Raymond Groarke, heard that Leann Walsh (25) tended tables on the decking outside the Heuston Refreshment Rooms.
Barrister Karl Finnegan, counsel for Ms Walsh, told the court she had been working outdoors on May 15, 2013, when she stepped in pigeon faeces and her right leg went from under her. Mr Finnegan said she fell on her knees and back, suffering soft tissue injuries to her ankle, knees and lower back.
Gerry Ryan, counsel for CIÉ, told the court the Irish Rail Company had entered a full defence. Barrister Sarah Corcoran, for the Heuston Refreshment Rooms, said her client had denied liability.
Ms Corcoran told the court the problem of pigeons was a serious one for her client, who had asked CIÉ to deal with the matter.
Judge Groarke, awarding Ms Walsh, of Merrion Court, Blackhall Street, Dublin, €22,500 damages with special damages of €2,148, said he would make an order in favour of the restaurant against CIÉ.
He said the restaurant had tried to get CIÉ to deal with the problem but CIÉ had decided not to take appropriate steps.
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)
