by Pigeon Patrol | Jun 4, 2014 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
A legal settlement in January between Caltrans and wildlife protection groups over a highway construction project in Sonoma County may have protected local nesting birds in the short term, but the alternative measures used may be affecting wildlife populations in the long term, according to an environmental attorney who works with the Golden Gate Audubon Society.
At issue are cliff swallows, which had long built their mud nests on a pair of concrete bridges near Highway 101 in the Sonoma County community of Petaluma. When Caltrans decided it was time to rebuild those bridges during a highway widening project, contractors installed bird netting to keep the swallows away from the construction area. But that netting ended up snaring the small birds, and more than a hundred of them died.
Cliff swallows are so-named for their habit of building mud nests in cavities on cliffs and protected rock outcroppings. They’re one of the wildlife species that has adjusted well to human influence, mainly because of our habit of building thousands of vertical “cliff faces” everywhere we go. Concrete bridges and similar structures are especially attractive to the swallows because they tend to have concrete sills that overhang the vertical faces, which allow the birds to build their nests more efficiently.
When Caltrans agreed to end the use of netting during the construction project, its contractor C.C. Myers deployed a slick material called “Bird Slide” over the concrete. When the swallows learn after a few tries that they can’t get their carefully gathered beaks full of mud to stick to the Bird Slide, they give up and build their nests somewhere else.
That’s undeniably a better alternative than the netting: rather than getting injured or killed through entanglement, the birds shrug their shoulders and go off to build a nest somewhere else. And they may not have to travel far: C.C. Myers has left some of the concrete on the bridges bare, where swallow nests won’t get in the way of construction.
But according to Sommers, those patches of open concrete are more exposed to the elements than is ideal for the longevity of the nests, which are, after all, made of mud and spit. Swallows have nested on the bridges this season, with about 80 nests total. But that’s well under the historic 500-800 nests the bridge colonies built before construction.
Where did the remaining swallows go? They may well have dispersed throughout the nearby community looking for more suitable nesting sites. And that’s a problem: the highly gregarious birds fare better in huge colonies with up to 6,000 nests. Breaking up a colony may well mean a population decline in the long run.
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 Pigeon Patrol | Jun 4, 2014 | Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
A 90-year-old Geneva man has been ordered evicted from the apartment he has been renting for more than 50 years for allegedly feeding pigeons on his balcony, according to a news media report.
The pensioner recently received a registered letter informing him that he had to leave the three-room flat in the heart of the city by the end of this month, Le Matin newspaper reported over the weekend.
“What’s happening to me is scandalous, unthinkable,” the elderly tenant told the newspaper.
Brolliet, the company managing the apartment building, said his lease was being terminated for “just cause”, referring to the man’s “intolerable behaviour” for feeding the pigeons after letting them come into his balcony.
The tenant, however, told Le Matin that he had not been feeding the birds since the death of his wife two years ago.
“And it’s not a crime,” he added, noting that he always paid his rent as required and even ahead of time.
The real estate management company maintains that it sent out the eviction letter after complaints from neighbours came to the attention of the building’s owners, a cooperative group.
“I don’t know how they could be so nasty,” said the pensioner, who faces a challenge trying to find another apartment for the 900 francs a month he is currently paying (including charges).
“Neighbours received pigeon droppings and and we are certain they came from his place,” Guy Tornare, head of the cooperative that owns the building, told Le Matin.
The situation has been known for many years but could “no longer be tolerated” after the building was renovated in February, Tornare said.
“I almost received (pigeon) excrement on my head during a visit,” Claude Guillod, an administrator with the coop, is quoted as saying by Le Matin.
Guillod said the bird droppings are dangerous because they can spread diseases.
“What has happened to this man is sad but it is because he has not listened that we have come to this.”
Guillod rejected the idea that the building owners wanted to get rid of the 90-year-old in order to raise the rent, saying that the issue was one of “hygiene”.
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 Pigeon Patrol | Apr 7, 2014 | 4-S Gel Bird repellent, Animal Deterrent Products, Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News
The airborne intruders were found inside Poundland on St Stephens Street just before opening time on Saturday morning.
Armed with bottles of water and a mop, staff were seen pitching in to get the pigeons out, according to one eyewitness, before they opening the store with a warning to customers.
Photography student Zak Nelson, 18, was waiting for a bus as the spectacle unfolded.
He said: “There was a commotion in the shop and I could see shop staff running around, then two pigeons flying into the window.
The pair of pigeons were found inside Poundland on St Stephens Street just before opening time on Saturday morning.
“I couldn’t believe what was happening. There was a member of staff with a mop, and others had bottles of water, maybe to splash the birds.”
The shop opened just after 8.30am, when Mr Nelson went in to take these photograhs.
“They warned us they had a couple of pigeons in the shop
“Some of the customers ignored them completely, some were watching on in disbelief, and some were laughing.”
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) Now shipping World Wide.
by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 7, 2014 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeons in the News, UltraSonic Bird Control
Pigeons living on the third floor ohhh No!!!.
Gretna City Hall, built in 1907 to serve as the Jefferson Parish courthouse, is in need of critical repairs that the mayor and council members say will have to be made within the next few years.
On a recent walkthrough, she said, an official from the state Office of Facility Planning and Control looked at the council chamber’s variable air damper and said he had never seen one that old before.With many parts of the system dating back to the 1960s, the piecemeal approach to upkeep is expensive, and each solution is likely to create another problem. “You start fooling with these panels, they have carbon streaks, rust, corrosion … and before you know it, you destroy something else,” Folse said. He told the council there is evidence that pigeons are coming in and out of the building on the third floor. New District 4 Councilman Jackie Berthelot called the building’s condition “deplorable.”
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) Now shipping World Wide.
by Pigeon Patrol | Apr 7, 2014 | Bird Deterrent Products, Bird Netting, Pigeon Patrol's Services, Pigeon Spikes, Pigeons in the News
A TONNE of food must be destroyed — because it was being packaged in a warehouse infested with pigeons.
Bolton Council applied for a food condemnation order at Bolton Magistrates Court after environmental health officials found the food and packaging belonging to Barkat Food Store Bolton Ltd covered with pigeon droppings, which they said caused “substantial contamination of food”.
Catherine Waudby, on behalf of Bolton Council, told District Judge James Prowse that the contamination, which is a danger to public health, had come to light on March 5 during a routine environmental health inspection at a warehouse The premises were supposed to be used for storage, but inspectors found Asian dried foodstuffs, such as rice, popcorn, nuts and spices, being packaged there, with droppings on the food and plastic wrappings and no hand washing facilities available.
The tonne of food was seized and yesterday (TUE), at Bolton Magistrates Court, the judge ordered it be dyed and disposed of in bins.
A Bolton Council spokesman said: “We take breaches of food hygiene very seriously and take prompt and decisive action to protect consumers whose health could be put at risk.
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) Now shipping World Wide.
