by johnnymarin | Jan 1, 2019 | Animal Deterrent Products
A New York City pigeon got a wing up from a kind stranger who turned on a drinking fountain for the thirsty bird on Thursday.
A now-viral video, first reported by the Staten Island Advance, shows New Yorker Steven Pesantez watching with what looks like pure glee while the bird guzzles water at Staten Island’s ferry terminal. His friend Mariel Mitkowski, who shot the video, can be heard exclaiming “He was waiting for you!” in the background.
Pesantez told HuffPost that he and Mitkowski were waiting for the ferry when they spotted the pigeon loitering on top of the fountain.
“We joked about how he was just waiting there for someone to help him out, then we decided it would be funny to record me going over to him and helping out!” he said in an email.
It seems like they had a good sense of what the pigeon wanted.
“It seemed like he was enjoying it!” Pesantez said. “He wasn’t taking a bath, so I’m pretty sure he was indulging in some of NYC’s finest tap water.”
He added that he’s happy the video has been resonating with people.
“I’m just stoked that the world is getting to share this wholesome moment in a time where there is so much craziness,” he said.
The Wild Bird Fund, a wildlife rehabilitation center in Manhattan, noted on Twitter that there are “credible reports” that pigeons sipping from fountains at the Staten Island ferry terminal is actually a “regular phenomenon.”
But it may not be so surprising that pigeons have figured out such a clever way to get a drink since pigeons are a lot smarter than many people give them credit for. A 2015 study published in the journal Cognition found that pigeons were able to learn to sort 128 photos correctly into categories like “baby,” “tree,” “flower,” “dog” and “cracker.”
And while having any animal standing in a human drinking fountain may not exactly be ideal (pigeon droppings do present “modest health risks” to people, according to the NYC health department) the birds aren’t nearly as dirty as some people think they are. Ornithologist Paul Sweet told Gizmodo last year that pigeons are “quite clean,” and actually play an important role in cities cleaning up waste left by human beings.
As for Pesantez, he’s definitely a pigeon appreciator.
“I never understood why people hate them,” he said.
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 johnnymarin | Dec 31, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
THE Carlow and District Racing Pigeon Club celebrated its annual awards night and a great year at Carpenter’s bar recently.
Founded in 1965, the clubhouse is still located at Lower Pollerton Road and the club currently has 27 members.
Carlow and District, Barrowvalley, Naas and Newbridge pigeon racing clubs have formed a federation and race every week. Typically, 1,000 birds are raced every week.
Tom Moore is one of the club’s founding members and is still actively involved. He won an old bird race this year from Macroom (107 miles), beating 947 other birds.
PJ Nangle is another long-standing member and did the club proud this year by winning the Old Bird National from Skibereen (133 miles) competing against 3,577 pigeons from every county in Ireland, north and south.
Along with this, he won three old bird races and two young bird races in the club this year.
The club’s annual awards night this year was held in Carpenter’s bar with 16 individual members receiving trophies.
Donal Begley won the young bird and old bird averages, the old bird derby and the Caulfield Cup. And James O’Connor did very well, too, winning the young bird derby along with two young bird races.
All of the club members would like to thank committee members PJ Nangle and Colin Nolan for their hard work and dedication, which is much appreciated. Special thanks also goes to John Dowling for his sterling efforts in keeping the clubhouse running every week.
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 johnnymarin | Dec 30, 2018 | Pigeons in the News
New York City’s official bird, the humble pigeon, is ubiquitous, intelligent, nutritious (uh, for hawks) and extremely helpful. But they get really thirsty, especially after eating a bagel. On Thursday, one man decided to give one pigeon a hand by turning on a water fountain.
Steven Pesantez and Mariel Mitkowski were at the Staten Island Ferry Terminal in St. George when they saw the pigeon perched on the fountain. “The pigeon was just sitting there and he looked thirsty,” Pesantez recounted. “So I decided to get up and help the little guy.”
Mitkowski filmed the exchange, and Pesantez admitted, “I expected him to stay for a little bit but I didn’t expect him to start drinking!”
“It felt cool to help out the pigeon,” he said. “It was very zen.”
Very zen, and also a much better use of a water fountain than an impromptu doggy bidet.
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 johnnymarin | Dec 29, 2018 | Pigeon Patrol's Services
Flimby West Coast show race for Bedhampton attracted 54 entries, judged by John Devlin. Tickets: 1, 8 Hodgson and Saldart; 2 Mr and Mrs Carter and sons; 3, 4 Williams and Hadfield; 5 Mr and Mrs Walters and son; 6 McLuckie bros; 7 Mr and Mrs Proctor.
With £100 sponsorship from Bill McDonald Fencing of Cleator, the prize money on offer for the race will be: 1 £94; 2 £70; 3 £47; 4 £23.50.
The club’s show race for Marlborough had 51 entries which were judged by Morris and Wayne McLuckie. Tickets: 1 Martindale and Lawman; 2, 4, 6, 8 Williams and Hadfield; 3, 5 Berwick and co; 7 Hodgson and Saldert.
The race prizes will be: 1 £91; 2 £68.25; 3 £45.50 and 4 £22.75 and was boosted by £100 from sponsor K B Scaffold of Moor Row.
The final show race is for Carentan. Birds will be judged at Flimby Social Club on Wednesday at 7.30pm. Entry to the race is £5.
The show will be for any age cock or hen and the race will be sponsored for £100 by Jonny Walker Plant Hire of Workington.
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 johnnymarin | Dec 28, 2018 | Bird Deterrent Products
It normally takes time to build up a talented crop of racing pigeons to taste success, but Latrobe’s Mark Cooney was the star of the Tasmanian circuit in his debut year.
Cooney won two Tasmanian Racing Federation races from Beckley Park in Victoria, won the federation loft points, was first and second in the ten dollar ring race out of Tantanoola in South Australia and was the loft point winner for the Northern region of Tasmania.
Cooney said he had background with pigeon racing when he was growing up on the North-West and it was that love affair that got him back into the sport.
“I first got into pigeon racing when I was about seven years old and a bloke up the road from me in Burnie used to race pigeons and I would go up there every day,”
“He actually gave me pigeons when I was eight and fancied them and when I moved to Devonport and I raced three times when I was 17.
“It wasn’t until last year when I worked with a bloke who raced pigeons and got back into them.”
Cooney said he would not have been able to be as successful as he had been in his opening season with out the help
“I was playing golf with Phil Matthews and he said his brother Chris raced pigeons and a week later he got in touch with me.
“He told me to go see Warren Connell (Devonport Flying Club president) and he would give you ten pair.
“Warren would have bred me another 30 and I had a pretty good year on land and it is not a one man operation.”
For young people who would love to get into pigeon racing, there are a lot of good people at the clubs who will help you.
Mark Cooney on the accessibility of the sport
Following the support Cooney received from the Devonport Flying Club to get started, he now owns over 130 pigeons that he trains to race.
Cooney said pigeon racing was actually not an overly expensive sport to get involved in if you speak with a racing club when you want to get started in Tasmania.
“For young people who would love to get into pigeon racing, there are a lot of good people at the clubs who will help you.
“And by helping you, I mean they will get you a few birds and help you look after them and train them if you need help.”
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)
