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Council threatens war on 'rats with wings'
Topic Started: Dec 11 2007, 02:29 PM (84 Views)
Kahu
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Got a pigeon problem in your town????

Council threatens war on 'rats with wings'
DAVE BURGESS - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 11 December 2007


Streetwise pigeons dive-bombing a girl eating a muffin in Midland Park have prompted Wellington City Council to consider a bird cull.
Should the council poison pigeons? Send us your feedback ... Read feedback

The pigeon population has exploded lately because people eating lunch in the Lambton Quay park have been ignoring signs saying don't feed the pigeons.

The council said a cull would be carried out early next year if people persisted in feeding the birds and the problems continued.

The warning came after complaints from park users about the aggressive pigeons looking for a free lunch, and from Astoria cafe co-owner Janice Kirkwood.

"The pigeons have always been a bit of a nuisance but over the past couple of months they have got a little out of control," she said. "One day I witnessed a pigeon attacking a little girl who was eating a muffin outside. She had the muffin in her hand and the pigeon just flew at it."

Miss Kirkwood said the pigeons had three ringleaders who strutted into the cafe as if they owned it. "They are the bravest of the brave. We haven't named them but they are rats with wings."

Outdoor diners also ran the risk of being pigeon targets and of picking up nasty gastric diseases from their droppings.

"I am not sure I support a cull but I am not in favour of the pigeons haranguing our customers."

Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the birds would either be shot with air rifles, or poisoned with alphachloralose - a narcotic which, when used in low doses, anaesthetises birds and allows them to be collected and disposed of humanely.

The pigeons would not be killed at Midland Park but at big roosting sites such as under the motorway in Clifton Tce.

The council is uncertain how many pigeons are in Wellington, but they number in the thousands.

YOUR FEEDBACK

I support the poisoning of the pigeons. They have become an increasing nuisance on our property in Seatoun with a couple of very brash pigeons leading a group of up to eight. They compete with the food we put out for other birds - we have now stopped feeding - and foul our balcony and deck posing a health hazard.
Kevin Marshall

We don't agree with the Council killing the pigeons. We feel the Council should explore other options as the problem with the pigeons is ongoing, therefore, killing them is a short term solution as their numbers will increase over time, and the problem we have now will return. Killing them is not very nice even if it is carried out humanely. We need to learn to live with animals and nature, not destroy it every time it annoys us.
Penny & Maureen Ramsey

How dare they do this to the pigeons? I strongly opose the culling the pigeons. Isn't there any other ways to decline there population in the city like migrating them away from wellington or something?
Aaron Giovenco

Such a proposal would cause a scandal in Britain!
Perhaps people are feeding the pigeons because they like them!
Has this ever occurred to the owner of Astoria? Maybe they like the pidgeons more than their food seeing they seem to have so much left over from their lunch to feed the birds.
If the pigeons are poisoned I will be furious. Have none of these people ever been to London and seen all the birds there? Such a thing would never be contemplated and would cause an outcry.
Heather Abbott

Consider the news from here in Sydney where a man was recently killed when a awning collapsed during a storm. Latest evidence suggests the awning was so unstable because it was clogged with years of Pigeon poo! Look out Wellington, there's more to it than just losing bits of your muffin.
Chris, Sydney

Go WCC Go. The pigeons have got out of control.
Cathy Strong

You know, if a guy came up to a kid, stole her muffin by diving at it (I would pay to see that athletic ability right there) I'm pretty sure the council would be:
"Oh, right. uh. just don't do it again, okay? good boy. here's a muffin on the house"
suddenly a pigeon grabs the muffin
"HOLYBJLEWFLRGFWJKFFJK WHAT DID THAT PIGEON JUST DO? OH MY GOODNESS GET ME MY 10-80 ITS TIME TO KILL THE WHOLE ENTIRE PIGEON RACE BECAUSE THIS MAKES US LOOK LIKE WE ACTUALLY DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN MAKING PEOPLE PAY FOR THEIR OWN RETAINING WALL ( TRUE STORY THAT)OUR ENTIRE HUMAN RACE DEPENDS ON THE POISONING OF THESE PIGEONS DEATH! "
If I see the pigeon race decline, then I swear. if you see a girl with a bag of 10-80 and cans of soup. that'll be me ready to climb through councillors windows...AND MAKE SOUP
Johanna 'Angry' Grant, Ngaio

I am definitely not in favour of the Council poisoning the pigeons or shooting them. How cruel, barbaric and totally unnecessary. The pigeons are a delightful feature of the landscape, as are all the birds. People ignore the instruction not to feed them because it is a ridiculous prohibition and dictatorial in the extreme. If the Council had their way, there would be no birds in the city, no animals, no trees older than 5 years old - just buildings and people - what a desert!
Suzanne Bramley, Johnsonville
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My city has started a program of breeding falcons on top of tall buildings. This is a natural way to control the pigeon population.

Store owners are putting spikes over their doorways so pigeons can't rooste and leave a mess. Haven't they ever heard of a broom. A little sweeping each morning never hurt anyone.
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Kahu
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Karearea - The New Zealand Falcon

That's good idea of using the Falcon to scare off the pigeons in your city Nellie. However, things are not quite the same here. Our Falcon does not always nest up high
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For one thing, many nest, not in trees, but on the ground and quite out in the open.
and because they evolved without the competition of introduced exotic species such as stoats, weasels, and feral cats (someone's escaped pet) they are on the endangered list. I have heard they are being used to scare away introduced birds like thrushes, starlings, blackbirds from vineyards in different parts of the country.

Measures such as spikes on exposed ledges and roofs are being used. The pigeons don't roost in the park area but out of the area some distance under the motorway structures.

The only practical answer is for everyone to heed the signs.........DO NOT FEED THE PIGEONS
NZ Falcon - Karearea
Falcon and extinct NZ raptors
Falcons for Grapes
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