December 03, 2003

Family files suit alleging exposure to pigeon poison
By Steve Kanigher <steve@lasvegassun.com>
LAS VEGAS SUN
Shortly after moving into a Henderson apartment complex three years ago, Lisa Casey got light-headed whenever she stood up.

Her headaches and dizziness led to vomiting. And it got just as bad for her youngest son, Shawn, who became so ill he missed 60 days of school and was held back a grade. Her other two sons also developed aches and pains.

Dr. Michael Casey, Lisa's husband and a surgical resident at University Medical Center, escaped illness. But his concern over his family's health led him to discover what he believed to be the culprit -- a controversial odorless bird poison that is legal in Nevada and throughout much of the country but banned in New York City and San Francisco, as well as in Great Britain.

In a lawsuit filed on Nov. 17, the Casey family alleged they were unwittingly exposed to Avitrol, which is commonly used in Nevada to ward off pigeons. The product is designed to scare off pigeons but kills many of them by attacking their nervous systems.

After first becoming ill in 2000, Lisa Casey had menstrual cycles every three weeks and, because of excessive hemorrhaging, underwent a complete hysterectomy in February 2001, the lawsuit stated. She also went from 130 pounds to 104 pounds in a single month.

Even now, she said she cannot pursue her hobby as an abstract acrylic painter because of low energy and depression.

"I still tire real easily," she said in her Las Vegas home. "I still have seizures and I get stressed out."

Shawn Casey, who is now 12, was ill the entire winter of 2000-2001 and was found to have parasites in his gastrointestinal tract. The result was painful cramping. He missed so much school he was forced to repeat fourth grade.

He and his brothers, Benjamin, 16, and Scott, 14, still suffer aches and pains and are no longer able to participate in scouting activities, their parents said.

"When Scott runs he starts to blank out and lose his vision," Michael Casey said.

While the chemical agent in Avitrol has been used experimentally to treat multiple sclerosis patients, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reported in 1999 that no human poisonings had occurred through "ordinary use" of the toxic substance.

Unique civil lawsuit

What makes the civil lawsuit unique is that the family is attempting to prove that the illnesses were caused by the "ordinary use" of Avitrol -- to ward off pigeons -- but that the bird poison was applied improperly and without their knowledge.

There had been only two reported cases of humans who became ill after accidental exposure to the chemical agent contained in Avitrol, the EPA stated in 1999 in its latest update on the substance.

Those involved two Virginia adults who ingested the poison in 1978, believing it was an aphrodisiac. Both experienced abdominal discomfort, nausea and dizziness and one had seizures and needed a ventilator. They recovered after three days, the EPA reported.

The Casey lawsuit names as defendants Phoenix Pest & Termite Control of Nevada Inc. and the family's former residence, Galleria Palms Apartments at 625 Whitney Ranch Drive in Henderson.

The family alleges that the apartment management initially lied about the use of bird poison on the property.

"I just felt we were treated like cattle," Lisa Casey said bluntly.

Phone messages for officials of the pest control company weren't returned. Craig Walsh, senior vice president of operations for apartment manager Standard Management Co., one of the defendants in the lawsuit, said "it was an incident we were aware of" but he had no further comment.

Legal strategy

Attorney Ronald Serota of Las Vegas, who is representing the family, said he purposely did not sue Avitrol Corp., the Tulsa, Okla., manufacturer of the toxic substance, because of legal strategy. But he said he would not be surprised if the lawsuit forced Nevada to ban Avitrol.

"I'm hoping the lawsuit raises public awareness of the dangers of Avitrol," Serota said. "There is a need to use certified applicators of Avitrol on a more consistent basis. Property managers also should tell residents what they're doing when they use Avitrol."

But Avitrol Corp. president Kelly Swindle said he is confident the plaintiffs will be unable to prove that his product caused their illnesses.

"We've actually never had a case against the product," Swindle said. "I feel quite confident that Avitrol was not the problem here."

Avitrol was developed by Phillips Petroleum Co. in the early 1960s and soon became the most widely used pigeon poison in the country. A white powder with the scientific name of 4-aminopyridine, it is added to grain baits such as corn kernels. It is most commonly applied on rooftops after the area has been pre-baited with untainted grains.

The intent, according to the manufacturer, is for a few birds to exhibit abnormal reaction immediately after eating the tainted kernels, scaring off other members of the flock. The birds who eat the toxic kernels are expected to die, although it can take several hours for that to happen.

Avitrol has been criticized by animal rights activists who claim that too many birds are killed by pest control companies that apply maximum doses and that the slow death by poisoning is inhumane.

The criticism extends to the fact that many of the affected birds go into convulsions and appear to hallucinate before they die and that the poison is indiscriminate because it can kill other birds and mammals. And the critics argue that pigeons will often return to the same location within months.

"There are more humane ways to solve conflicts with pigeons," John Hadidian, urban wildlife program director for the Humane Society of the United States in Washington, said.

Continued

Part 2

Banned in New York

In New York City the substance has been banned since 2000, after pigeons were seen literally dropping from ledges of Manhattan skyscrapers. An advocate of the ban was Ward Stone, the lead wildlife pathologist for the New York Department of Environmental Conservation, who found Avitrol in a dead peregrine falcon.

"One problem with Avitrol is that it doesn't kill only target birds," Stone said. "It can kill any bird that is attracted to it. Changing the architecture of a building fundamentally is the better way to go."

A common complaint is that the dead pigeons are often left to rot instead of being removed from public view as recommended by the manufacturer.

Avitrol has been used in Nevada since at least the 1970s, with no reports of human ailments prior to the Casey lawsuit, according to the Nevada Department of Agriculture.

Of the 320 licensed pest control businesses in Southern Nevada, fewer than 50 use the toxic substance, Thomas Smigel, regional manager of the state agriculture department, said. All Avitrol users, which include hotels, must pass tests and be federally certified to use Avitrol since it is considered a restricted-use pesticide.

Chuck Moses, an environmental scientist with the agriculture department, said the state in the past five years has levied four fines in the $500 to $1,000 range for Avitrol-related violations of pesticide regulations. Two fines involved improper record-keeping of Avitrol use, one was for an individual who wasn't certified to use the poison, and the other was because the pesticide applicator failed to pick up unused tainted corn kernels in a timely manner.

In a separate enforcement action earlier this month, the EPA fined Univar USA Inc. of Kirkland, Wash., $10,450 for selling an Avitrol product to a Las Vegas company, All Pro Pest Control, that was not certified to use the substance.

The alleged suffering of the pigeons is something Avitrol Corp. sharply disputes. The company points to a 1979 study by pathologists at the University of Ottawa in Canada who concluded that pigeons that ingested the poison did not experience pain despite going through convulsions.

"Avitrol appears to be humane based on scientific evidence," the report concluded.

The Casey lawsuit raises an entirely different allegation: that the Avitrol was not applied properly, causing Shawn Casey to come in contact with the substance outdoors and then, unwittingly, contaminate his household.

Skin absorption eyed

The Caseys said they believe that Shawn and to a lesser extent, Scott, absorbed the Avitrol through their skin while wrestling or playing barefoot in the apartment complex yard. The parents also said the Avitrol -- which resembled mashed corn mix -- was tracked into their residence by the boys' shoes, scooters and skates.

Swindle, though, said he doesn't believe the children would have been seriously harmed unless they swallowed large quantities of Avitrol.

"We've heard of people sharing concerns that it's possible for Avitrol to blow off of a roof but I've never heard of anything like this," he said. "I have touched this stuff on a daily basis for 30 years. The only way you would have a negative reaction to it is if you ingested a large quantity of it."

Michael Casey took a sample of the Avitrol along with two of the dead pigeons to the local EPA office. A state agricultural department inspection team then visited the apartment complex in November 2001 and found "one or two" kernels near the yard that contained Avitrol and also examined a dead pigeon that had been poisoned.

Casey said he never heard of Avitrol until the agriculture department told him what it was. When he began doing his own research on the substance, he didn't like what he found. The family, worried about their health, moved out of Galleria Palms in January 2002.

"I don't think it should be used because you can't control what wild birds will eat," Michael Casey said of Avitrol.

Lisa Casey also said the poison should be banned in Nevada.

"I realize pigeons make the dung," she said. "But if Avitrol can kill a bird, it can also kill a dog or cat. And kids can pass by and put it in their mouth. They shouldn't put anything like that outside."

The manufacturer's directions indicate that Avitrol applicators wear gloves and remove unused kernels the same day they are applied.

"We don't want people touching it because there are lawyers out there who would like to sue us," Swindle said.

The labeling was upgraded by Avitrol Corp. after state agriculture departments in Nevada and other states pointed out that the instructions weren't specific enough. There had been numerous citizen complaints in Nevada in the mid-1990s that unused bait and dead pigeons weren't being removed in a timely fashion.

"Where uneaten bait may be a hazard to other birds or animals, it should be picked up at the end of each day," the instructions state. "Pick up and dispose of dead birds by burial."

Based on the fact the state has levied only one fine in Southern Nevada for failure to retrieve unused baits, Moses said he believes pest control applicators have been doing a better job of cleanup than in prior years. But he and Smigel said the state still fields complaints about dead pigeons that haven't been removed, particularly during summer months.

Smigel said that if his department is able to establish who killed the pigeons, it usually just takes a phone call to the party responsible to get the birds removed.

"We have an established population of pigeons," Smigel said. "It has always been an urban problem and Las Vegas is no different than any other city. If you use Avitrol, you're just pushing them from one site to another."
Las Vegas SUN: Family files suit alleging exposure to pigeon poison

Arty

Pigeon nettings
Nets Trap, Kill Pigeons - Videos - KNTV

Arty

Caltrain To Remove Pigeon 'Death Traps'
Caltrain told NBC11 that it will take down nylon netting that animal activists are calling a "death trap" for pigeons. The removal is set for Thursday. via KNTV-TV

Arty

Wow, if Avitrol can have that kind of effect on humans, I can only imagine what it does to the poor birds. This is one reason I am glad I no longer live in a big city.

ENVIRONMENT; Rousting Pigeons? It's Like Herding Cats
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Del.icio.usDiggFacebookNewsvinePermalinkBy CARIN RUBENSTEIN
Published: October 3, 2004
JAMES WILEY says he doesn't hate pigeons, but that doesn't keep him from waging a full-time war against them.

Mr. Wiley, superintendent of stations for Metro-North Railroad, said that about 60 percent of 100 stations have a pigeon-prevention program. In 2002, the railroad began ''an all-out pigeon blitz'' at about 15 of the stations with the biggest pigeon infestations.

Standing in front of the Tarrytown train station last week, cradling a life-size Styrofoam pigeon covered in feathers that was sent as a demonstration tool from a bird-proofing company, Mr. Wiley was resigned about his continuing battle with pigeons. He pointed to walkways, peeling support beams and rusty trestles that had been newly lined with shiny metal spikes to keep pigeons from roosting on them, directly above areas where customers walk.

Mostly, the new system seems to work. A year ago, he said, pigeons were wriggling into stairwells and roosting above light fixtures that have since been removed. ''The pigeons were so brazen, they'd walk up the steps, right past the customers,'' he said.

Pigeon-related problems in Westchester are especially acute at train stations, shopping centers and tall buildings that have perches or ledges overhanging pedestrian walkways. Pest control companies agree that it is impossible to pigeon-proof a site. Instead, they try to relocate pigeons, persuading them to move over there from here.

Pigeons are sometimes called sky rats, and rightfully so, say pest control experts. Pigeon feces carry at least 36 diseases, some potentially fatal, including histoplasmosis and West Nile virus, and their droppings can accumulate into a dangerous and slippery mess, experts say.

''People are a lot more aware of the hazards of birds as disease carriers, and not as beautiful little creatures who happen to be infesting a building,'' said Greg Baumann, technical director of the National Pest Management Association in Virginia.

Nationwide, bird-control costs could exceed $100 million annually, with pigeons as ''the No.1 bird pest,'' Mr. Baumann said.

Since spring of 2002, Metro-North has spent about $150,000 a year on its pigeon eradication program, said Dan Brucker, a Metro-North spokesman.

Westchester's pigeon population may be nearly as bad as it is in New York City.

''The city's the city, but pigeons are everywhere,'' said Stuart Aust, owner of Bird Doctor, a pest control company headquartered in Paramus, N.J., that tries to curb nuisance birds in six states, including the New York metropolitan region.

Mr. Aust, whose company employs 40 people, said that he has many Westchester stores as clients, including Stop & Shop, BJ's and CVS and that the birds prefer to nest inside lighted signs that keep them warm in winter, particularly within the letters ''O,'' ''C'' and ''U.'' Mr. Aust said that after he treats a building for pigeon prevention -- using a number of things like wire mesh, nets, spikes and electric shocks -- he knows that the birds relocate nearby.

Indeed, many pigeon-proofing specialists are quite fond of the birds they displace.

''I love pigeons; they make me a lot of money,'' said Bruce Donoho, owner of Bird-B-Gone Inc., a company in Mission Viejo, Calif., that manufactures 100 different products used to fend off birds. Mr. Donoho said his bird spikes and other systems are used on the Brooklyn Bridge, at Ellis Island and at Metro-North stations.

''Pigeons are very stubborn birds,'' he said. ''Once they nest in an area, they tend to nest there generation upon generation, and they can multiply two or three times a year.''

Of the 15 or so Westchester train stations with severe pigeon problems, the ones where Metro-North did the most work trying to keep the pigeons out were the stations in Yonkers, White Plains, Croton-Harmon, Tarrytown, Port Chester, Rye and Ossining, Mr. Brucker said. The larger the station, the more severe the problem because there are more places for pigeons to nest.

Mr. Brucker said that getting rid of the birds ''is not easy and it is frustrating, and at best you are relocating them.'' Since 2002, workers have installed ''little metal fingers that stand up,'' to keep birds from roosting, as well as tinglers, a wire that gives perching pigeons a low voltage shock. Early on, he said, the railroad discovered that plastic owls do not work, because ''the pigeons simply roost on top of them.''

Perhaps the most creative method to get rid of pigeons was tried at the Fordham and Ossining train stations.

''We played diurnal recordings of predator birds, like falcons and hawks,'' Mr. Brucker said. The loud shrieks effectively scared off pigeons, he said, but also terrified commuters. ''Customers would hear the excellent high-fidelity recordings and cower down, thinking that a bird was swooping in on them, so we stopped using it in Ossining,'' he said.

INTERESTINGLY enough, at the Fordham station in the Bronx, no one seemed to notice the noise. ''They were more stoic to falcons and hawks,'' Mr. Brucker said.

This year, because of cutbacks, Metro-North's pigeon-proofing budget has been reduced to $50,000, Mr. Brucker said.

That setback is being offset, however, by the railroad's renovation of stations, which requires contractors to have pigeon-proofing plans, Mr. Wiley said. When the Tarrytown station is renovated, beginning in 2007, he said, an elaborate system of mesh netting will prevent pigeons from moving in.

While Metro-North installs all of its own antipigeon devices, other pigeon-plagued businesses in Westchester have hired pest removal services.

BirdMaster, a Woburn, Mass., company specializing in historic preservation, has chased pigeons from the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Washington Square Arch in Greenwich Village, and was recently selected to take on the pigeons at the Capitol building in Washington. ''It's a real feather in our cap,'' Mr. Pace said, with no apparent tongue in cheek.

In 2002, the company took on the pigeon-infested Hudson Valley Writers' Center, housed in the Philipse Manor train station. The company covered nearly every square inch of the corners, cornices and niches at the center with plastic mesh netting. The job cost about $8,000, said Maureen Hatch, associate director of the center.

''We had pigeons all over the roof, and they had babies, and there was pigeon poop everywhere,'' Ms. Hatch said. ''They're homing pigeons and they're home and they can't go anywhere else.'' Since BirdMaster completed the job, however, the pigeons have found new homes, she said.

But outspoken pigeon advocates don't blame the birds for the problems. ''Pigeons are persistent, rather like people, and they want to find a place to live,'' said Charles Walcott, a neurobiology professor at Cornell University who was director of the bird laboratories there for 14 years.

Mr. Walcott once kept about 1,000 homing pigeons, which he called ''the athletes of the pigeon world,'' for research purposes, before the university closed his pigeon loft, saying they had to be housed in individual, cages, and not in a large coop. But pigeons would suffer if put in single cages, Mr. Walcott said, so he disbanded his flock.

As for keeping pigeons from roosting where they aren't wanted, ''pigeons do have great site fidelity,'' he said, ''and they return to the same area where they were born. But if you make it impossible, they go somewhere else, and the neighbors will inherit your pigeon problem.''

Perhaps the most creative method to get rid of pigeons was tried at the Fordham and Ossining train stations.

''We played diurnal recordings of predator birds, like falcons and hawks,'' Mr. Brucker said. The loud shrieks effectively scared off pigeons, he said, but also terrified commuters. ''Customers would hear the excellent high-fidelity recordings and cower down, thinking that a bird was swooping in on them, so we stopped using it in Ossining,'' he said.

INTERESTINGLY enough, at the Fordham station in the Bronx, no one seemed to notice the noise. ''They were more stoic to falcons and hawks,'' Mr. Brucker said.

This year, because of cutbacks, Metro-North's pigeon-proofing budget has been reduced to $50,000, Mr. Brucker said.

That setback is being offset, however, by the railroad's renovation of stations, which requires contractors to have pigeon-proofing plans, Mr. Wiley said. When the Tarrytown station is renovated, beginning in 2007, he said, an elaborate system of mesh netting will prevent pigeons from moving in.

While Metro-North installs all of its own antipigeon devices, other pigeon-plagued businesses in Westchester have hired pest removal services.

BirdMaster, a Woburn, Mass., company specializing in historic preservation, has chased pigeons from the Statue of Liberty, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Washington Square Arch in Greenwich Village, and was recently selected to take on the pigeons at the Capitol building in Washington. ''It's a real feather in our cap,'' Mr. Pace said, with no apparent tongue in cheek.

In 2002, the company took on the pigeon-infested Hudson Valley Writers' Center, housed in the Philipse Manor train station. The company covered nearly every square inch of the corners, cornices and niches at the center with plastic mesh netting. The job cost about $8,000, said Maureen Hatch, associate director of the center.

''We had pigeons all over the roof, and they had babies, and there was pigeon poop everywhere,'' Ms. Hatch said. ''They're homing pigeons and they're home and they can't go anywhere else.'' Since BirdMaster completed the job, however, the pigeons have found new homes, she said.

Continued

__________________

When all is done that is asked from me and I can fly no higher, I pray this day his hand extends to welcome home a flyer.
Author : http://www.pigeonrescue.com/
Website:http://pigeonworld.informe.com/index...e3a2a754004832
Watch: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...29577913622678
Sign: http://www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20070124.html
E-Mail tallship30@yahoo.com

But outspoken pigeon advocates don't blame the birds for the problems. ''Pigeons are persistent, rather like people, and they want to find a place to live,'' said Charles Walcott, a neurobiology professor at Cornell University who was director of the bird laboratories there for 14 years.

Mr. Walcott once kept about 1,000 homing pigeons, which he called ''the athletes of the pigeon world,'' for research purposes, before the university closed his pigeon loft, saying they had to be housed in individual, cages, and not in a large coop. But pigeons would suffer if put in single cages, Mr. Walcott said, so he disbanded his flock.

As for keeping pigeons from roosting where they aren't wanted, ''pigeons do have great site fidelity,'' he said, ''and they return to the same area where they were born. But if you make it impossible, they go somewhere else, and the neighbors will inherit your pigeon problem.''



ENVIRONMENT; Rousting Pigeons? It's Like Herding Cats - New York Times

As Deadspin noted yesterday, Cincinnati officials were looking for a way to deal with the pigeon infestation at Paul Brown Stadium, which has led to several customers dealing with pigeon **** in their food and drink. Sanitary! Alas, the plan to shoot the pigeons has been delayed, because guess who got involved:

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals spoke out against the plan Friday, encouraging Mayor Mark Mallory to reject the stadium's request. PETA offered to help develop other solutions such as netting, noise makers and porcupine wire that discourage birds from roosting...

Team officials have said they're looking into other ideas, such as strobe lights, netting or noise makers to get rid of the birds.

Good Lord. Why are people such pussies? It's not like the stadium is the last natural habitat for snow leopards. They're fuckin' pigeons, man. Flying rats. Cockroaches with feathers. And there's no kind of pest control for them in cities because they have no predators. **** the pigeons. Send me out to Cincinnati and give me six hours in that stadium with a ballpeen hammer. Boom, no more pigeons.


But that's my solution for everything. Sorry, I just think "me + six hours + ballpeen hammer" can solve most of the world's problems. Maybe not Darfur, but definitely AIDS. And hobos.
STAY OF EXECUTION FOR STADIUM'S PIGEONS - With Leather

PIGEON FANCIERS SENTENCED FOR KILLING HAWKS
October 16, 2007

Two Portland-area pigeon hobbyists pleaded guilty Thursday to trying to capture and kill protected hawks that bothered their expensive pigeons, but were sentenced to lighter penalties than federal prosecutors had asked for.

Citing public outrage over the crimes, prosecutors sought penalties of $10,000 each against Peter Kaufman and Ivan Hanchett. Each man pleaded guilty to one count of violating the federal Migratory Bird Protection Act. But U.S. District Judge Ancer Hagerty sentenced each to pay $4,000 -- a $2,000 fine and another $2,000 to the Endangered Species Justice Fund at the Oregon Zoo, which helps pay for wildlife projects.

Hagerty went along with a request from prosecutors to sentence Kaufman and Hanchett each to one year of probation. During that year they're prohibited from hunting and fishing, must complete 120 hours of community service and may not participate in any activities of clubs that raise birds known as roller pigeons.

From The Oregonian


UK PONDERED WW2 SUICIDE PIGEONS
October 14, 2007

British spy chiefs secretly considered training pigeons to fly into enemy targets carrying explosives or biological weapons, it has been revealed.

British intelligence set up a "pigeon committee" at the end of World War II to ensure expertise gained in the use of the birds to carry messages was not lost.

Documents now released to the National Archives reveal that the War Office intelligence section, MI14, warned: "Pigeon research will not stand still; if we do not experiment, other powers will."

Among MI14's proposals was the training of pigeons carrying explosives to fly into enemy searchlights.

Meanwhile, pigeon enthusiast Wing Commander WDL Rayner suggested a "bacteriological warfare agent" could be combined with the explosive.

"A thousand pigeons each with a two ounce explosive capsule, landed at intervals on a specific target, might be a seriously inconvenient surprise," Mr Rayner wrote.

He believed his "revolutionary" ideas could change the way wars were fought, and had the tentative backing of wartime MI6 chief Sir Stewart Menzies.

However the internal security service MI5 branded Rayner a "menace in pigeon affairs".

MI5's Lieutenant Colonel Tommy Robertson wrote: "I thought that some time ago it had been made clear that Rayner should finish writing his manual and then have nothing further to do with this committee officially."

Rayner's plan for a 400-pigeon loft where tests would be carried out was abandoned due to wrangling among the intelligence agencies over funding.

From bbc.co.uk


KNOW THY ENEMY!
October 11, 2007

To keep alive in the wild, a pigeon needs to keep its eyes open for predators. Having eyes on the side of its head gives it a field of view of 340 degrees and, in order to fly at speed, its brain can process visual information three times faster than a human's. If a pigeon watched a feature film, 24 frames per second would appear to it like a slide presentation. They would need at least 75 frames per second to create the illusion of movement on screen. (This is why pigeons seem to leave it until the very last second to fly out of the way of an oncoming car: it appears much less fast to them.)


NORFOLK KILLERS BEWARE!
October 11, 2007

PETA Offers Reward To Catch Bird Killers

Someone is killing pigeons in Norfolk. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals found six birds drowning in the Hague this week. They say the birds were having seizures and appeared to have ingested pesticide.

Daphna Nachminovitch went into the Hague in a canoe to try to rescue the birds.

"They were having seizures, tremors, their lungs were filling with water. They had been poisoned and fell into the water, so they were drowning. They were not able to keep their wings afloat. It was horrible," she said.

So horrible PETA is offering a thousand dollar reward for information that stops the bird killer. They believe someone set out pigeon pesticide in an unsafe manner. That means other birds or animals could get it. People walking their dogs around the Hague Wednesday were concerned. Ada Anthony doesn't want her Golden Retriever, Jazzy, to find the poison.

from Hampton Roads NewsChannel 3


IT'S RAINING PIGEONS IN GARDNER
October 07, 2007

Bird deaths perplex Gardner, until pest control revealed

GARDNER— Unaware that a pest control company had been hired to rid pooping pigeons from downtown rooftops, city officials and residents were startled this summer to discover dozens of the birds stumbling around disoriented, flying into buildings, and lying dead in parking lots.

“There was a huge rise in calls regarding pigeons dropping from the sky,” said Deputy Police Chief Rock Barrieau, who closed a criminal investigation into pigeon poisoning after learning this week that the birds were legally fed chemicals. “It caused some alarm.”

Waltham Services, a pest and termite control company, was hired by Graves Law Office, Holy Rosary Church, Heywood Wakefield Place and the library to get rid of pigeons on the properties. The company has permits from the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife to put chemically treated corn on rooftops. The goal is to force the pigeons to leave, not to kill them.

Once a property owner hires a pest control company, there is no requirement for either the customer or the permit holder to notify local health departments.

Therefore, though much of the Waltham company’s work has been ongoing (Holy Rosary Church has used the service for years and the library started this summer), city officials did not find out about the chemical treatments until this week. The late discovery frustrated officials, who had already spent time and resources investigating what initially appeared to be an inexplicable phenomenon.

“In my opinion, a company that contracts with someone to frighten away their pigeons needs to do a better follow-up in the area to see what impact that has,” Deputy Chief Barrieau said.

A permit from the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife allows companies to place a mixture of harmless and chemically treated corn onto pigeon-populated rooftops. After ingesting the bait, the pigeons emit signals of distress to the rest of their flock, which ideally flies away.

“Usually, they’ll flop around and look like they’re inebriated,” said Richard C. Berman, technical manager for Waltham Services. “They look like they’re in pain, but they’re really not. The reason you get mortality, especially when you start a program, is you may have hungry or ill birds that might get a few extra kernels.”

Some of the affected birds prompted health officials and police to worry about virus and disease.

“About five to six weeks ago, we noticed what appeared to be an extraordinary situation,” said Health Director Bernard F. Sullivan. “Pigeons would be flying, looking fine, and then they’d drop right out of the sky. They’d land on the ground, quiver, and after some amount of time, they would die.”

Mr. Sullivan said the city removed at least 24 dead pigeons from downtown between mid-July and the beginning of September. Once disease was ruled out through a necropsy of one of the birds, police opened an investigation after receiving tips the pigeons had been purposely and illegally killed.

The investigation took Deputy Chief Barrieau on Monday to the Pleasant Street law office of Scott Graves, a city councilor. Last fall, Mr. Graves hired Waltham Services, which had frightened away pigeons from other downtown buildings.

Mr. Graves said pigeon droppings in front of his building had become a messy nuisance, requiring him to shovel off the sidewalk and clean up after clients who tracked the stuff into the office.

“I noticed a difference after a couple months of the treatments,” Mr. Graves said yesterday. “Then (Deputy Chief Barrieau) came in here Monday and told me pigeons were dying.”

Mr. Graves said he has paid $1,400 since the fall for the Avitrol-treated corn kernels, which the company puts on his roof once a month.

“If you dilute it, the mortality is minimal,” said Mr. Berman, who acknowledged he was surprised to learn this week that so many pigeons had died. “Normally, we might see some extra deaths when we’ve just started in an area. Some birds probably took excessive bait and may not have been healthy enough to withstand it.”

Lisa Capone, a spokeswoman with the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife, said “it is not unusual” for pigeons to die after eating the treated kernels. The mortality rate is difficult to determine, she said, without knowing how many birds were exposed to the chemical.

Like rats and mice, pigeons are an “unprotected species,” and property owners may treat them as pests, Ms. Capone said.

If the Health Department had known of the treatments, Mr. Sullivan said, “We would have contacted Waltham Services right away.”

“We also would have invited them to clean up after themselves,” said Mr. Sullivan, who plans to ask the state Division of Fisheries & Wildlife to notify communities when such treatments take place.

from telegram.com


BrokenWing

__________________

When all is done that is asked from me and I can fly no higher, I pray this day his hand extends to welcome home a flyer.
Author : http://www.pigeonrescue.com/
Website:http://pigeonworld.informe.com/index...e3a2a754004832
Watch: http://video.google.com/videoplay?do...29577913622678
Sign: http://www.all-creatures.org/alert/alert-20070124.html
E-Mail tallship30@yahoo.com

Pigeons on the Pill Bring Cleaner Bryant Park
By ELEANOR BLAU
It started as a drug to lower people's cholesterol, but wound up as birth control for pigeons.

The drug, Ornitrol, isn't being made any more. But there's enough in the pipeline for the pigeons of Bryant Park. For a year now, they've been on the pill, so to speak -- actually, laced kernels of corn. And there are signs they are taking their medication as prescribed.

"We've had as many as 150 that are regular park patrons," said Andrew Manshel, self-described executive director of planned pigeonhood and vice president of the Bryant Park Restoration Corporation. "I think we're down to about 15 or 20. Big difference."

His interest in pigeon progeny is two-fold, at least.

"The pigeons and I have a certain difference of opinion about where it is appropriate for them to go to the bathroom," he said, "and we also have a culinary difference of opinion about whether or not the plants that we put out in Bryant Park are suitable fare for pigeons.

"High on the menu appears to be impatiens. We put out $200 worth of impatiens in the Fifth Avenue beds in front of the New York Public Library, and two years ago they ate every blossom off every plant.

"This spring, we put out several hundred dollars worth of pansies, inside the park in the north bed, and they tore them to bits. We've now put wire netting over the pansies, which doesn't look the greatest, but it certainly informs the pigeons that they probably ought to look elsewhere for a meal. " A 'Long Twilight Struggle'

Bryant Park is hardly the only place in New York, or anywhere, with pigeon problems.

Henry J. Stern, Parks Commissioner, said the parks had fought a "long twilight struggle with pigeons, and it's coming out in favor of the pigeons."

"We've tried spikes, we've tried sticky stuff, we've tried recorded high-pitched sounds, we've tried netting, we've tried predators like hawks."

He said he was not even considering birth control. "As long as people feed pigeons, pigeons will proliferate," he said. "The race is over."

Actually, Bryant Park succeeded in discouraging pigeons two years ago, after the park reopened with extensive renovation. But itgave up on the drug that zapped them, Avitrol, because it did awful things to the birds that took it, and shook up people who watched them, including Mr. Manshel.

"It looks like delirium tremens," he said. "They shake. Apparently it affects the nervous system."

Then they die.

"I was taken aback," said Mr. Manshel, explaining that the exterminator had told him the drug would not harm the birds. It works chiefly by frightening off other pigeons after they see what happens to those that ingested the stuff.

He said he checked with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals in Washington before deciding to try Ornitrol. Indeed, the organization, known as PETA, had kind words for the drug. A Kinder, Gentler Drug

"We think that is a good, positive approach toward a bird problem," said Leslie Gerstenfeld-Press, a spokeswoman for PETA.

On the other hand, Ornitrol, which costs $1,200 an application, has its limitations. Making a bird sterile doesn't make it go away. And pigeons can live three to seven years, according to Betty Swindle of Avitrol, the company in Tulsa, Okla., that made Ornitrol (and that continues to make the company's namesake drug, Avitrol).

Furthermore, she said, Ornitrol only sterilizes female pigeons for six months. "They have to be fed twice a year, forever," Mrs. Swindle reported. "Like a birth control pill. If you don't take it, it doesn't work."

Yet Ornitrol can be effective because pigeons, like people, tend to keep to their daily routines.

"Pigeons and birds in general are creatures of habit," said Kelly Swindle, president of Avitrol. "They generally roost and sleep in the same place, they have an early morning exercise flight and the little boys will show off for the little girls, just like humans. Then they feed and water, loaf around, have a light afternoon feeding and go back to roost." Drug Not Profitable

To make sure a solid community of pigeons has settled in, untainted corn is put out for 10 days or more. Then, Ornitrol-coated kernels are offered for another 10 days. Non-pigeons are not tempted to indulge because the kernels are too large.

Mr. Swindle said that the product had been developed as a human anti-cholesterol agent in the late 1960's by Searle Pharmaceuticals, but was discontinued because it caused nervousness in some people.

The University of Missouri discovered its pigeon possibilities, he said, and pursued them under an agreement with Searle. The Avitrol Corporation bought Ornitrol in the mid-70's and stopped manufacturing it last February.

Mrs. Swindle, who described her company as a "mom and pop" business, said it had to discontinue making Ornitrol because tests required for a routine review by the Environmental Protection Agency would have been prohibitively expensive.

If not for that requirement, the company would have continued producing Ornitrol, even though it never was profitable, said Mr. Swindle. He explained that he had kept Ornitrol available for "a rather small clientele that really did not want to see any harm come to pigeons."

Meantime, back in Bryant Park, Mr. Manshel is counting pigeons with a smile on his face, while keeping a wary eye on his only other bird problem: sparrows. They like pansies.