I'm So Upset

[pdpbison]

Originally Posted by lwerden

My feral flock (26 Birds) which nets and roosts on my roof are being run over intentionally in the street.

I have a neighbor 2/3 houses down the street that is very sympathic to the pigeons and feeds them every morning right after dawn. Unfortunately this neighbor, although he has good intentions does not want the bird poop on his driveway or sidewalk so he puts seed out for them in the middle of the street. Although this street is not a major thoroughfare it is part of a 100 track house development so there are many cars that use it to get in and out of the development.

There is a young guy in a pick up truck that leaves for work around 7:30AM every morning. He speeds down the street and this morning I saw him intentionally swurve directly into the piegons. He killed two of them thismorning. One had a broken neck and the other was crushed beyond recogonition.

This is not the first time. I have already lost other birds in the past to him. I have found them crushed in the street.

I have called the police about this, but even though I report him as speeding, they are unwilling to put a police car on the street in the morning to catch him and they could care less about what is happening to the birds.

I have spoken to the neighbor and told him to stop feeding the pigeons in the street as he is only making them a target. I don't know if he will stop, but the birds are so used to this being a source of food for about 6 months now that they wait for him in the street every morning.

I don't know what else to do to stop these murders. If he stops feeding them will they eventually not go there any more in the morning???

I just hope I have gotton through to the neighbor who feeds them and he will stop.

I'm just so upset and needed to rant a bit.

Louise

Hi Louise,



I had not seen this thread, or it's initial relaying, when I had replied to your second, other thread about this.


Sorry...I had no idea someone was deliberately trying to run them over.



That is truely ghastly...


Phil
l v

[Jay3]

Originally Posted by SerendipityCA

Oy, I think I've been feeding too much as well. I take a handful and throw one up on the carport roof for every two birds, roughly. Sounds like I'm feeding too much. Did I read that it should be 1 tablespoon per bird per day?

Well, what they can exist on, and what they can eat, are two different things. I think maybe you just don't want to give them so much that they begin to depend so much on your handouts. You just want to give them enough to help. I think. And to make them forget to hang out in the road.

[Teresa]

Hi Louise,

I'm glad your hard work is paying off and the pigeons are learning to stay away from the road.
I try not to give my feral flock more than a tablespoon of pigeon mix per bird a day, plus any food scraps or crumbs. I say 'try' because when the weather is very wet or they look frail it's hard to resist giving them a little extra. I hope this is about right. They also forage in the street (which, being in the city centre, has limited vehicle access) and it has warmed my heart to see drivers slowing down and sounding their horns to avoid hitting them. But mortality is still high, due to disease, building works destroy nesting areas, and over the years the flock hasn't increased much. There are about 60 of them.
Most of my neighbours don't mind them, especially as I only feed them in my property, and because they act as a burglar alarm: once I heard them take flight at 3 am, and when I opened the window I spotted two burglars on a nearby roof! The police took ages to arrive, but the burglars didn't appreciate having a strong light shone on them and took off. To my mind, they are providing a public service!

[lwerden]

Hi Everyone.........The morning feeding of the flock in the driveway is going strong. My flock has told all their friends in the neighborhood and there is now about 75 birds coming for breakfast.

I've gotten as close up as I can and they all appear to be healthy. No visable or obvious signs of canker or pox.

I don't know exactly how much I am feeding them, however I am going through about 25lbs. of seed per week.

So far......no complaints from the neighbors.....Thank God.

Regards,
Louise

[Ivor]

Hi Louise, They look so healthy, I buy 20lbs a week, and sometimes is not enough because I cannot even finish my week, last Sunday they didn't have food so I was the first customer in the pet shop, because I didn't have food, and I was giving them all the bread that we had at home, and some canary food from my other birds, anyways, I have so many that I feed in my yard and around my work, but I'm having problems in the building, one of the tenants saw me once, and the poop is very obvious too, I tried to feed them but not in the same place but every time are more and more, and I don't have a heart to stop feeding them, but I know I will have problems eventually, they are very obvious and when they see me they start flying next to me, so people can see that something happen there, they are so lovely... but anyways I'm glad everything is well with you... and no more problems... Great job Louise... =)

[SerendipityCA]

Ivor,

I live in San Francisco too. Where do you get your seed? I've been getting it at Lucky Dog in Berkeley on the recommendation of another board member. I buy 50# at a time and drive around with it in the trunk of my car - I have no place else to put it!

You know, I too worry about attracting attention from the neighbors. So I have a system that might not work for you at work, but it works for me at home - I go out late at night and put the seed out then. The birds come early in the morning and eat. I put it on the carport roof so I don't attract them down to the ground...because I don't want them to get hit by cars. This works on two levels:

1) The birds don't know me so they don't flock to me when they see me on the street. I think of myself as their Secret Santa.

2) people don't see me putting the seed out.

Now I know you feed at work in an area that is very crowded with people all day every day, right? So I don't really have a solution there. I think you said your office is near the Embarcadero? Is there any place like a park where you could retrain them to go? Or do you arrive early enough that you could leave the seed out when people aren't around?

I have a bunch of birds that I feed near a cafe I go to every day (well, I didn't used to go every day but now I look forward to seeing my pidgies so I don't miss a day). They literally wait for me on the roof of a building on the corner, and can spot me a block away. As soon as I am in view of that building I look to see if they're there, and a block away, they're just specks to me, but they take on the wing immediately and fly a whole block to greet me, then they impatiently accompany me up the hill until I am at the feeding location. Fortunately it's a nearly ideal spot to feed. It's near a street with lots of cafes so they keep up their foraging skills...but it's on the "blind" side of a large bank and it's shaded and there are trees, and that block leads down to a residential neighborhood so there's not a lot of foot traffic. So I can wait until nobody's around, and just casually drop the seed, and it would be tough to figure out what I'm doing unless you were staring at me for some reason.

The birds are a dead giveaway of course but right now I only have between 3 and 10 at any given feeding.

[amyable]

That's a great picture, it's lovely to see the flock tucking in and having a good feed.

Janet

[Jay3]

Good job Louise! That is a good sized flock isn't it?

SERENDIPITY:
The only problem with leaving the food out at night, is that it is much more likely to attract rodents. Not only do you not want them coming around, but they could likely spread disease to the flock. I only say this because I know that if I did that, I would have them here, and it doesn't take long for them to locate the food.

[Ivor]

Hi Serendipity,

I buy my food in Pet Club they are in Westborough Ave, after Serramonte, the prices are better than if you go to any pet store in the city, I visit some conures that are on sale for a long time, they are my friends and every time I go I play with them, of course if I find one of the guys that work there and is a bird lover.

I had been thinking about some strategies, but they know me already at work, they know even my schedule, when I leave from work and I go to the post box in front of my building they are already waiting for me, and you have to see their faces, I have to feed them, what I do I wait until nobody is walking in my way, because they come from all the places, it became a problem now, before when I start feeding them, they were around 4 or 5 but now they can be around 40.. and you know how is the financial district, so many people around, and here I am... anyways, I always act what happen here??? but I'm afraid that they will catch me soon..

I'm trying to find other places, but they like that spot in front of the post box, of course they know I'll be around there eventually because I work in that building...

Anyways, check pet club and get the address from Westborough is not far from SF, I think Berkeley is too far away for me... and 20 lbs a week works well for me, and is not that heavy, if you go try to bring some seeds or bread because a lot of pigeons there, people feed them over there and they already recognize my car too... yes, pigeons know me everywhere.

email me if you want more info... would be nice to see you some day I'm Ivette by the way.