feral pigeon control

[chrissie]

Hi Guys
If any of you dont know about the work of Picas please take time to look at their website. www.picasuk.com.
they do excellent work keeping feral pigeon numbers down humanely....it seems some councils in the Uk and Europe are taking notice and adopting the system, but there is still a way to go. If any of you get an opportunity to recommend them please spread the word and put the greedy 'pest controllers' out of business.
thanks all, Chrissie

[Reti]

Thanks for the link.
Anything is better than the pest control companies.
They don't specify what their methods are though, I would like to know.

Reti

[chrissie]

I agree the website is a bit wordy and technical etc. Basically they survey the locations where there are loads of pigeons (usually town centres) and then locate a flat roof on which they site a loft to encourage the pigeons to hang around. A local person then visits regularly (once a week) to replace any eggs with dummy eggs to stop increase in numbers. If they can make the site a sponsored feature say in a park, then they will allow members of the public to feed pigeons just in that location, because well meaning feeders can inadvertently sabotage the effort if pigeons are leaving the site. It is best to do it in conjunction with bird proofing local buildings, so they always nest in one location. Surrey Heath who adopted this 5 years ago have had no increase in pigeon numbers in that time and the pigeons just sit around for most of the day. Each site has different requirements but even the worst case scenario wont cost as much as the alternative methods. Culling has proven not to decrease numbers at all as the flock immediately increases when numbers are reduced. They have had many successes, and I see it as the only way forward. Hope this helps.