The Back Yard Zoo

by Jim Dunlap

"Pigeon Control"

From beneath the canopy of Keller's Drive-In on Northwest Highway to the parking lot at the Dallas Zoo you see and hear them. They coo, they strut, and they peck at what seems like invisible food items on the asphalt. People who dislike them consider them a form of flying rat. Those of us who have looked into their delicate eyes and touched their svelte wing and breast feathers think they are beautiful to behold. In any case, most people want them to disappear from their bird feeders, eaves, and hot tub covers because they are messy and annoying. No one wants to harm them (and it’s against the law anyway). Herein we have the quandary. How do we remove their mess without harming one feather on their cute little heads?

The rock dove, or feral pigeon, since it's domestication around 4500 B.C. has been the nemesis of every park statue, pyramid, building ledge, and bridge abutment known to humankind. These plump, fast-flying birds with small heads and short legs do as well in some areas as the sparrow. They travel in flocks, mate for life and can raise babies in a short pile of twig. Recently I watched two pigeons on the parking lot. The male was bowing, cooing, and offering seeds to the female. They eat anything, and are slow to get out of the way of cars. An average of three pigeons a week are brought into the Science Learning Center because they didn’t get out of the way of oncoming traffic.

Pigeons can be a problem even in places where you expect to see birds. Chris Brown, Curator of Birds at the Dallas Zoo explains, "We have methods of feeding the birds that we keep in the collection that would exclude pigeons. We design various kinds of feeders that the birds in the collection eat out of but pigeons can’t. Where we have the most trouble with pigeons is in our open ponds where the wading birds are. Since waterfowl have long necks and the pigeons don’t, we put the food in an enclosure that the ducks can stick their heads through and reach the food and the pigeons can’t. The only thing I haven’t been able to come up with is a feeder that the flamingos can eat out of that the pigeons can’t. So that’s my challenge right now." When asked if the zoo uses any pigeon avoidance tactics to scare them off Brown replied, "We don’t actually have that. Although at the entrance to the zoo they’ve put up some bird netting because the ticket booths are right under the Marsalis street Bridge. Since pigeons like to hang out under bridges we’ve put some under there."

There are many things on the market advertised to deter pigeons from landing, such as rubber snakes, plastic owls, or hawks. "I’ll just put it this way, there’s a church I drive by every day and there are pigeons sitting on the head of the plastic owl," says Michael Bohdan, zoologist and owner of the Pest Shop in Plano. He is asked about this problem on a regular basis. "Pigeons are one of the hardest things to eradicate from your property, because anytime we have an animal that flies it’s very difficult to control them." Bohdan explains there is a product which is coiled wire and looks like a slinky. When placed on a ledge it prevents pigeons from landing.

Another device being sold is the sticky strip which sticks to the feet of the pigeons. Eric Neupert, Manager of Heard Museum Raptor Center in McKinney has this to say about that method, "The sticky strips are really cruel. We’ve had a number of them come into the raptor center covered with sticky strips and it’s really difficult to get them off of them. If they stay on, the birds die a slow, cruel death because they can’t fly."

"Live trapping is an option if done correctly," Mr. Bohdan suggests. "What you have to do to have success is prebait the area ahead of time with corn or cracked meal for two weeks to establish a pattern and then apply the trap over the bait. They feed twice a day, morning and evening.

Most of the traps are pretty good sized, because they’re not going to walk into a small trap. Usually you can probably catch half a dozen in a trap."

The next logical question is what can I do with a half dozen live pigeons? Kathy Rogers, owner and founder of the Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center answers, "That’s a good question. For pigeons not to return to their original nesting spot they have to be kept somewhere for a couple of months and then when released they’ll join a flock where they have been kept. That’s the basic mode of relocation." And where do they spend these two months I asked? Rogers replied, "If they come with a donation that would pay for their food and worming and dusting, we have a quarantine area where we can do that. I will also not guarantee 100 per cent that you will never see these birds again, but that usually works just fine."

As a child, I chased birds that landed in our yard. My wise old grandfather told me of a method he had of catching pigeons. He said to put salt on their tails thus rendering them flightless. I was not a dumb five-year old, so my first question was how do you get close enough to a bird to put salt on its tail? My part Cherokee Indian grandfather anticipated my question and told me to wear my baseball cap backwards and the pigeons would think I was walking away, and then placement of salt was no problem. Did this work, you ask?

Aside from the mess they make, there is a health consideration that should be mentioned. Steve Barry, Environmental Health Manager for the City of Plano says, "There is a slight risk of contracting an infection of the lung called "cryptococcosis," which is an infection of the lung and can also involve the kidneys and the prostate. However, the remote possibility of contracting that disease is very small and is transmitted by inhalation of particles from the droppings. It would be advised for businesses or any other entities or even residential apartment settings to clean these areas as frequently as possible to reduce the risk of exposure."

Successful pigeon abatement depends a lot on individual circumstances. You must consider the location of the pigeons, their activities in that area, the area to be protected, and the effect it has on others. For most of us it’s not really a big problem, but if you’re the one slipping and sliding on the way to your car every day you might want to contact these folks for more information: Michael Bohdan, The Pest Shop, 972-519-0355, Cathy Rogers, Rogers Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, 972-225-4000, Jim Dunlap, Plano Independent School District, Living Materials Center, 469-752-1194.

Contact Jim Dunlap, director of the Holifield Science Learning Center of Plano Independent School District, 3100 Shiloh Road, at 469-752-1194 or jdunlap@pisd.edu.

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