City plans to kill pigeons as way of cleaning up ocean?
By Sharon St. Joan, Best Friends NetworkThe July 19, 2007 online SignOnSanDiego.com ran an Associated Press report, with information from the Santa Maria Times, on the plans of the City of Pismo Beach to kill pigeons roosting on the Pismo Beach Pier.
It is stated that the pigeons will be trapped and killed by a pest-control firm, possibly as early as August, and then taken to Paso-Robles-based Zoo to You to be fed to the animals there. What means will be used to kill the pigeons is not specified.
Also not specified is what will be done with nestling pigeons, and whether or not any consideration is being given to preventing young fledgling pigeons who can fly, but who cannot feed themselves, from dying of starvation, if they are not all caught in the traps.
The article generally makes light of the fate of the pigeons.
The stretch along this part of the beach has been closed due to high levels of bacteria. There appears to be no evidence linking high levels of bacteria in the water to the presence of pigeons, and there has been speculation that there may be a sewage leak, which is causing the problem.
High concentrations of E Coli and other bacteria have been found in the water, causing health officials to post repeated warnings.
A new feeding ban ordinance was passed recently, and the plan was originally to wait until November to see whether or not the ban has led to the departure of the pigeons.
The plan to hire the pest control firm for six months may cost $30,000.
A July 18, '07 piece by Michael Edgecomb, on the Channel 12 kcoy.com website,
http://www.kcoy.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a0a11ab1-9cce-4856-a2b3-eeb70137be1astates that, according to the ordinance passed by the City Council last month, feeding pigeons from the pier, the promenade and the Cypress Street Bridge is now prohibited.
There are hundreds of pigeons present; they are reported to be nesting under the pier.
A few pigeon factsThe source of these facts is my own experience, over twenty years, as a licensed wildlife rehabilitator.Pigeons gather at sites where food is available. Where there is no food, there will be no pigeons. Prohibiting, and enforcing the prohibition, of feeding the pigeons at that site will result in the pigeons abandoning the site and going elsewhere to find food. The ordinance prohibiting the feeding of pigeons was an appropriate step. It needs to be given time to work.
A law enforcement presence on the beach during daylight hours, dawn to dusk, (unless there are lights on at night) should be sufficient to prevent feeding pigeons or littering. Pigeons do not fly at night. Clean beaches are of benefit to everyone.
The situation of pigeons who are nesting, and their nestlings, should be monitored, and the birds cared for appropriately, by an experienced pigeon or dove rehabilitator. Newly laid eggs should be removed every day.
The time needed to notice a significant change in the pigeon numbers will be only weeks, not months.
If there is no change in the pigeon numbers, then that means there is still a source of food for them (probably litter or trash), which needs to be eliminated.
Keeping the beach clean A prohibition against any form of littering needs to be enforced, and both the beach and the pier need to be kept free of food. If the beaches and the pier are not kept clean, that defeats the purpose of the ban on feeding pigeons.
Pigeons and the ocean Pigeons are not seabirds. They cannot drink sea water or dive into the ocean to catch food. The beach is not a natural attraction for them. They are not predators and will not go after any other living creatures naturally present on the beach. Only the presence of food brought by humans will attract them.
Clean beaches will equal no pigeons on the beach.Hiring a pest control firm to trap and kill pigeons is unnecessary, expensive, inhumane, and basically ineffective. New pigeons will soon take the place of the others who have been trapped, unless the cause (food) is removed.
Pest control firms, in general, have no incentive not to be brutal in their treatment of "pests". Trapping of pigeons generally results in suffering, injury, and death to the birds, and results in their young being left to starve. Pigeons mate for life, and it separates them from their mates. Pigeons who are destined as food for other animals (as this plan provides) may be fed live to the other animals or may be killed very inhumanely. This is a cruel and inhumane action.
Meanwhile, the original source of the problem (food in the form of litter) is left untouched, so, as mentioned above, the pigeons who have been brutally removed and killed, will be continually replaced by new pigeons attracted to food, and the whole process will be repeated again and again.
You may read the original article in SignOnSanDiego by going to:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/state/20070719-0523-ca-brf-cencoast-pigeonproblem.htmlWhat you can doWrite a brief, polite email to the City Council of Pismo Beach.
This is the link for their contact information.
http://www.pismobeach.org/council/council.html Please ask them to enforce the ban on feeding the pigeons and to enforce immediately a ban against any form of littering on the beach and the pier.
Ask them to delay any inhumane action against the pigeons, such as trapping them, until both the above bans have been enforced, and there is no food at all present for the pigeons on the beach. After a short time there will be fewer pigeons, then no pigeons. If there are still pigeons present, then there is still food present.
While this is being done, nestling and fledgling pigeons can be monitored, and cared for appropriately, by an experienced pigeon or dove rehabilitator.
Ask them, after the pigeons have left voluntarily, following these actions, to consider investigating alternate, plausible sources for the high bacterial levels, such as a sewage leak--and then to take appropriate action.
Please thank them for their willingness to approach the high bacteria problem, in an effective, sensible and humane way.
If you like, please post a copy below of the email you have sent to the Pismo Beach City Council. We'd be happy also to hear of any other positive action you may take or of any coordination with other groups working to protect the pigeons.
Enlisting the help of a wildlife rehabilitation organization that regularly works with pigeons (many do not work with pigeons) will make a major difference in how effectively and how humanely this alternate approach can be carried out.Many thanks!