PIGEON FANCIER "GUTTED" AFTER FOX ATTACK

A PIGEON fancier was devastated to find more than 30 dead racing pigeons in his coop after an attack by a fox.

Bernard Charles opened his coop at his Huntingtower allotment on Friday morning (July 25) to find 31 dead pigeons, with another 12 missing. The fox had forced it's way in by pushing back some wire mesh.

Bernard said: "I found them on Friday morning and believe you me it was a shock to the system.

"I can't put it into words how gutted I am."

Bernard breeds all of his pigeons himself. In April he lost 27 young pigeons to a similar attack.

from granthamjournal.co.uk

this pic was taken in Trieste, Northern Italy, a few days ago. Apparently, this is quite a common sight in the city.

Hope you like it.

Andrea C.

thanks, Andrea!

The Society has been in Austria researching torture dungeons, but we're back home now.

Thanks for everyone who sent this one in...

suspicious fire >

LONDON, June 24 (Reuters) - Wimbledon came under fire from animal activists on Tuesday for using marksmen to shoot down dive-bombing pigeons.

The tournament employs two hawks to scare away pigeons who had become a pest swooping down on Centre Court and distracting players in the middle of tense matches.

But the hawks failed to keep the pigeons away from the players’ lawn and the open-air media restaurant so marksmen were called in.

“The hawks are our first line of deterrent, and by and large they do the job,” Wimbledon spokesman Johnny Perkins said.

“But unfortunately there were one or two areas where the hawks didn’t deter the pigeons, so it was deemed necessary to take a harder approach,” he explained.

from sports.yahoo.com

Man Reports NY Pigeon Poacher, Gets $2500 Reward

NEW YORK - A New York City man has won a $2,500 reward for reporting someone who was trapping pigeons, which can be sold to hunting sites or illegally sold to food markets.

The animal welfare group In Defense of Animals says the birds might have been destined for Pennsylvania pigeon shoots or for New York poultry markets. It says the reward it offered has been claimed by a formerly homeless man.

Desi Stewart works for a charity that hires homeless people to clean streets.

He read a poster about the reward and later saw a man spreading bird seed and netting pigeons on Manhattan's Upper East Side. He called a Department of Environmental Conservation officer, who arrested the poacher.

A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty in the case last week. He has to pay three fines, including one for pigeon netting.

from newsday.com

PIGEON POPULATION PROBLEMS POOPING OUT?

Since August, some of the area's estimated 5,000 pigeons have been eating pill-shaped kibble known as OvoControl P from feeders on rooftops, making Hollywood the first area to try the contraceptive since it was given state approval in late July.

About 300 pigeons flock every morning at daybreak to eat up the contraceptive kibble, which contains nicarbazin, an ingredient that stops an egg from developing. OvoControl P has been registered with the state Department of Pesticide Regulation and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and is approved by PETA and the Humane Society.

Laura Dodson, president of the Argyle Civic Assn., a neighborhood group leading the effort called Citizen Pigeon, said that they raised enough money from local businesses and residents -- over $50,000 -- to install five rooftop automatic feeders. They’ve also installed cameras to monitor the birds eating online.

After four months, the 438 pigeon regulars in one spot dropped to just below 40. Some through attrition, but pigeons are "just having less babies now," Dodson said.

The original date to reduce the pigeon population by 50% was 2012, but Dodson said that pest control and wildlife officials think it could happen within the next two years.

The pigeons are disliked in the area, currently under millions of dollars in renovation efforts, because of the messy droppings.

from latimes.com

And so, behind the door, the two children found a pool of stagnant water, lumpy with the carcasses of pigeons, chicks and unhatched eggs.

A truly beautiful shot by the photographer Mario Godlewski I came across at a benefit auction last night. I had to leave early otherwise this definitely would be hanging on my wall right now.

DEEP FRIED PIGEON
by David Paine

STAFF at a fish and chip shop in Worcester city centre got the shock of their life when a pigeon flew in through the window and fell into a deep fat fryer.

The hapless bird squeezed through a fanlight window at Angel Plaice and flew around the chippy.

Dawn Jennings, Angel Plaice assistant manager, said: "I was quite stunned. I had just put some chips on and then this pigeon came in. It was trying to get out and was banging against the windows, but as it tried to get out it rebounded and fell in one of the fryers.

"It must have been a painful death. It was quite distressing at the time, but we can laugh about it now."

Mrs Jennings said at least one worker got in a flap and ran out of the shop screaming as the unusal event unfolded at about 4pm on Wednesday.

Grant Hinton, aged 18, who works on the mobile phone stall in the market, said: "I was just about to go in and get some chips.

"I was talking to some mates when I heard some people shouting pigeon'. Tracy from the pet food stall tried to get it out but it went straight in the fryer.

"Then she managed to scoop it out.

"They put it in a bag but it melted through through the plastic and fell on the floor."

Mrs Jenning said the bird was disposed of and she was not planning to add deep fried pigeon to the menu.

She said it was lucky they did not have any customers at the time and added they immediately closed the shop for cleaning.

She stressed that staff have since scrubbed all of the equipment and replaced the cooking oil, but nobody is letting them forget what happened. "We've had all of the jokes," she said.

"All of the people working on the market have been cooing as they've walked passed and we've had people asking if the food is for eating in or flying away!"

from worchesternews.co.uk