Sunday October 12th, 2008
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Pigeons On The Pill
Posted by Su Avasthi on July 31, 2007 - 8:30am.
Not long ago, I was at a cafe in Bend, Oregon—sipping a latte and evasdropping on a conversation between a couple of baristas.
What they said went something like this:
Barista No. 1: Have you heard what they're going to control all the ducks?
Barista No. 2: Yeah, they're planning to spike their feed with birth control pills.
Before I could figure out what they meant, a customer walked in and they cut the conversation short.
Based on the weirdness of that exchange, I just assumed that that they must have been kidding around. Although, I did have to wonder later that afternoon, when I found myself strolling—very, very gingerly around duck and geese droppings—around a pond in town.
Turns out, however, that adding birth control drugs to bird seed is the latest way for some cities to stem their out-of-control bird populations. According to the Los Angeles Times, Hollywood officials have started putting OvoControl P in rooftop feeders to control the pigeon population.
The drug is meant to control so-called "feral pigeons," which are the same thing as your average city pigeon though the name makes them sound so much more evil.
Even more surprising is that animal rights groups, including People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals, support the idea. (Although considering that the alternatives of poison or electric shock, barren birds do sound more humane.)
Still, the folks at Treehugger remain unconvinced. Although there is an FAQ posted at OvoControl P's website, it is unclear how adding drugs to the environment might affect the food chain.
The company that makes bird birth control promises several things. For instance, that raptors who consume pigeons on the pill will not be affected. They'll still be able to hatch their young without any trouble. That's the good news.
The bad news is that the drug will interfere with breeding cycles of other species if they accidently consume the seed. Makers expect pigeons to devour the seed within 15 minutes to minimize the risk that other bird species will be affected.
Even more problematic is that the company hasn't tested what, if any, impact this stuff will have on mammals. Given that some of us think of pigeons as "rats with wings," I'm not too worried about any impact it'll have rodents.
Still, I do understand any concerns about how this will affect a city's ecosystem in general. The question is, can we expand the definition of ecosystem to include statues?
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I like the idea of birds on the pill. We are already overpopulated as it is with humans. We do not need overpopulation of birds as well. I don’t see the harm in what they are doing, I would rather have pigeons on the pill rather that having people go out and kill them to keep the numbers down. I wish I was given the pill with no cost to me! The birds are getting lucky I think!
OK, so too many pigeons really get some people down don't they? Well sorry poop on your parade, all ye land bound inferiors-All those every man's doves of the free spirit reminding those pesticide packing birdinators how selfish, self-centered and materialistic they are with so little time to raise large families of their own. But don't take out your sublimated capitalistic buck eeking angst on our dear nonpartisan friends of a feather. I want all the whoopin', flip-dipperin', twitterin', tweeting "eagles in the making" good old nature can raise of every size, shape and form. Rich flocks, certified Audobon through Seuss fancied, avian of any, and all. Enriching the soil, the nation. Drawing out the first baby pointing finger of spring with the flutter of the albino blonde eye lashed smile of the first child. These are birds who call lovers to one another. Completing their symbiosis within the ecosystem. Do you need Von Drake Duck to tell you that? These folks have no right to interfere with the food chain by limiting pigeon populations. When was the last time their deification did anything for anybody? Why don't they allow nature to determine it's own limitations. People have got a lot of nerve poisoning the Mother. I don't give a hootin' haw about anything that much as to poison my neighbors' lot, my own backyard. They don't have a clue as to what the chemicals in the birth control might do down the line in the food chain or when the laced seed washes into storm drains, etc. These poisoneers are poised to in vain destroy and ineptly control the world until it comes back to them as they eventually must, and unwittingly will, and they eat and drink their own vile brew. And what will they do? Go boo-hoo, why do we have cancer? Why do we have this disease and that disease? Why, cause you gave yourself a dose of your own medicine you bird brains! Would someone please explain it to the rest of the Americas how those who by the presumptuous actions void of the great wisdom of the natural world could possibly determine the limit to the reproductive cycle of pigeons or any other creature nature puts out there. Now for a little pigeon mood music, PLEASE!