# Urgent birds being poisoned by dozens?



## Ferallife (Apr 26, 2020)

I brought 1 pigeon from the park last week, red baby yesterday and 2 pigeons today. One today and last week were emitting white fluid from mouth. Wildlife center told me most likely they’re poisoned. The only thing that has changed is that the landscaping company has been spraying weed killer and pigeons keep pecking that area. Does weed killer poison pigeons? Please help me!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

I'm sure it's possible. Have you contacted the company? I know it is horrible. A while ago pigeons were poisoned in my neighbourhood on purpose with poison used to spray potatoes.

Hopefully it will rain soon to wash the poison off the grass. How about contacting your municipality? Who is in charge of keeping the area clean? Why can't these people use their brains?


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## Ferallife (Apr 26, 2020)

2 gray pigeons both captured yesterday. Turned into wildlife center. They gave them fluids and incubator but both were discovered dead this morning. 
Red female pigeon captured Sunday died in kennel. I brought her home and gave her 30 defrosted peas before handing her over. She was born late last year. Barely 10 months old. 
Dark brown Pigeon captured around 10 days ago also died at the rescue center.
Also, two dead pigeons in the water. If the water is filthy, why aren’t the Canada geese or mallard ducks dying? I have requested the wildlife center to do a necropsy but they can’t promise me anything.
Could the hot California summer months coupled with 100s of geese in the lake plus additional pollution be a factor? Perhaps botulism? An explosion of bacteria? Or is it the occasional use of weed killer? I leave a bowl of water which I change every morning but most pigeons still drink from the lake. 
Each and every one of these 4 pigeons captured were extremely weak. The red one was unable to even stand tipping over forward. 
The gray baby with the stripes was emitting fluids from its mouth.


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## Ferallife (Apr 26, 2020)

2 dead pigeons in water. 
Look at the water. Park authorities aren’t even pumping in clean water. But the company charged with landscaping trims trees, blows leaves, keeps the landscape well manicured everyday. Talk about misplaced priorities. People dump diapers, beer bottles, fishing line which cuts off circulation to the feet of pigeons and everything else you can imagine into the lake. No consideration for the animals that drink the water.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

If this was due to botulism, then surely the ducks will also get affected. From what I've read, it paralizes the muscles. The legs, wings and the neck gets affected and that causes most of them to drown. Contact your local newspaper to write an article about it. Surely the wildlife centre must get involved in this, that's part of their job. Just start spreading the news, let people know about this.


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## Ferallife (Apr 26, 2020)

More pigeons have died. 2 on Monday, 2 on Wednesday and I turned 2 out of 3 to the wildlife center today. The other, a young female still able to fly was able to evade me. Someone please give me some advice. Is this a case of intentional poisoning? I’m assuming with intentional poisoning, the sickness wouldn’t be spread over days. One pigeon yesterday had bloodshot eyes and died within 2 hours of me bringing her home. The other died in the car. I buried both of them. 
The two I caught today, I turned them in as they were still fighting a little. 
Almost all showing similar symptoms of fluid discharge from the mouth, lethargy and sudden death. 10 pigeons dead in less than 2 weeks. I’ve also been spraying garlic water to the food for the last 3 days. Every morning, a sick pigeon appears, mostly two and I grab them. 
Park authorities are defensive. They’re saying they check the water quality once a month and that they’re “working” on using non poisonous pesticides. I’m pressing them on the issue of weed killer. There hasn’t been significant rainfall for 2 months and if the weed killer was recently spread, there’s no chance it would wash out. July is typically the hottest month of the year with little to no rainfall so I have to endure catching dying pigeons everyday? 
I’m hoping that the wildlife center performs a necropsy. They had frozen the bodies of the two birds on Monday. even then, it will take time and God knows how many birds will suffer painful deaths. I’m getting panic attacks just going to the park.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

The only way to find out if they are getting poisoned, will be to have a necropsy done. When the pigeons in my neighbourhood got poisoned, I send a few dead pigeons and doves away to be tested and yes, it turned out they were getting poisoned and I also got the name of the poisoned used and then I knew who did it. Unfortunately, nothing could be done and as long as the poisoned seeds was lying on the roof of his double storey house, pigeons and doves were dying. This kept on for months. It's very difficult to find someone guilty of putting out poison. There are plenty of loopholes.

Is there no one else putting out seeds for the birds with the intention of poisoning them? Put more pressure on the wildlife centre. There are also the affect of secondary poisoning.

I know what you are going through, it is heartbreaking!


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Spread the news. The more people you have on your side seeking answers, the better. Contact your local newspaper. Speak to other people that visits the park with their dogs for example.


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## Marina B (May 5, 2011)

Make videos and put it up on social media. If you are not on FB, join now. That is a great platform to get things exposed like whats happening now.


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## cwebster (Dec 11, 2010)

Would contact PETA and askfor their help publicizing and stopping it. Very sad.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Hi, I'm really sorry to hear about what is happening.

I remember that you talked about dead pigeon even in another thread (you talked about neurological issues). 

Feral pigeon sick? Head twitching backwards while eating https://www.pigeons.biz/forums/showthread.php?t=119346


Did you find the poisoned pigeons in the same location of last time? I am trying to understand if there is any connection between the two situations. 

In addition to ask for help to all animal associations/groups, etc you could also write and put in the park and around the neighborhood a warning (I wrote one and put it in the building hall when my neighbor was poisoning birds) saying something like that: "Danger, dead birds have been found in the park, they may have been poisoned. Be careful to children and pets". Don't talk about pigeons, a lot of people hate them and don't care about them. If you can find the phone number of the poison control center write it on your warning saying to immediately contact it in case of suspected poisoning. The warning could maybe help to stop the poisoning, it could work as a deterrent in case of intentional poisoning. 

It would be really important to identify the poison and see if it exists an antidote or proper supportive care (I only have experience with anticoagulant rat poison, it works in a different way).
As other said it would be really important to have a necropsy done. In this way you could understand if they are dying because of weed killer or because of a different poison. I would contact all the animal associations and all vets and ask if they can help you in finding a way to get a necropsy done (as wildlife center could not promise anything about it). 

Is the park a public park? If so, in case you will discover that pigeons are dying because of weed killer, you could contact the Mayor and also start a petition (then send it to the Major). 

Do the pigeons have a shelter for night/a place where they nest in the park or next to it? Do they have a place where they usually eat? If so, I would check them, maybe a private citizen is poisoning them there. I would also check carefully all the park and the neighborhood looking for strange food or even for food which seems "normal". Maybe the person is putting the poison in flowerbed, under the trees, etc... If the person is putting it in his/her own property it will be more complicated discover it... 

Does your country have animal protection laws? When I found dead pigeons on my balconies in Italy I reported that to police (unfortunately, when I found them I didn't think about a necropsy... I was too shocked...). At least they talked to the building manager.

Unfortunately it's really hard to stop poisoning, there are many cities in Italy where pigeons and other birds (doves, ducks, etc but even cats) are regularly poisoned (especially in summer times). The news appears on newspapers, online but a new poisoning happens again... That's really bad. 

Last summer a brave guy rescued a pink flamingo at the beach (I don't know where the bird came from). I attach a photo so you can see how he looked like. A friend of mine told me that it was a suspected case of botulism (unfortunately I don't know if it really was botulism and if the bird survived). Anyway, I think that in case of botulism even ducks and other water birds would start to die. 

Please keep us updated. 
.


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## Ferallife (Apr 26, 2020)

Columbina, that pigeon with PMV like symptoms which you stated could also be a neurological issue was spotted in a different city entirely. I haven’t seen it for weeks. There’s a new pigeon with the same symptoms but milder. Perhaps the first one is deceased or healed. I’ve been spraying garlic water in their feed. 
The pigeons at the park, hopefully the wildlife center will get the necropsy done and we may know after some days. I don’t know if they’ll disclose the details to me or directly to the city.


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## Colombina (Jan 22, 2017)

Hope they will get the necropsy done soon. 

I asked if you found the pigeons in the same location because unfortunately in Italy there are many cases of "serial poisoners" of pigeons. 
Of course, we didn't know what was wrong with the pigeons of the other city (diseases, etc). Poison was just one of the several options. 
I was just trying to understand if there was any connection. 

Keep us updated.


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