# feral pigeons



## supertongue69 (Jun 28, 2003)

does any one know if its ok to trap feral pigeons and start a loft with them i have called the utah wildlife phone # but no one ever picks up so i thought i would ask all you and if its ok to trap them with a humane trap when would be the best time of year i dont want to trap them when they have babies waiting for them at home thanks
Robert


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## bigbird (Aug 19, 2000)

Hello and thanks for this question...
I do not believe there is any state or federal laws against catching wild feral pigeons here in the U.S.
Crows are protected by federal and state laws, along with most migrating water fowl. But I have not heard of any laws protecting wild feral pigeons. These birds are killed everyday by a few people; others even poison them and also hire professional companies for pigeon control. 
Wild feral pigeons do not live, on average nearly as long as domestic pigeons. I have heard that feral pigeons live on average only 3 years while domestic pigeons in captivity can live up to 15 years, some even longer. 
The wild feral pigeon city environments have disease, dirty living conditions, poor quality food and unsafe drinking water. If this doesn't get them, then someone will come along and kill them. 
I happen to believe in giving these birds a better quality of life any way possible.
I am sure there will be people who believe that wild feral pigeons are like the hawks, doves, and other wild birds. They will say that feral pigeons "should" be left to the freedom of the outdoors and nature, regardless of their circumstances. 
But the idea that wild pigeons are living a free and wonderful life in our cities and should be left alone to care for themselves as nature intended is not what I believe. 
I have seen too much.
When I was a young boy, we would catch wild feral pigeons and raise them in our pigeon lofts. These birds are remarkable. They become very tame; appreciate their security and safe keeping. After a few weeks, we would then let them out of the loft to fly free. They always returned to the loft at night.
Feral pigeons will raise their young birds all year. However, the winter months would be their slowest period because of the cold, lack of food and other reasons.
If you can locate where they are nesting, you would do best by catching young squabs from the nest. This is best done at night. In this way you would know that you are not catching adult birds with young in the nest. 
Thanks so much for your concern, and thanks for “raising” this important question.
I am sure that this thread will grow and grow, with many other opinions, pro and con, about this subject; “catching and raising feral pigeons”.

Regards,
Carl 

"All Pigeons Forever"


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