# Catching the bug UK



## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

I have a new obsession, and it's taking over!!
It started with a fancy pigeon coming into my local pet shop for free seeds. So when I got told I thought I'd catch it up and see where he was supposed to be.
Also the local feral flock was starting to show symptoms of nerve damage through poisoning.
Anyway I caught Doris and phoned up the NPA and he said I could keep the bird. The owner hadn't renewed his membership for 3 years.
Everything was fine till one day she scrambled out of my fingers and flew away.

So if you see a red and white mufty cock bird with a bell on his ring like a hawk that's Kevin!

Anyway I was very upset and decided to try and catch another one. Next one I grabbed was a feral and third a lost racer.
Both of these later escaped 
So I did research on traps and built a version of an accapucca trap.
The first one was too small.
The second caught five in one drop!
Most of them were in a terrible state.
Think I've only just got more toes than birds!
Removing the synthetic thread and the dead and rotting flesh was horrid. 
The prettiest white dove had a foot swollen to three times the size..
As I tried to get the string off her whole foot fell off. Leaving me with dark red blood running me and a dangling mutilated appendage. So I phoned the emergency vet and got a neighbour to drive me down.
The vet was going to take her out the back to euthanise her, (which probably meant she was going to do it manuely to save on drugs). I told her I was prepared to keep her captive to see if she'll make it so she gave her back to me, after snipping the last dangling bit off with some scissers. No stitches, no coagulant. Antibiotics would've been £30 plus the £65 call out fee...

So I've two that are for release the others are handicapped.
I also caught a racer ring number GB 2002 H69089. In hindsight I should've written down the ring number before cutting it off but the leg was so swollen and damaged, I just wanted it off. The amount of filth encrusted behing it.

I want to move the flock to the local disused quarry, their natural habitat. How I'm not sure,nbut leaving them all to eat rubbish and go mouldy isn't really an option... so operation feral pigeon hospital and relocation programme, GO!


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

wow, you have allot on you're plate. good luck with you're pigeon adventures!, I would though release the healthy ones as they may have babies or hatching eggs in the nest.


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## Quazar (Jul 27, 2010)

SlinkiFox said:


> .........I want to move the flock to the local disused quarry, their natural habitat. How I'm not sure,nbut leaving them all to eat rubbish and go mouldy isn't really an option... so operation feral pigeon hospital and relocation programme, GO!


I think you'll find that however good an idea it sounds, it will actually be impossible.
While the quarry surroundings sound ideal for true rock doves, the feral pigeons natural habitat is around people, where they survive by the very things you wish to change so chances are they will just move back to where they were.

Good work on the rescues though, when they get to that stage, they need all the help they can get.


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## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

*Poisoning*

I've clipped the wings on all the birds; as the pigeons I saw with nerve damage are now missing from the flock. If I don't intervene they'll all be gone one way or another :/
Nobody cares they're vermin...
I live on the hill outside town so if I can just encourage them up here...
If they leg it once they've moulted then so be it. At least they'll be fat by then they'll have reserves to fall back on and be in better condition.

I was thinking I could advertise feral pigeon removal. I might get acsess to roofs then. Any other pest controller may kill the birds where as I could add them to my project.
I need to find what sort of plants I should be sowing for them.
There are also lots of rock faces on Portland where I grew up and a wild flock.

That racer I saw in my garden that would come so close but I couldn't quite grab him, doesn't know what he started....

I might be doing things wrong but I'm learning as I go...


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## Jaye (Mar 13, 2008)

Here's the thing, what you are proposing is putting unflighted, handicapped Ferals in an environment they are unfamiliar with....and (even if you feed them everyday, which you would have to do of course because how is an afflicted, handicapped Pigeon supposed to get food ?) expecting them to live.

You clearly care a lot for Pigeons and so far you have done right by most of them...but....your relocation idea is really going to end quite badly and will be putting the birds you care so much about in a terrible predicament. Unflighted and hobbled, additionally they will have to deal with a place they are unfamiliar with....while they are fodder for predators. And if they choose to leave the grounds (quite likely some will try), they are basically road kill....

This sort of subject has been discussed ad infinitum on this Forum. You cannot do a forced relocation of Ferals successfully. That assumption ignores certain realities.

"If I don't intervene they'll be gone one way or the other". OK, yes. While that argument has some merit your plan of 'intervention' really needs to be rethought.
Again, while your heart is in the right place, your assumptions indicate that you are inexperienced with the way Ferals live. 

This is not to come down hard on you....I am assuming you came here for advice, and as I said your intentions are quite laudable. The world needs more folks who care.

I think if this thread is gonna be a constructive discussion on how we can help you, your 'plan' needs to evolve into something more than where it is right now. There are plenty of Pigeon rescuers here who can help you do that. There are a lotta folks here who have successfully set up safe havens for unreleasables. A lotta good knowledge to be picked through. I imagine they will be chiming in in the next day or so....

The first question becomes.....can you describe the maladies of each Pigeon you are thinking of relocating ?

(BTW, welcome the Forum)


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## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

*handicapped birds as pets *

I'm not going to be letting any clipped birds out any where; until they have moulted through to a fresh set of flights. They in my opinion need a time to put on weight whilst being treated for parasites internally and externally.
The birds with pieces missing, disabled, will be moving into an avery I've drawn up plans for.
I don't think the owner will be wanting the 2002 racer with 1 toe; but I intend to contact the association to see if they do. I would also be interested in his pedigree. He is a big boned bird, I suspect he's a long distance flyer.
The guy in charge of the npa is giving me a modena squeaker. Waiting for it to come out of the nest  I'm so excited
Kevin III is a dark bronze cock bird with the most gorgeous bloom. He was constantly visiting the local pet shop. They were more than happy for me to take him.
I also have a white dove with a few black feathers scattered through her plumage and two feathers of bloom on the back of her neck. It was her foot that detached as I was removing string.
I have five rock doves and two collared dove squeakers. I started putting up pictures of my birds on a pigeon and dove rescue site I found on facebook, but then my battery died.
I'm just hoping that the fit birds who I will release once moulted will incorporate my house as a place to feed / roost.
It'll be goodness knows when in the future that I move to stage three.


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

I agree with everything in Jaye's post, which addresses all the issues you need to consider. You are obviously a kind, caring person and friend to pigeons, but must take into account the realities of pigeon life. 

I'm glad you're keeping the handicapped birds you've described - they won't have much of a chance out there. If there are no feral flocks in your area, I would release the birds you're planning on releasing close to where you've found them, because while the idea of you providing food for them is a good one, pigeons need to be released into a flock. A few solitary individuals stand no chance against predators and might try to go back anyway, getting lost, injured, eaten, etc...in the process. 

When the time comes, I'd consider replacing the eggs with fake ones or your new loft and aviary will be overcrowded in no time and you'll run out of space for new rescues.


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## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

The population is at saturation. There are young birds that look like they've been rolled in oil. I can't stop the council poisoning the birds but I can save a few.


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

Are you sure the neurological symptoms you're seeing are due to poisoning and not PMV - a virus that causes neurological symptoms? PMV (paramyxovirus) is itself not a deadly virus, but causes very high mortality because it's very debilitating. The affected pigeons often suffer from balance issues, neck torsion, are unable to pick up seeds and soon starve or else themselves become food for predators. With support however, such as confinement in a safe place and hand feeding, they have excellent chances, though some remain unreleasable due to the persistence of the symptoms, or their episodic recurrence.


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## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

The birds seem to vibrate, then they disappear from the flock. I have seen corn scattered with a white powder stuff where the birds are.


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## nycpigeonlady (Jan 22, 2012)

Right now in New York City where I live someone has been poisoning pigeons in one neighborhood with avitrol even though its use is illegal in NYC. The birds start having horrible seizures almost instantly after eating the poisoned corn and don't stop convulsing until they die about an hour later. 100 pigeons have been killed in a week. It's a horrible, horrible death and I sincerely hope it's not what you're dealing with.


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## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

*busy with baby collared doves.*

I haven't been to town yet to see, feed the birds. At last count there was approximately 35 individuals. I've been busy feeding a pair of collared dove babies.
The birds now recognise my trap so I've been busy making a new one.
All the flesh wounds, and the bird with the foot that dropped off seem to be doing well.
They're not used to such soft flooring, and I need to add new perches that are manageable by stumpy feet.


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## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

*White dove laid egg*

My White dove has laid an egg. She doesn't seem interested in it, (who can blame her). This is the bird whose foot has come off.
Do I leave it there or remove it?


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## spirit wings (Mar 29, 2008)

SlinkiFox said:


> My White dove has laid an egg. She doesn't seem interested in it, (who can blame her). This is the bird whose foot has come off.
> Do I leave it there or remove it?


leave it..she may lay another in 42 to 48 hours or so ,after the first one.. you want her to sit them and then replace them with fake eggs for hatch control. and for her also to replenish her calcium stores.. otherwise if you take them up she may lay two more too soon which takes calcium from her body.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

If you think poisoned corn is being put down then take a sample and send it to DEFRA to analyse. 

You should also explain your concerns to the police and to the RSPB.. 

Even if they don't care about pigeons they will be concerned about raptors eating poisoned pigeons. It was using poisoned grain to control pigeons that led to the decline in sparrowhawks and peregrine falcons.

The Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 permits pigeons to be killed under a general licence only in certain circumstances and only by certain methods: poisoning is not one of them!


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## SlinkiFox (May 31, 2012)

I haven't seen anymore of the suspicious feed.
I've got two of the feral hens on eggs now. 
When they've got their flights their welcome to go...
I'm going to keep Stumpy Chsrles and Dsisy as they have peices missing. I'm hoping that Daisy, Kevin and Baby decide to stay.


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