# Operation Dovecote Needs Your Expertise



## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

I just discovered pigeons.com and this board looks like the answer to some of my many prayers lately. When a local town announced a planned killing of several hundred feral pigeons (rock doves), our family got involved. (Details are at http://brainybirds.com )

We devised a plan to start a pilot project for the City of Ashland introducing British PICAS approach (http://picas.org): deterrents, nestboxes where eggs are removed, feeding only in nestbox areas. This method has dropped populations sometimes by 50% within a few years . . .with no culling. 

We're a tourist area, so our plan revolved around beutifully designed dovecotes we plan to have local crafters design.

After nearly 100 hours rounding up experts, volunteers and presenting a plan for a nearly cost-free gift to the city in exchange for the lives of what trapped birds we could relocate, the city counsel shot down the plan saying the "rats with wings" would be killed. Period. 

The newspaper article http://www.duluthsuperior.com/mld/duluthsuperior/news/local/5894034.htm 
that appeared after the meeting generated a lot of interest in Superior WI and Duluth MN so we are trying to set up projects there.

Some of our needs:

Ashland may not be killing yet. If anyone can email city hall to stop the pigeon killing it could help. <[email protected]> 

dovecote plans - we have PICAS listed on our site but not too easy to decipher.

Anyone no of similar projects in North America (besides Ottawa, Canada?)

I'll be back as the project progresses.

Please wish us luck.

------------------
The Positive Pigeon Project


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Hello,
Your website is awesome. The pictures are wonderful & the pijjies are doll babies. And... 
Your project is outstanding. What I don't understand is WHY can't the city officials of any situation like this take heed to the information that is put before them and act on it? 
Having a sensible solution & turning it into a massacre absolutely ruffles my feathers.

Whatever I can do to support your project I will. 
Thank you for sharing with us, your project & website. Both very uplifting.
Please do keep us updated.
Cindy


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

I guess I'm doing things a bit backwards today. *Sigh* 
Welcome to Pigeons.com,
We have a group of wonderful & supportive members here & will do whatever we can to help with your project.
Others will be along to give their suggestions as well.
Cindy


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Hello and welcome to pigeons.com! Bless you for what you are trying to accomplish! What can we do to help aside from e-mailing our opposition to killing the birds?

Terry Whatley


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## raynjudy (Aug 22, 2000)

Hello!

Kindly check your e-mail.

PIGEONS FOREVER!!!

--Ray


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Hello and welcome to pigeons.com!

I think that you have a wonderful project in progress and I really hope it works. I love the idea of ornate dovecotes, and of using the whole project as a tourist attraction. But please try to ensure that the cotes are high enough to attract the pigeons. Wallcotes would probably be ideal, but more difficult to place where they would be acceptable to people!

My friend Joan carried out a similar project on a smaller scale, trying to reduce the number of feral fan tailed doves in a local church (how could a church object to something as beautiful as fan tailed doves)?

She trapped and rehomed most of the doves as a free flying flock elsewhere and provided a beautiful white dovecote for the six that refused to be trapped. But for some reason the doves never took to the cote, raised clutches in other nesting sites and numbers returned to what they had been very quickly!

So if you haven't contacted PICAS, please do so and ask what sort of nest boxes have proved to be most successful.

You also said "dovecote plans...we have PICAS listed on our site but not too easy to decipher". I am not sure that I understood you, but if you have difficulty deciphering any plans please contact Guy Merchant at PICAS, I am certain he will help. Alternatively I have a magazine somewhere with instructions on building a dovecote. If you need it I can track it down and scan to you.


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## PidgePidge (May 14, 2003)

I am so glad you are fighting this! Is this city you are referring to Ashland, Oregon? (If so, I am from Klamath Falls so very familiar with the area... It doesn't sound like a very 'Ashland' thing to do to kill harmless birds!







) I can't add anything too productive, but was thinking: have you considered getting PETA or the United Animal Fund involved? I don't know how they determine what their 'causes' are or anything, or if they would bite but it might be worth a try. Also, PETA has a great pigeon factsheet, although it sounds like you are already highly informed about the process of naturally curbing pigeon populations, but anyway-- http://www.peta.org/mc/facts/fswild6.html 
It sounds like you have done an outstanding job, and I really admire your efforts. Best of luck all around and I REALLY hope you get somewhere!--Will go email their City Hall right now... Good luck!


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## mike_m453 (Apr 13, 2003)

Thats great!I think killing all the feral pigeons would be sensless and sick.To get more emails to city hall try starting chain mail.What your doing is great!


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

You all are wonderfully encouraging!

I'll get back shortly to send a personal reply to each of you. The responses to the project by phone and mail after the Duluth newspaper article have been running me ragged. I'll post your website on brainybirds.com soon, so hopefully some of the pigeon help calls I'm getting will come to all you experts instead.

I'll be back to reply some more this weekend.

Have a good and safe Memorial Day to all my new-found friends! (A good weekend to those of you who may be from other countries)


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## mike_m453 (Apr 13, 2003)

I have already emailed a couple of fellow pigeon trainers and we all sent our thoughts to city hall.We all agreed to help in anyway possible.Today we are going to start a chain letter.The more of us the better our chances.We need to get majority of people though for them to listen to us because if we have so many people they wont want to annoy us for election day because they want to be re-elected.Majority rules!Well all do what we can.


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## Birdmom4ever (Jan 14, 2003)

May God bless you for your efforts to help these poor pigeons! Thanks for sharing your beautiful website.

-Cathy


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

I think you folks are almost TOO good! My website and email both exceeded their bandwidths for the first time the day after I posted here. Coincidence?

I guess I better upgrade . . . fast.

Sorry for any inconvenience.

By the way, we are working directly with Guy Merchant, director of the Pigeon Control Advisory Services group which has accomplished such great results throughout the UK. 

And I just got the more recent plans I missed first time around http://picas.org 


Thanks again for all your help and interest.


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

One thing is certain, your posts are not an inconvenience, rather very informative. 
You are doing a wonderful job with your project.
Please keep us posted on it's progress.
Cindy


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## JeannieN (May 24, 2003)

Hi and BLESS YOU for your outstanding efforts. I have emailed my thoughts to city hall. I hope since you are providing alternatives, that they will listen and do the loving thing and not the hatefull, senseless thing. 

Jeanne


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

I think that if anyone e-mails or writes to the authorities about this they should make their e-mails positive and polite, reinforcing the wonderful benefits to the community of this scheme. It wouldn't surprise me if you could convince the pest control companies that they could make just as good a living out of regularly replacing the eggs in the dovecotes as they do by killing pigeons.

I just looked at the plans for the dovecote. I hadn't seen that before and it looks really good! I just hope the pigeon holes are well beyond the reach of yobs! 

Cynthia


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## mike_m453 (Apr 13, 2003)

I wasnt rude either I just told them they should greatly reconsider what there gonna do.How is operation dove cove going?


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Cindy, Thanks for your encouragement. Some council members just made up their minds to wipe out as many pigeons as possible and *nothing* would change their mind. But it has given us favorable hearings in the media and surrounding communities so a lot of good will yet come from it.




> Originally posted by AZWhitefeather:
> *Hello,
> Your website is awesome. The pictures are wonderful & the pijjies are doll babies. And...
> Your project is outstanding. What I don't understand is WHY can't the city officials of any situation like this take heed to the information that is put before them and act on it?
> ...


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Thanks for the blessings . . .I can use prayer support! 

ON HELPING: I think the email is having an effect. We've found no signs of traps in the worst buildings. I think the city is holding but we dont know if they'll resume. 

Right now we are trying to line up cities interested in being part of an Operation Dovecote pilot project. I'm finding I need dedicated people to assume the detail work of setting a project in place in those cities. We're working on Duluth and Superior but if any of you think your city might be a good candidate and you or someone you know could be an effective coordinator, THAT is what would help the most.

Also, any good proof readers out there? I'm having to write so much that I don't have time to polish and correct most pieces - from web pages at brainybirds.com to press releases and proposals. If anyone is interested let me know.




> Originally posted by TAWhatley:
> *Hello and welcome to pigeons.com! Bless you for what you are trying to accomplish! What can we do to help aside from e-mailing our opposition to killing the birds?
> 
> Terry Whatley*


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

RaynJudy, thanks for the London pieces. I hadn't seen those. It has been a hard sell even in Europe for PICAS director Guy Merchant. But fortunately there are more and more victories to build on.
I see youu're in WI too! How's your town's pigeon situation?



> Originally posted by raynjudy:
> *Hello!
> 
> Kindly check your e-mail.
> ...


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Thanks for your information on the dovecotes. I've been corresponding with Guy for several weeks now. He is willing to send technical drawings if our crafters want but that is not as urgent. We will set them up to the prescribed PICAS level and following their format closely. He emailed this advice: 
"be aware that the idea of providing commercial dovecotes came from PICAS initially so there is little or no information available other than what comes from us. Please be incredibly careful about changing the basic design of a dovecote as per our drawings - this is a model that it has taken us years to perfect and we believe it is the optimum design - if you are going to reduce it in size and possibly do away with the internal void area that's OK but don't change the overall design - bear in mind that it must be pigeon friendly, not just for breeding pairs but also for providing non-breeding birds with accommodation. It is critical that you offer a good design package because if you recommend a poor design and a cote is constructed that fails to encourage birds to it then nobody is going to take you seriously thereafter."



> Originally posted by cyro51:
> *Hello and welcome to pigeons.com!
> 
> I think that you have a wonderful project in progress and I really hope it works. I love the idea of ornate dovecotes, and of using the whole project as a tourist attraction. But please try to ensure that the cotes are high enough to attract the pigeons. Wallcotes would probably be ideal, but more difficult to place where they would be acceptable to people!
> ...


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

We're in Wisconsin and PETA, the Humane Society of the US have issued action alerts statewide. PETA was going to up that to a nationwide but I hadn't seen it reflected yet. Fund for Animals has also been very helpful. They are going to review the possibility of taking up this project under their umbrella. We need non-profit status and I haven't had the time to pursue it on my own. I *really* would like to have an established organization take over. . . it's rapidly becoming more than I can handle, but it's too important for the country to drop the ball.


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Mike, you are so right.


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Thanks for the writing help, Mike. My fingers are about worn to the nubbins. As pigeon trainers, what is your grouo's opinion of trying to relocate feral pigeons?
Seems to be a lot of controversy the more I research it. (It was a last resort to try to budge Ashland off killing)


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Cathy, bless you and keep the project in your prayers, please!


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

People can't even live with each other. Not surprising. (Of course some of my duck flock can't seem to live with certain other ducks . . .but we won't go there


> Originally posted by abbott75:
> *Why can't people just live with pigeons?*


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Good for you Jeanne! I'd love to be a fly on the wall as they get all those emails and letters and phone calls!

You folks are great.


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Well put. Politeness has been the order of the day -- and that includes Plunkett's Pest Control. After the city council meeting they suddenly stopped taking my phone calls and sent a formal statemnet of Plunkett policy. Their correspondence has been less than cordial and from what I've found it is difficult to find a pest control company willing to look at more humane solutions.



> Originally posted by cyro51:
> *I think that if anyone e-mails or writes to the authorities about this they should make their e-mails positive and polite, reinforcing the wonderful benefits to the community of this scheme. It wouldn't surprise me if you could convince the pest control companies that they could make just as good a living out of regularly replacing the eggs in the dovecotes as they do by killing pigeons.
> 
> I just looked at the plans for the dovecote. I hadn't seen that before and it looks really good! I just hope the pigeon holes are well beyond the reach of yobs!
> ...


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Well, you are an inspiration to me. 

I too have been in touch with Guy today about the redevelopment of a warehouse where the flock that I have looked after for years nests and roosts.

I have only just started to fight to ensure that the pigeons and squabs are removed by PICAS before the building is sealed and already I feel defeated.

One of the reasons I posted about it here is to get the encouragement I will need to track down and pester and continue pestering the right people.

Fortunately Guy says he will support me 100%. It is so much easier when I can bring PICAS into the equation.

Cynthia


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Cynthia, thanks for sharing your own crusade. Good for you . . . and Guy. That man is tireless when it comes to birds. I feel so bad though. I was supposed to call him today to discuss plans for PICAS -North America. Wrong time to discover my phone service does not permit overseas calls. 

Thank God for email.

Are you and your warehouse in England? Isn't there any kind of animal control authority to safely remove the pigeons?

Keep us posted on progress and let us know if emails to any one might help. I've found it does have an impact.


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Guy told me that he had to keep his telephone line open for a number of overseas calls he was expecting last night!









The owner of the building called me and from what he said it appears that the building is on two storeys (which makes the pigeons easier to reach), the ground floor has been sealed off (for as long as I remember) and the car park has been let on a short term lease. From what I gathered this means that nothing will be done which might cause harm to the pigeons at this time. I thanked him effusively, told him that I understood that eventually something would have to be done about the pigeons and how PICAS could help. I said that I would post him the contact number, so I will include more information then. This also gives me time to make contact with Animal Rights groups in my area that might help when the time for redevelopment comes.

I work right opposite this building so if anything happens I will know immediately.

I am in the UK and our RSPCA is not inclined to get involved in pigeon protection! 

Cynthia


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## brainybirds (May 22, 2003)

Thanks for the update, Cynthia. I'm so glad to hear you are setting appropriate action in place BEFORE the problem arises. How I wish we could have done that with the Ashland pigeons! We are taking a more positive stand by monitoring local city council minutes by Internet to see if any animal-related problems arise and intervene -- if necessary -- before they become a major problem.




> Originally posted by cyro51:
> *Guy told me that he had to keep his telephone line open for a number of overseas calls he was expecting last night!
> 
> 
> ...


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