# Toronto - COntractor coming to clean my balcony and babies are still there



## mhernan (Apr 11, 2007)

well I just got a nasty notice from my building that they have been advised that there is pigeon excrements on my balcony. The notice says that pigeons and their excrements can cause disease and are a Health Hazard, and that they will come by tomorrow to check my balcony. I feel bad because a mother pigeon just had a baby and I didn't want to move it. I'm not sure what to do. Any advice? The building said that if the excrements have not been removed by tomorrow, they will a contractor come in and clean my balcony.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

How long ago did the baby hatch?


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## flitsnowzoom (Mar 20, 2007)

I'd get out there and clean up any pigeon poop and feathers that were visible. If it's clean, according to your notice, you shouldn't be further harrassed. You can always hide the nest for a couple of hours behind something -- get some big fake plants or something like that. If you can arrange to be there, that would be even better. That way you can make sure you keep their eyes and mind focused elsewhere.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

flitsnowzoom said:


> I'd get out there and clean up any pigeon poop and feathers that were visible. If it's clean, according to your notice, you shouldn't be further harrassed. You can always hide the nest for a couple of hours behind something -- get some big fake plants or something like that. If you can arrange to be there, that would be even better. That way you can make sure you keep their eyes and mind focused elsewhere.


I agree.
Bring the nest inside and hide it.
From now on keep the balcony cleaned up so they have no reason to come back. Probably would be a good idea to not let any more eggs hatch. Replace them with fake eggs or take them and boil them as soon as they're laid and then return the boiled eggs to the nest.


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## mhernan (Apr 11, 2007)

well thanks for your advice. Problem is it's dark, late and the poo thats on my balcony is all around the pigeons nest (a towel I foolishly left there a few months ago, that the pigeon decided to make its nest). And I am at work tomorrow all day, so I suck.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Maybe you could get up extra early and clean it up.


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## feralpigeon (Feb 14, 2005)

mhernan said:


> well thanks for your advice. Problem is it's dark, late and the poo thats on my balcony is all around the pigeons nest (a towel I foolishly left there a few months ago, that the pigeon decided to make its nest). And I am at work tomorrow all day, so I suck.



Either get up early or call in sick so that you can be home when this comes
down. Otherwise your "friends" will most likely be disposed of.

Bring the nest inside while the contractors are there.....or even while you are 
at work. Hide under bed....wherever.....hose balcony......in evening you 
can return the nest. You will have to keep an eye on this nest and the babies and make sure that the parents don't abandon in fear. If you don't see the parents around much once the contractors are gone, then feel the babies to make sure the crop is supple and body temp warm.

fp


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## flitsnowzoom (Mar 20, 2007)

Good idea, fp. 

If need be, smuggle the birds in to work if you absolutely can't get off. There are a few ways to do it discreetly. The parent birds may have to take care of themselves, but the babies need your help now. 
Get that scrub brush out, go to an all-night WalMart for some decorative balcony stuff, get one of those nature sound CDs to camoflauge birdie peeps, and see what you can do.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi mhernan,

I'm sorry to hear the news.

We appreciate you posting your concerns, and we appreciate your helping the birds in the past.

You asked and our members advised...... please do take action now... and let us have an update.


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

Hi mhernan,
We haven't heard from you and would appreciate an update.


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## Matt D. (May 12, 2007)

you and any one faced with the problem of pigeons being threatening to your health you should have a copy of this handy to show to any one and everyone:

In a word 'NO'! 

All wild birds have the potential to pass on diseases to other birds and to 
human beings but the chances of this happening are a million to one, certainly 
in the case of human beings. Pigeons are no more likely to transmit diseases 
to human beings than any other species of wild bird. 

Why then do we read horror stories in the media every day about the 60 or 70 
fatal diseases that pigeons are capable of transmitting to human beings? 
Because the pest control industry and those that have a vested commercial 
interest in controlling pigeons have a very efficient propaganda machine 
constantly churning out scare stories designed to sell their products. Pest 
control is a multi-billion pound industry worldwide and culling pigeons and 
selling proofing products represents a large proportion of the profits within 
this industry. Because scientific research has proved that culling pigeons is 
a completely ineffective method of control the pest control industry has to 
scare the public into believing that they need to be concerned about pigeons. 
The best way to do that is to link pigeons with diseases. 

We read more and more reports about scientific and medical research programmes 
proving the links between pigeons and disease in human beings. What we do not 
ask and what we are never told is who funds these research programmes? Could 
it be the pest control industry? It seems that invariably this is the case. If 
these research programmes are funded by the industry that benefits from the 
control of the species that is being researched (in this case pigeons) can we 
really believe the statistics that we read? 

What we do know, however, is that the real experts all agree that there is no 
tangible health risk to human beings from contact with pigeons: 

ï Mike Everett, spokesman for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds 
said, in The Big Issue Magazine, February 2001: "The whole 'rats with wings' 
thing is just emotive nonsense. There is no evidence to show that they 
(pigeons) spread disease.î 

ï The Chief Veterinary Officer, when addressing the House of Lords in 2000 on 
the issue of pigeons in Trafalgar Square was asked if the large number of 
pigeons in the Square represented a health risk to human beings. The Chief 
Veterinary Officer told The House that in his opinion they did not. 

ï Charlotte Donnelly, an American bird control expert told the Cincinnati 
Environment Advisory Council in her report to them: "The truth is that the 
vast majority of people are at little or no health risk from pigeons and 
probably have a greater chance of being struck by lightening than contracting 
a serious disease from pigeons." 

ï Guy Merchant, Director of The Pigeon Control Advisory Service (PICAS) says, 
when talking about the transmission of disease by pigeons: "If we believed 
everything we read in the media about pigeons and the farcical propaganda 
distributed by the pest control industry we would never leave our homes. The 
fact of the matter is that there is probably a greater risk to human health 
from contact with domestic pets such as cats, dogs and caged birds." 

ï David A Palmer (B.V.Sc., M.R.C.V.S) said in an article entitled 'Pigeon Lung 
Disease Fatality and Health Risk from Ferals': "Obviously, since all these 
Allergic Extrinsic Alveolitis disease syndromes rely on the involved person 
having a very specific allergy before any disease, involving respiratory 
distress and very unusually death, can possibly be seen, it really makes 
absolute nonsense for a popular daily newspaper to suggest that pigeons 
present a health hazard and presumably need eliminating for the well-being of 
the nationís health.î

ï The Center for Disease Control in Atlanta, the New York City Department of 
Health, and the Arizona Department of Health all agree that diseases 
associated with pigeons present little risk to people. ìWe have never 
documented a pigeon to human transmission in the state of Arizona,î said Mira 
J Leslie, Arizonaís state public health veterinarian. 

If there was any real chance of pigeons spreading disease to human beings we 
would see epidemics amongst pigeon fanciers that race pigeons and spend much 
of their time in dusty pigeon lofts. We would also see all those involved with 
the rehabilitation of pigeons in wildlife hospitals worldwide dropping like 
flies. The facts speak for themselves. Pigeons do not spread disease and if we 
need to get rid of pigeons on the basis of the fact that there is 'potential' 
for them to pass on diseases to human beings then we need to get rid of all 
feral birds. At the end of the day 99% of so called 'pigeon problems' are, in 
reality, people problems. It is human beings that create the waste upon which 
pigeons feed and if we cleaned up our act we would have considerably less 
pigeons to worry about. So is it really the feral pigeon that is vermin?


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Matt .. that's a terrific post, but you NEED the references to prove the statements.

Terry


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## Matt D. (May 12, 2007)

sorry I had a little trouble finding it i just had the words but here is the website: http://www.monmouth.army.mil/monmessg/newmonmsg/apr072006/m14pigeon.htm


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