# Pigeon feet question



## jregan (Feb 21, 2002)

I've been wondering about this for years, but never came across an answer anywhere. In my city, there are NUMEROUS pigeons who's feet are mangled - sometimes just stumps. It's horrifying to see & I'm wondering how it happens. My guess is that it's from the pigeon deterrents placed on some building ledges - spiky sharp things. If that's the case, isn't there something that can be done to stop the use of them? Any thought/ideas about this? Thanks!


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

Hi,

Sometimes it can be caused by a sticky substance put on ledges and railings. Often it happens when birds get thread caught tightly around feet, which cuts off the blood supply with the result that toes swell then shrivel and drop off, sometimes most of the foot (I have one who visits regular, and he has just two toes left on one foot, none on the other). That is usually the cause when there are only stumps left - though the birds often do remarkably well even in such a condition. Sometimes they are hatched deformed because their parents did not get a good enough diet to give them the vitamins they need, or the young bird did not itself get vitamins and grew up deformed. The spikes can cause injuries, especially to baby birds which can fall on them, though there are plastic 'porcupine' spikes which don't often cause damage to the birds, just deter them.

John D.


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## lukekerttu (Jan 9, 2001)

maybe some times people will catch the poor birds and do that to there feet you know cut em off mangle em i know that one time hear i saw a pigeons nest and some one threw a rock on it and i lifted up the rock hoping the baby wuz ok but the rock killed the mom and baby the mom's rib cage had been ripped open the rock and the baby had it's head smashed.it both angered me and made me sad to see this and i also saw a pigeon someone caught and wrapped fishing line around it's wing and head and hung it from a rail why would someone hurt gods creatures?

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luke


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## bigbird (Aug 19, 2000)

The ideas presented by John and Luke are all possibilities. I can think of another situation that I have seen in my loft. A pigeon will get its foot caught in something and try to fly, but flop over and hang by the foot that is caught. Given enough time, the pigeon will actually break free, leaving the foot behind. This is a possibility out there in the wild. Pigeons only need one foot to walk (hop) around.
Carl


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## Poulette (Feb 5, 2002)

Here in the cold weather of Québec, the pigeons sometimes have their feet frozen. They fall asleep in a thin layer of water, at night the water freeze... they loose toes when they try to fly away the next morning. By chance, this winter is not so cold as usually!


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## fred2344 (Jan 9, 2002)

Everything that everybody has written here is correct. Far and above all other causes for a bird losing a toe, foot or even a leg is the problem with thread that they pick up. That is the reason I go after a street pigeon that has string on its foot with a vengeance. That string has to come off before the limb or digit is too badly damaged and comes off. 
Right now, there is a pigeon in the house that I had picked up on Sunday. This little guy had a mass of string and twigs wrapped up and this stuff was wrapping both legs together. One toe was completely blackened and dead to the base. There are numerous deep cuts on both feet.
He couldn't compete for food tripping all over the ground as he tried to walk. This is one tired pegeon that dived into the seed cup as soon as I took off the string and put him into a cage. His foot has been disinfected with Betadyne and he is on an antibiotic to prevent these deep cuts from infecting. Most of the time, they do not infect but I've seen plenty that did.
If you cannot do anything for these street pigeons other than this one thing, please try to go after the ones with string and learn how to get it off.
I explained how to do it in a series of posts that is on this board.


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## fred2344 (Jan 9, 2002)

Here is the post on string:
String:
Have you ever seen a pigeon that has missing toes or even a missing leg? The chances are that the digits and/or leg were lost from string being wrapped around them.
I can't think of anything more horrible than that happening to a bird. Imagine tying a rubber band around your finger as tightly as you can. You know what kind of pain there will be. You can take off the rubber band. The pigeon cannot take off the string. They can't walk up to anyone and ask for help. They suffer great pain and it can take over a year before the pain goes away along with the toe(s) or foot or leg.
For me, this affliction represents the symbol of humanity's neglect of the natural world. String as thin as nylon thread to wrapping string is all discarded on the ground. Pigeons walking on that ground will get it wrapped around their feet. The string curls and twirls around a toe or more digits and knots form. They begin to tighten and start to cut into the skin. Then when the string cuts though all the skin and muscle and tendons, it begins to tighten around the bone. 
A dry type of gangrene forms. the toe begins to die from lack of circulation. Lack of circulation affects the other toes and they begin to curl into a permanent contorted postition. Eventually, the toe falls off or if the string is wrapped around the leg, that falls off. If anything falls off prematurely, the bird will bleed to death. And throughout this process, the bird is limping in pain and trying to survive. 
String can wrap around and tie both legs together so if you see a bird lying down on the ground and eating, that could very well be the cause. 
An injured bird will be far more reluctant to allow a person to approach within grabbing distance and that makes it much tougher to get it. I have gone for more than a month trying to capture any particular bird with string wrapped around it.
If you get one, the trouble is just beginning. You need a pair of magnifying glasses even if your eyesight is good. You have to get as close as possible to the site to see what is going on. One wrong move and the bird can begin to bleed heavily. Pressure can stop the bleed but try to find the right point when you are working in blood and twisted contorted flesh that no longer resembles a foot.
You need a good strong light similar to the tensor lamps. You need dental type picks and those can be purchased at a number of hardware stores. They have different tops and straight picks are not always the right ones to use. You need a good pair of small surgical scissors and a good pair of tweezers. You need small Exacto type knives. There has to be cotton, cotton swabs and something like Quik Stop to try to stem any bleeding. Finally, you need Betadyne to disinfect the area when you are done. All of this has to be available before even starting to work on the string.
Pulling on the string up from one side is simply going to pull the string on the other side more deeply into the tissue. The picks have to be placed under the string and a knife used to cut it. Tweezers are used to unravel the string which can be wrapped around the inside of the wound a few times. When you hit a point where you can't unwind the string, you are at another knot and have to work with the dental pick again. If you can find other loose ends on the other side of the digit, cut wherever you safely can and maybe you will get lucky and the string will be able to be pulled out in pieces.
Incidentally, if you are working alone, one hand is holding the bird while you are tring to use your other hand to work with the tools.
Don't be surprised if you find that as you unravel the string, it may follow all the way around the foot or ankle from places where you didn't even realize there were cuts.
Sometimes all that is holding the toe to the body is the string and in taking the string off, the toe could come off with it. If there is still a blood supply, expect to apply pressure to the stump constantly for at least 40 minutes to stop a major bleed.
If you are fortunate enough to get all the string off, your work is not finished. 
I once had a bird where the string was wrapped around an area above the ankle and below the knee(hock joint). That part of the leg was going to come off and if it came off too early, the bird would bleed to death. After the string was off, I fashioned a wire splint that wrapped around the bottom of the foot and taped to an area above the wound so the leg could not fall off until it was time. When it did, I kept the bird until it healed and then released it. He did very nicely for a few years.
What do you do about the remaining toes that are curled from lack of circulation? Trace an outline of the bottom of the foot and cut out a piece of plastic coffee can cover to match. Cut small notches in each piece for the toe nails and place the fitted plastic on the bottom of the foot. Tape each toe to the plastic piece and tape the center of the foot to hold the entire device. You may have to stretch the toe in order to make it fit but that is the whole point. Straightening out the toes can take three weeks or longer but they have to be stretched by this device or it isn't going to work.
Sometimes, if one toe is involved, there is no curling of the others but the toe can be dying from lack of circulation. The toe dies from the top down so that if there is still circulation at the base and the bird accidentally hits the toe, it can break off prematurely and cause a major bleed. If I can release the bird save that one condition, what I do is cut off that part of the toe that is dead so that only a small stump remains and the bird can be safely released without my having to worry about another injury happening. If there is still circulation in the toe, I wait until it disappears and then cut with the surgical scissors. It's dead tissue and the nerves are gone so the bird feels nothing.
There can be pus pockets in the foot or not. In any case, I give an antibiotic


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## bigbird (Aug 19, 2000)

Thanks Fred,
This was very interesting and will be helpfull in the future.
Regards,
Carl


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## Feefo (Feb 8, 2002)

Bumping post up for Caz.

Cynthia


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## maryco (Apr 1, 2002)

Hello,

I have not seem many pigeons with thread/wire on their feet as much as everyone else, all together about 3 which I caught and saved both and the third one got it off herself.
I have also rescued a pigeon who had his wings tied with yarn in a BOW(HUMAN DONE!).. he was lying on the ground downstairs in the lobby when I spotted him and ran down to rescue him, he was unable to fly for the fisrt 3 days but after some water and food he went off beautifuly








I have seen 1 pigeon missing a leg (Stump leg) although he looked very healthy to me, he visited every 2 months or so and I fed him.
Now I have caught him and what a tame wonderful little pijjjie he is









Here are afew photos: http://community.webshots.com/album/55326065CJHEye 

I hope to make him a nice fake leg so he can stand properly and of course a nice new home with us









Mary


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## Whitefeather (Sep 2, 2002)

Good morning all,
I realize this goes on, however, thank goodness I have never witnessed it. To read about the torture intentionally inflicted on these beautiful beings truly sickens all of us & worse yet, if that is possible, is the fact there are no laws protecting our fine feathered friends, forbidding these disgraceful acts to take place.
Cindy


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## caz (Nov 25, 2002)

If I saw a person do this I would be arrested for my actions; as that person wouldn't walk away from doing such a disgusting act to a harmless pigeon.


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