# Advice for relocating feral pigeons who have been with me for 5 years



## EMav (Feb 20, 2014)

Hi everyone and thank you in advance for reading. My name is Erin and I live in Las Vegas. I need some advice about saving the lives of 30 wild pigeons who are in danger of being killed by my apartment management company. 
This story goes back 5 years so I will try to keep it as brief as I can. I live in a large apartment building owned by a nationwide company. 5 years ago I started feeding the pigeons on my balcony. Unlimited food, water, shelter, bird baths, etc. over 40 babies have hatched on my balcony over the last 5 years. I've named some of them. They are feral but some will fly to me and eat out of my hand. They are feral pigeons but they really have become part of my family. I love these guys. 
In September my apartment manager cracked down on me. She couldn't catch me feeding them but she had basically told me that she was watching me and hoping to catch me doing something wrong so that she could evict me. I panicked and stopped feeding them (tho I kept the water supply, hey no one said no water, just food!) well, 6 months later and all 30 pigeons are still there. They won't leave even though there is no food. Sadly, my apartment manager just let me know last week that when my lease is up in April I will not be allowed to renew it. i am 99% postive that when I move out in April, that they will be here the next day and put poison out to kill all the pigeons. Their pest control company is ruthless and hates pigeons. They used to have traps on the roof and left them there to starve to death until I called PETA and they took them down. But I know they will poison all the pigeons if I can't find some way to save their lives before I move. 
Most, if not all of these pigeons were born on my balcony, so I don't think they know how to go anywhere else. I've been racking my brain as to how to save these beautiful babies. It breaks my heart enough to have to leave them after being with them every day for 5 years. At this point, I just want to save their lives. Does anyone have any ideas? I'm going to take the water supply away but I don't think they are hanging around just for the water. I really think I've made this their home. I know trapping and relocating doesn't do much because of their homing instincts. I Will be moving to another apartment so there's no chance they could come with me even if I had an aviary (and being feral I doubt they would be happy in an aviary). I would love to hear any suggestions anyone has. Like I said, it breaks my heart to lose them, but I don't think I could bear the thought that they were all poisoned. Any help/suggestions are greatly appreciated!
Erin


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Easy and you are wrong about feral and homing. I used to own ferals that I rescued. I had two houses, one in the city and a house that I used as a cottage that I now live in full time.
I would simply take the 6 that I had rescued and was able to free fly them at both properties. So, go buy some dog or cat crates, catch these birds however you can, put them in the crates and take them with you to your new place. Then either have them temporarily in cages on your new balcony and then set them free to free fly after a week or so and continue the feeding. 

Consider using the same type of cages those jerks used on the roof for your own transport or way of trapping and caging and relocating to your new place. Even if this stresses the birds temporarily, who cares, its for the greater good and beats the heck out of poisoning your babies.

If you can afford it, go buy 3 cages, and put 10 pigeons in each one and transport that way, for the short term its fine. When Im vaccinating I can cram 20 pigeons in a small box for the 30 minutes Im doing it. Just try to keep hens and cocks separate for the duration so they dont fight. Also if you start now by putting those cages OPEN on the balcony, stack them up even more than 3 of you want, and put both food and water in, you can start training them that its no big deal, they wont fear it but welcome it as a safe place for food and drink and at the time you start to pack and move you can close the doors and transport. Dont leave a single one behind and dont open the doors to feed them on balcony once you trap them so they dont escape and then the landlord locks you out and you cant save anymore.

So make a plan and start on it. Walmart or dollar stores, or used stores or online used, do what u got to do to find the crates


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

Maybe call peta back to see if they can lend u some cages for the transport.


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## EMav (Feb 20, 2014)

Hi thank you for your reply. The problem is that no apartment is going to accept having pigeons on the balcony. This is the reason that my apartment manager is kicking me out in the first place. Because of them. I live in the middle of the city and apartments are right on top of each other. I've had more complaints from neighbors about the pigeons than I can count. Numerous complaints from the management compant about the birds. I know I can't bring them to my new place (which is even smaller than my place now). I so wish I could bring them with me but I know I would immediately be kicked out from there as well


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## hamlet (Oct 26, 2004)

Hello. What if you ask the management that you will help relocate all but two birds in exchange for renewal of lease. Then drive or ship them away.


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## EMav (Feb 20, 2014)

I am totally open to relocation, keeping them is not an option given that I'm in a small apartment. The manager won't be of any help at all. She already told me that me staying is not an option, and she and her pest control company are ruthless and horrible when it comes to the birds. That's why I want to get them away from my balcony before I'm kicked out in April. How far would I have to take them to relocate them? I always under the impression that I could take them to a park 50 miles away and they would still return home. Is this true? I just want them to be safe and happy and together. Most of them have husbands/wives.


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

*Yes, it is very possible they would return to the original place where they were fed. You can start moving their feeding location, by moving it a little each day (feed them as far as you can move them each day) in the direction you want them to go.), sounds ridiculous but it works, we had a member here that did that. *


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## CBL (May 13, 2014)

No 50 miles is WAY in excess. I had 3 ferals that I released less than 2 min from my house at the farm up the street. Must be less than a kilometer away and they stayed there and I drove there every two days and put down seed for a month then weaned them off. If you find a building further away from you and move them there and release them early in the am, they may just fly to the nearest building top or balconies and stay there. They are not racing homers so should not fly back from even a short distance away unless they have been there before.

You can also just put a net up on balcony so they cant land on it and see if they will move elsewhere, but I bet they will just land on neighbours all round you. Tough call, hope you work it out for their sake.


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## Bella_F (Nov 29, 2008)

Hope things are going ok. I'm in a similar position, though the place I live is a rental house with a quiet park area nearby. I've lived here ten years, and have been helping ferals for 5. The house is for sale now, so I may be moving soon. I'm super stressed for the birds. 

I have lot more than 40 here, its more like 200-300. I also keep around 30 in an enclosure that are allowed to fly once a day. Pretty stressed thinking of moving them, and caring for the wild birds long term.

A little while back I had to get the wild pigeons to stop eating at my place. The only thing that really worked was a combination of mild harrasment with my broom, and relocating their food to a park. They are amazingly good birds and learn quickly. In the beginning they didn't want to change, but after a couple of hungry days they followed me where I needed them to go. I was consistent, and I now place food in their spot only at night so I don't get stressed about people seeing me. 

The harrassment part was hard , but it works and they still eat from my hand. Having them trained to leave my property quickly has been invaluable when the property manager drops in on short notice, which they do frequently.

I hope you can think of somewhere near you that is suitable to feed them, its really worth it putting in some some effort to make you and them safe. Mayeb that abandoned building you mentioned could work, somehow? 

I'll probably have to leave in May, so I am currently leading my wild flock slightly closer to a place more accessible to public transport. I have no intention of abandoning them, but would only be able to visit the area with food once a week in the long run. So I'm trying to settle them where it will be safe for them, and easy to visit.

One thing that didn't work was grabbing a bunch of them and placing them in the new feeding spot (about 1km away). Out of 60 birds, only 5 stayed, the rest flew back to my house. So I'm trying out the slow moving of food. Seems to be working ok so far.

Anyway good luck! Pity you can't find a better rental situation. I'm looking for a pet friendly house so I can keep the ones in my enclosure. But thats not always easy.


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## Macpaai (Nov 27, 2021)

Hi
It’s 2021 and I have just came upon your post from year’s ago. I just wandered what happened and are you and the birds ok?


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