# How Can Some People Be So Thoughtless



## goulian (May 15, 2007)

Hello, Folks,


Today, as I and a friend fed the feral flock, we noticed a bird who's feet were tied together with a heavy string. He could only take very short steps and it was heartbreaking to see him run in this manner to get to the food. After a period of time and several failed attempts, my friend captured the bird and I went to work cutting the string from it's feet. I still can't believe what I found. The string was tied in a knot at the base of each toe, including the rear one, on both feet. Between each toe was a split shot type of fishing sinker. To top it off, the string was so hard that is was like cutting wire to get it off the bird's feet. There is no way a bird could have done this to itself. It was done on purpose by some sorry individual for whatever reason. Anyway, after a bit of time, the string and sinkers were removed and, upon release, the bird ran into the flock to continue feeding. I love a story with a happy ending.

Take care all, and happy pigeoning.


Mike


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## Matt D. (May 12, 2007)

wow... glad you could help the little guy. There are these types of people out there.


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

HOW SAD, Mike!!

BUT HOW GREAT THE PIJ IS NOW "FREE!"

THANKS FOR POSTING!

SHI & SQUEAKS


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Oh My, Mike! I'm so glad you and your friend were able to help this poor pigeon! One has to wonder what people are thinking at times .. or if they are just cruel cretins ..

Terry


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## ryannon (Jul 4, 2007)

TAWhatley said:


> Oh My, Mike! I'm so glad you and your friend were able to help this poor pigeon! One has to wonder what people are thinking at times .. or if they are just cruel cretins ..
> 
> Terry



I'll opt for the second category - without alluding to even worse cases.

But the good news is Mike and his friend's success at releasing the bird from his bonds - which would have eventually cut away his toes and feet as they worked their way into the flesh. 

I spent several years in Paris doing exactly the same. At one point, it seemed that everywhere you looked, there was at least one bird in the same predicament. Most had tangled themselves in various and amazing combinations of human hair, fine nylon fishing line and thin plastic garbage bag sealing strips. A very few had obviously been knotted up with twine and condemned to a painful existence and/or slow death by local psychopaths.

After putting in a looong time doing my thing, I began to notice a distinct reduction in the number of my 'clients', and to this day it's now rare that I come across pigeons in this situation as I go about my own business.

I can't account for why this is so - unless it's the fact that our individual efforts somehow add up to monumental results - or more exactly, _mysterious results_: there's no logical reason why all of these flocks are doing better today - footwise, at least - than when I first became aware of their plight a decade or so ago.

The same amount of junk is still on the sidewalks and gutters, and even given the idea that the local psychopaths all eventually got what they deserved, I have no real explanation as to why all those little pigeon feet are in such good shape


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## goulian (May 15, 2007)

Ryannon brings up an interesting point. In the year or so I have been feeding the feral flock, maybe ten to twelve birds have been assisted by my removing string, twine, hair, and plastic from their cold little feet. Most of the bound feet were obviously the result of the pigeon's themselves somehow getting tangled up in the string or whatever. A few were done by human hands. The question is, is this a condition that is confined mostly to pigeons? I mean, I have never seen any other types of birds with their feet entangled like the pigeons I have seen. Many species of bird use string and the like in the construction of their nests, but pigeons seldom use such materiels. At least the ones I have had over the years never used string as a nesting materiel. Why, then, are they so susceptible to this malady? Just something to think about.

Take care, All,


Mike


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## Charis (Feb 11, 2007)

I love happy endings too.


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## TAWhatley (Mar 6, 2001)

Mike,

I find birds all the time .. not just pigeons, but ducks, geese, Cormorants, Gulls, you name it .. with various types of "string" entanglement. With the water birds, it's almost always fishing line with or without hooks and sinkers. Most of the time it is obvious that the bird just got caught up in carelessly left fishing line, unspooled audio tape, cotton string, twine, or other such things.

Fortunately, I rarely find birds that I think have been purposely entangled .. a few such .. and those were always birds with rubber bands tightly wound and placed in such a way that I don't think it was accidental.

Terry


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## mr squeaks (Apr 14, 2005)

Who knows, Jonathan, maybe the pijies in your area have "passed" the info to successive generations to "beware!" Wouldn't surprise me at all!

And, for those _still_ getting into trouble, I can understand why. In their search for food and mates, their feet can easily get tangled in fishing line, etc. if they are not careful. Then, if they try to get rid of the offending line(s), they may only make things worse!

Too bad, too many humans don't know enough to "clean" up after themselves!

Shi


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

I'm glad to hear you were able to get hold of him and releave this pigeon of the string binding. Whoever is responsible needs to be caught up in such an entanglement.


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## naturegirl (Nov 7, 2005)

Your a sweety Mike for helping this bird and helped save him/her from painful experience in the future if you wouldn't have come along. Thanks again. See there really are Angels out there, you being one 

Cindy


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## goulian (May 15, 2007)

Thanks for the nice comments, everyone. But no matter how much I feed them, or how many feet I free from string, I can never do as much for them as they have done for me.

Mike


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## Reti (Jul 20, 2003)

How wonderful you saw him and were able to help this little pij. Thank you and thanks to your friend.

Reti


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## minimonkey (Apr 7, 2005)

Wow, what an awful story but with a happy ending. 

People can be just horrible, and I do wish they'd meet with a similar fate to what they inflict on others.... grrr. I don't understand cruelty of that sort, at all. 

I'm so glad you were able to free this fellow, at least.


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## John_D (Jan 24, 2002)

One of our friends in London, and his good wife, treated literally dozens of 'strung' pigeons last year.They were from a large 'park' (Clapham Common) where fishing was permitted, and most were caught in carelessly discarded fishing line which probably just curls up and is a ready trap for unwary feet. Think they may have stopped the fishing now. It's so easy for the pigeons to step into these bits and tighten them in their efforts to remove them.

I had a very pushy pigeon on my balcony who one day turned up with thread wrapped round both feet. Due to the small size of the balcony and the tendency of the birds to take flight if I opened the door, I could not catch him (only managed one near miss). Anyway, eventually, he lost both feet but does very well on his stumps. The upside is that he is still around. I saw him a couple of days back for the first time in weeks (think someone else, somewhere must be looking out for his welfare), which means this is coming into the 10th year I have known him.

John


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## Skyeking (Jan 17, 2003)

Hi John,

I'm glad to hear someone else is also looking out for "Stumpy," that certainly increased his chances for survival.


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