Pesky pigeons perturb core dwellers

September 7, 2007

Photo: Julie Jocsak

(reprinted from The St. Catharines Standard)

PETER DOWNS

It's a daily routine Dianne Mannen would gladly do without.

Every day when she arrives for work at the downtown St. Catharines women's clothing store she owns, Mannen is greeted by a fresh load of pigeon poop outside the Queen Street shop.

The black-and-white goop must be cleaned up and disposed of on a daily basis.

"It's a massive, continual problem," Mannen said Thursday, looking out the window of Jordin Stewart's at the latest bird offering from on high.

And it's a problem facing many businesses and residents of the city's downtown core.

As long as there are tall buildings with places to perch, the much-maligned pigeon feels at home.

"St. Catharines is like any city in Ontario or Quebec we service," said Bill Dowd, president of Hamilton-based pest removal service Humane Wildlife Control.

"Every downtown core has a problem with pigeons."

But Mannen believes the pigeon population downtown is swelling, making associated problems even more severe.

"This is the worst it's ever been," she said.

Dowd, a Brock University alumnus who began his animal control company 20 years ago in St. Catharines, said he's had more pigeon calls in the city in recent months.

But that doesn't necessarily mean there are more pigeons in the city, he pointed out.

"Because they're visible and because they're leaving their mess behind ... it gets everyone in an uproar," Dowd said.

The signs of pigeon activity are hard to miss.

The telltale calling cards of droppings and feathers could be seen Thursday in front of numerous buildings and shops along St. Paul Street, as well as neighbouring side streets.

"We've heard from a couple merchants the last little while who have made mention about it," said Tisha Polocko, general manager of the St. Catharines Downtown Association.

The City of St. Catharines took steps last year to rid the downtown library of pesky pigeons.

The birds were roosting regularly in the library's covered parking structure, library CEO Lilita Stripnieks said.

"It was awful," she said. "I had my three pigeons above my car daily. We were on good speaking terms."

The city hired Dowd's company to pigeon-proof the parking garage, which included enclosing the underside of the roof to eliminate nesting locations.

Spoke-like pieces of metal were also attached to exposed sprinkler heads and plumbing to discourage birds from roosting, Stripnieks said.

Bird barriers were also installed along the library's loading dock. "This has really changed it. They no longer want to come here," Stripnieks said.

Aside from causing an unsightly mess, pigeon droppings can create serious health problems for humans, as well as structural problems to property, Dowd said.

"There are about 60 or 70 communicable diseases associated with pigeon feces that can affect humans," he said.

Pigeon poop can also rot roofing materials and corrode metal, Dowd said.