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September 7, 2007
Pesky pigeons perturb core dwellers
Pigeon droppings on the sidewalk on St. Paul
Street. Aside from causing an unsightly mess,
pigeon droppings can create serious health
problems for humans. Pigeons are a "massive,
continual problem" downtown, says store owner
Dianne Mannen. The birds are shown Thursday on
The Standard's roof.
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.
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