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2,000 pigeons shot with rifles at railway stations

Quite a well balanced article for a change.

I had no idea there was a UK pigeon advocacy group!
 
That woman from the advocacy group is talking nonsense about how we supposedly brought this on ourselves. The pestilent pigeons are a type that in nature nests on cliffs and uses our buildings as a version of cliff faces, cr apping down them and breeding in large numbers since, these days, some of us throw large amounts of food into the streets with our grazing on the move habits, and lack of common decency.

I remember back in the 1980s, the building I worked in was invaded by horrible mites which turned out to be coming from pigeons that were nesting just above us on the flat roof and parapet. One weekend - something was done about it and the pigeons vanished. I don't know how it was done, but we were glad not to have these horrible mites migrating down the walls and bothering us. It was pretty disgusting.
 
Varminter said:
Agreed, it is balanced but why have the BBC even requested the information? Non-story for me, just some hack trying to stir something up.

At the end it says some operators have stopped shooting - obviously concerned about PR, so the hack has got what they wanted.
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Agreed. The BBC is happy to join the bandwagon highlighting pollution of rivers by UK water companies and to pillory the privatised, profit hungry water companies for the failures in their duties and the resultant risks posed to public safety. (By the way, I think some Water Company CEOs should now be on holiday at his majesties pleasure).

In this instance, the rail companies are actually managing the risks posed to public safety by culling pigeons when other means of management are ineffective or uneconomic.

So this shines a light on the BBC who I think so often follow a particular line because it is easy to do so, because it appeals to a significant number of people, or because it portrays the BBC as the champion of the people.

The BBC do have influence over public opinion along with other branches of the media. And ultimately our politicians will keep a watchful eye on public opinion when determining their policies. I hope that BASC have a strategy for engaging with the media to try and ensure public opinion is as positive with regard to responsible airgun use as it can be.

A more accurate headline for the article would be "Rail Companies take action to control public safety hazards", but that might not be so dramatic as the headline they used.
 
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Many pest problems at railways are ignored , my local station earlestown one of the oldest in the world is inundated with rats , before anyone asks i spent many a very early morning waiting for trains while disease filled rodents moved in and out of the brickwork and drains of an aged building. Only when you can prove a health problem is money spent , when prompt dealing with the problem sorts it out . With Rats you can put down bait boxes and cause the rat to die slowly and painfully while bait put out for pigeons would kill birds as well. The lesson is that thes moaners would rather see animals suffer than be humanly killed.
 
Ferals in railway stations is a massive public health issues and has been historically so.

When I was a professional pest controller in the 90's, one of my regular jobs were the railways stations, which were shot at night, with official BR staff present
York, oddly enough was one of those stations on my round
The birds were always cleanly and humanely dispatched, collected and bagged.

They take all possible non lethal measures that are practical before resorting to shooting, but unfortunately the historic design of most of these old stations, makes shooting necessary
 
big-phil said:
I think plague and leptospiriosis trumps anything pigeons carry.
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Pigeons are carriers of a number of serious human diseases including salmonellosis, psittacosis and pseudo-tuberculosis.
Humans inhaling particles from pigeon droppings can lead to ornithosis, a potentially lethal disease.

In addition, insects associated with pigeons also carry zoonotic diseases.

Although the risk of such infection may be relatively low, the diseases are severe and may be life-threatening.
 
Ferals spread disease much further afield than rats do due to there ability to fly , many years ago I used to go around a market town with a member of the police shooting ferals late at night ,no one said anything and just carried on doing whatever they were doing , i have a funny feeling things would be very much different these days though 🙄
 
Made me smile this post , Ferals can do so much damage , mid 1980s i was asked to sort out ferals in a football stadium/stands . The damage they had caused was catastrophic to the club , Seats were covered in muck on match days and had to be cleaned and disinfected twice a week , Concrete was literally rotting away as were the steel girders holding up the roof , Pretty sure on one outing my shot count exceeded 152 , I used to bag them and the local authorities came to pick them up for safe disposal . They certainly need to be kept in check
 
Tonyn said:
Made me smile this post , Ferals can do so much damage , mid 1980s i was asked to sort out ferals in a football stadium/stands . The damage they had caused was catastrophic to the club , Seats were covered in muck on match days and had to be cleaned and disinfected twice a week , Concrete was literally rotting away as were the steel girders holding up the roof , Pretty sure on one outing my shot count exceeded 152 , I used to bag them and the local authorities came to pick them up for safe disposal . They certainly need to be kept in check
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I also regularly shot ferals at a football ground
Sheffield United as it happens
That was not in my professional capacity as a pest controller, but due to my connections with their sponsor at the time
But as you say, horrendous mess and damage

Pretty sure @landymick will remember accompanying me to both the railway stations and the football grounds
 
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About 50 years ago, a couple of buddies and myself were given the task of eradicating feral pigeons from a bridge which spanned across a road.
The pigeons stood shoulder-to-shoulder in the eves of the bridge, and the muck which rained down was horrific.

We did it on Sundays when the traffic was low, and we had the police taking care of the traffic for us.
We shot a few hundred from that bridge. 💪

If the local train station has a pigeon problem, there are several of us locally who could help to get rid of them.
 
P8X said:
They take all possible non lethal measures that are practical before resorting to shooting, but unfortunately the historic design of most of these old stations, makes shooting necessary
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My old Nan would walk purposley toward and them and say " Go on . Shooo" . while making a gesture with both hands .

Expect that one don't work these days .
 
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