Council considers culling of pigeons 

 

Minden
Hills council is considering some options in dealing with a flock of
pigeons that have taken up roost in downtown Minden.

 

In April,
council had received a letter from a downtown business regarding the
pigeons – and their droppings – requesting that the township do
something about the matter. “I cannot be the only business affected by
this,” that letter read. “I don’t want to move out and leave another
empty building on the main street.”

 

Councillors had requested a staff
report with options come back to the council and they reviewed that
report during a May 14 committee-of-the-whole meeting. Amid the ongoing
COVID-19 pandemic, local councils are holding meetings  remotely, with
councillors participating using online video conferencing platform Zoom.
Meetings are then publicly broadcast via YouTube.
Public works
director Travis Wilson contacted two contractors for quotes, those
companies being Eco-Choice Pest Control and Rentokil, the latter company
being the one the township uses to control the seagull population at
the Scotch Line landfill.

 

“Both contractors are very knowledgeable
in this field and have provided a very extensive proposal,” the report
from Wilson read. “Both propose placing baited live traps on any flat
roof occupied by the pigeons (subject to any requirements for owner
permission). The traps would be checked regularly, with the pigeons
taken off site and euthanized. In order to successfully trap pigeons,
they will need to become accustomed to the traps. This will entail
pre-feeding them without having a trap set (this is contingent on others
not feeding them). The traps would then be set with the essentials for
life (shade, water and feed).”

 

The report suggests that pre-feeding
could take place on the roofs of the buildings that the flock typically
inhabits, or on the flat roof of the township’s administrative building.

 

The cost for a 30-week service would range between $1,500 and
$2,500 plus taxes, and it was Wilson’s recommendation the contract be
awarded to Eco-Choice, which provided the lower of two quotes. He also
recommended that an additional $1,500 in contingency be provided, in the
case that birth control feed (which costs $500 a bag) is required, or
if additional services are needed.
“As we’ve learned with the
seagull situation, it’s not a one-stop shop with these situations,”
Wilson said, adding the birds learn and adapt their behaviour, which can
require the exterminators to change their methods.

 

“I’m a little
worried that this seems like another open-ended contract that may go on
forever and ever, amen,” said Councillor Bob Carter.

 

Councillor Pam
Sayne said she thought the township should be honing in on the pigeons’
food sources and trying to deal with that before undertaking the
process.

 

“I know that the old theatre is perhaps a haven for them,”
said Deputy Mayor Lisa Schell, in reference to the former Beaver Theatre
on Water Street, where the birds are able to get in and out through
windows on its second storey.

 

Mayor Brent Devolin said it was his
understanding that the building had a new owner, and that it was the
intention of that owner to knock the building down.

 

“Does that owner have any responsibility for blocking up the windows?” Carter asked. “We don’t want to wait months.”

 

The
township’s bylaw department is to speak to the building’s new owner,
and council will discuss the issue again at their next meeting.