Pigeons 'invade' Paris

[Ashot]

France wages war on...pigeons!

 

Paris has started a war against pigeons. The city authorities say the birds are invading the city and their population is growing too fast.

 

Feeding pigeons is illegal in France. Paris authorities say pigeons are invading Paris. They estimate there are now about 80,000 of them.

 

The authorities have put up pigeon coops across the city. The birds are encouraged to nest in them and once a week their eggs are sterilised.

 

However, some Parisians say these pigeon abortions are cruel.

 

 

NOTE: MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA - AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA - LOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLOLOLOLOL

THE WHOLE WORLD IS IN A CRISIS - WAR AGAINST HUMANITY - THESE IDIOTS ARE DOING ABOIRTION TO PIGEONS

 

watch the video here

[Zara]

wait just one bloody minute. It's illegal to kill pigeons but they're shaking their eggs to do what? KILL PIGEONS.

 

Weren't people in Hollywood giving birth control pills or some form of birth control to pigeons because there were "too many of them"? I can't seem to recall exactly what the method was though.

[Sip]

Wisconsin had a deer overpopulation last couple of years and there was also this disease that was spreading fast among them called "chronic wasting disease". I think what they did was pay hunters for the deers they killed... it was amazing how well it worked.

 

"Sterilizing eggs?" Dude, just give like $1 per pigeon to whoever brings them in dead. Problem will be solved in a matter of days. Hmmm ... although this is the French so I hope they don't surrender to the pigeons first.

[Ashot]

Sip jan, I just imagined the French army surrendering to the pigeons and right away this came to mind

 

[fluttermoth]

Weren't people in Hollywood giving birth control pills or some form of birth control to pigeons because there were "too many of them"? I can't seem to recall exactly what the method was though.

 

I know they were talking about doing this in London recently. Pigeons are a nuisance in cities; they carry lots of diseases (rats with wings) and crap everywhere. Certainly the ones I saw when I was there last were a manky looking lot...

 

[Zara]

Sip...lets get ready. Cheney's waiting. Oh...and ummm....don't forget the med kit.

 

I know they were talking about doing this in London recently. Pigeons are a nuisance in cities; they carry lots of diseases (rats with wings) and crap everywhere. Certainly the ones I saw when I was there last were a manky looking lot...

The ones in London?

 

To be honest, I kind of like pigeons. It's nice to have something to look at other just people. Don't get me wrong, people are ok but, it's not that great when you look around and that's all you see. People and machines. I don't know. I guess I just like looking at birds, squirrels, and what-not while I'm just spending time doing nothing important.

 

By the way, I took this really nice sky photo this other day. Wanna see?

 

 

[Ashot]

Zara jan, why do you always ask if we want to see the nice things, don't hesitate to post it in!!! YES WE WANT TO SEE!!!, are you in that picture as well? I hoped you would be, but then who would take the picture!!! It's ok next time let me know I'll take the picture of you and the ski!!!

 

Pigeons - Any of various birds of the widely distributed family Columbidae, characteristically having plump bodies, small heads, and short legs, especially the rock dove or any of its domesticated varieties.

[Middle English, from Old French pijon, probably from Vulgar Latin *pbi, pbin-, alteration of Late Latin ppi, young chirping bird, squab, from ppre, to chirp.]

 

 

UK - 2006

Should the deadly bird flu virus H5N1 mutate into humans a serious threat to the UK population could come from pigeons.

Scientists have today warned that city centres and urban areas could become major health hazards if feral birds become infected and are killed by the H5N1 strain.

Dr Bob McCracken, former president of the British Veterinary Association, confirmed that all wild birds would pose a threat.

"In the event of the infection being present in our wild bird population there is a danger to all avian species, wild, feral and domestic - and that includes pigeons.

"We have at this stage to assume that all avian species are capable of being infected with this virus unless we know otherwise."

Since the present bird flu epidemic emerged in 2003 there have been a total of 173 cases of human infection, and 93 deaths. Those people that have died after catching bird flu from chickens are thought to have inhaled dried discharges of faeces, or had the particles come into contact with their eyes.

That is why the pigeon population could potentially present a serious health risk to humans as people could inhale faecal dust from infected birds.

Asked what could be done about pigeons with the virus infesting London's Trafalgar Square or other city centre sites Dr McCracken admitted: "That would be very difficult to control."

 

Pigeons are already known to spread psittacosis in their faeces - a flu-like illness that can lead to pneumonia, liver disease and death.

However, to what extent pigeons are able to carry and spread the virus is not yet known, although if H5N1 was confirmed in British wild birds, all species should be considered at risk.

Pigeon fanciers have been told they could keep their birds indoors, but no advice on how to deal with feral birds has yet been forthcoming.

Experts believe the chances of wild birds spreading the virus to humans are extremely low, but cannot be ignored.

The main known carriers of H5N1 are water fowl such as ducks and geese and poultry, but deaths due to the virus have also been reported in a wide range of other wild birds, including crows, thrushes, starlings, pigeons and doves, hawks and owls.

 

However, little known about the extent to which such birds can remain alive after infection, shedding the virus and presenting a potential danger to other animals and humans, and even less is known about what future forms the virus might mutate into, and what kind of threat this may pose.

The big fear is that the virus will become capable of human-to-human transmission, triggering a worldwide pandemic which could claim millions of lives.

Speaking at a briefing in London today, Dr McCracken said he was confident UK poultry farmers would respond quickly and contain any outbreak among their flocks.

"The encouraging factor is that our poultry industry is so geared up to looking for this disease," he said.

But he stressed that nothing like the present H5N1 strain had ever been encountered before, especially with regard to wild birds.

Previously only mild forms of avian virus had been seen in wild bird populations. The current strain started off as a relatively harmless virus in water fowl, before mutating into a deadly form in poultry and then moving back to wild birds.

The British Association for Shooting and Conservation (BASC) yesterday said it was setting up a monitoring programme to test shot crows, magpies and other wild birds for avian flu.

Mark Cokayne, BASC wildfowling and wetlands officer, said: "There is a possibility that corvids (members of the crow family) which feed on carrion - including dead birds - could be a factor in spreading avian influenza."

The scheme will be run on selected sites, initially in southern England and on the east coast, and in mid and north Wales.

Avian flu emerged in eastern Asia but is now rapidly becoming established in Europe.

Infected birds have been found in at least 10 European Union countries, including France, where the disease was confirmed at a turkey farm last month.

So far there has been no sign of the virus in the UK, but experts are poised for its arrival in Britain.

The Government strategy is not to resort to vaccines, which may mask the disease, but to set up exclusion zones and cull birds.

Dr McCracken said if these measures did not prove sufficient and the virus looked like persisting for years, vaccines might be necessary.

"Now is the time when Defra should be considering what kind of vaccines may be needed in the future, so when the time comes the button can be pressed," he said.

 

Another expert warned that the risk of catching bird flu from eating meat and eggs from infected birds, though incredibly low, could not be completely ruled out.

Dr Judith Hilton, head of microbiological safety at the Food Standards Agency, said as a precaution the same safety measures should be taken as those used to guard against salmonella food poisoning.

Meat should be cooked so that juices run clear and there are no pink areas, and raw eggs should be avoided. In a healthy person, cooked eggs with runny yolks were safe - the H5N1 virus was easily destroyed by heat.

Washing hands after handling meat or eggs would eliminate the risk of picking up the virus on the fingers, said Dr Hilton.

"The way people get flu is through the respiratory route, and not through what they eat," she said. "However we have to set that advice against what theoretical risk there might be from eating poultry meat and eggs. We can't entirely exclude that possibility, on the basis of science. However, it's a very, very remote possibility."

 

Copyright - Press Association 2006

 

[Zara]

Zara jan, why do you always ask if we want to see the nice things, don't hesitate to post it in!!! YES WE WANT TO SEE!!!, are you in that picture as well? I hoped you would be, but then who would take the picture!!! It's ok next time let me know I'll take the picture of you and the ski!!!

 

But Ash, what if no one wants to see it?

 

OK. Here is the photo. This is what the sky looks like in Los Angeles after it rains.

 

 

Here's a really cute photo I took a few weeks ago.

 

[Ashot]

Zara jan, I am sure Aratta would love to see it!!!

 

So would I!!!

 

hetoel asem partqs mna qez mihat lav camera nver arnenq ts@nundit... Aratta jan jant yughi, tsaxser kan anelu!!!

 

[Aratta-Kingdom]

But Ash, what if no one wants to see it?

 

OK. Here is the photo. This is what the sky looks like in Los Angeles after it rains.

 

 

Here's a really cute photo I took a few weeks ago.

 

 

Impressive

[nairi]

Clean the city. Pigeons tend to be attracted to dirty places.

[Ashot]

Yes I have noticed the pigeons being around Lobiner, Sevakanner, mekel Neghachkaniner... Hayer@ vandakneri mechen pahum vor chpaxnen hayri motits!!!