There have been no breaks that we know of in the case of the alleged Park Slope Pigeon serial killings. However, we heard from the woman at the center of the feather storm, who is known as the Pigeon Advocate. She says she wasn’t serious about installing surveillance cameras as her fliers say, but was hoping the threat would be a deterrent to whoever is killing the local birds. (She says the she borrowed the tactic from Conde Nast where she used to work.) She also now says the birds aren’t being run over, as per the fliers she posted, but are being poisoned and that she collected five-ten dead birds a day last week on Eighth Avenue in Park Slope around Sixth Street.
She writes:
Yes, there is someone on 8th Ave who has been poisoning pigeons. Last week (week of 11/5), I collected 5 – 10 dead pigeons every single morning. What a joy to wake up to. I am not a pigeon fanatic, I am a licensed New York State Wildlife Rehabilitator. I spend months just mending and nursing back to health one injured or sick bird. To find literally piles of dead birds was horribly upsetting. The Catholic School is right there and young girls were walking by, horrified. I was too upset to “keep” the dead birds (ASPCA now says I need them for “proof”) but stoic — placed them all in a garbage back EVERY MORNING last week. I have reported this to the police, to the ASPCA humane law enforcers and to the Dept. of Env Conservation. No, there are no surveillance cameras. That was meant as an attempt to avert further poisoning. When I worked at Conde Nast there was vandalism in the bathrooms. We put up signs saying there were cameras. There were never any cameras. The Methodist Hospital “goons” come on their mini-sweepers and try to run over anyone who leaves bird seed for the flock that have historically lived on that block for decades. Pigeons are homing birds, they don’t migrate, and they have been adored by many people in the neighborhood for years. There has to be some compromise, some middle ground. I am not a pigeon fanatic, but an advocate for all animals and a vegan as well. This one man has killed approx 30 pigeons last week and with no consequences to himself. That would seem to me wrong by any account. Anyone who wants to help can email me at fieldjo@aol.com.
Our question remains: Is the alleged Pigeon Serial Killer of 2007, the same one that attacked birds with a dart gun a block away in 1998? Meanwhile, the proposal to ban the feeding of pigeons and to install a Pigeon Czar continues to get press today. The proposal, which would create a $1,000 fine for feeding the pigeons is described as facing an uphill battle although Mayor Bloomberg supports the idea. Council Member Simcha Felder suggests displaced birds might “go to New Jersey.”
13 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 7:34 am
The “loon”-acy continues!
Apply your zeal to humans and it’s much better.
2 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 8:20 am
I believe it was Christ who was quoted “What you have done unto the least one of these, you’ve done unto me.” Bless the beasts and the children, they have no voice, they have no choice.
There is a long, noble history of human beings from Gandhi to Albert Schweitzer who have placed compassion for all beings, human and animal on an equal footing. There is no ethical conflict between caring for all sentient life and/or caring for human beings.
As a Buddhist, we have a commitment to the alleviation of suffering of ALL creatures. It is human snobbery and/or selfishness that precludes this kind of compassion.
Look around you. Human beings have destroyed almost 95% of the natural world. In the US alone, in under 200 years, we have decimated 96% of our forests and the tiny bit of wilderness remaining is being “reclaimed” by the coal and oil companies.
Think global, act local. Here we are. We have a choice. Can we find a way to care for our environment in such a way as to include the sparrows, pigeons, squirrels that live amongst us. That we are blessed to have in our presence while the “lunacy” of corporate greed destroys all natural habitats?
I am not advocating that animals run amok in our commu nity but there have to be better solutions for urban scapes that include having a balance. People who love to have nature around them should have an equal voice. And for many, squirrels, sparrows and pigeons are the closest they will get to being around nature. We are not all wealthy, we do not all have houses on Long Island.
Pigeons cannot “go to New Jersey” as per the glory of Councilman Felder. Pigeons are homing birds. That is in their DNA. They never stray more than 10 blocks from where they are born. If you would like more pigeon facts (versus fiction) just go to the Cornell University web pages “Project Pigeon Watch.”
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/programs/urbanbirds/ubs_PIWMainEN.html
There are some wonderful and interesting pigeon facts posted there.
Everyone does not hate pigeons. And it is not “lunacy” to be concerned when suddenly there are thirty of them all dead in piles on the curb because “people” have decided they want them dead.
In my view, it is lunacy NOT to care. We should be judged by how we treat the small, the helpless and the meek. What happened on 8th Avenue is a very scary and possibly dangerous statement about who we are.
3 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 8:48 am
next she’ll be feeding rats and making sure there are breeding pools for mosquitos.
4 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 8:49 am
Lady, you are a pigeon fanatic. Accept it and move on.
5 J$ // Nov 13, 2007 at 9:07 am
if you like pigeons, raise some on your roof or backyard or in your apartment. throwing food on the street all over town is not the right way to go about it. you ‘re purposely causing people to get upset, which is a clear lack of human compassion.
6 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 11:14 am
Who the hell cares? But the pigeons in Park Slope aren’t as bad as the people.
7 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 12:28 pm
People who feed pigeons make the City filthy with bird droppings and contribute to the rat population. I do not care one whit what happens to pigeons deprived of the food that some fanatics leave out for them. Methodist Hospital maintenance workers who sweep the sidewalks clean of piegon food are goons??? Give me a break!
8 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 2:16 pm
Psycho Pigeon (with apologies to The Fools)
I can’t seem to face up to the facts
I’m tense and nervous and I can’t relax
This Colonel Sanders job is gettin’ me down
A crazy pigeon chasing me all over town
CHORUS:
Psycho Pigeon, qu’est que c’est
Coo coo coo coo coo coo
coo coo coo coooo
Better run run run run run run run away
I don’t know just what to do
He’s got a grudge against Frank Perdue
He’s cooing a lot, but he’s not saying anything
I plucked him once, why pluck him again?
Colonel Sanders wants to cook his goose but Psycho Pigeons’s still on the loose!
CHORUS:
Psycho Pigeon, qu’est que c’est
Coo coo coo coo coo coo
coo coo coo coooo
Better run run run run run run run away
Ce que j’ai fait, ce soir la
Ce qu’elle a dit, ce soir la
Realisant, mon espoir
Je me lance vers la gloire
We are vain and we are blind
I hate pigeons when they’re not polite
9 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 3:47 pm
Interesting that the pigeon fanatic assumes the “killer” is a man. I’m sure she’s right though… there’s no crazy women in park slope.
10 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 5:22 pm
All the world seems in tune
on a spring afternoon
when we’re poisoning pigeons in the park!
When they see us coming
the birdies all tray and hide
but they still go for peanuts
coated with cyanide!
(Tom Lehrer)
11 Jose Habib // Nov 13, 2007 at 5:48 pm
Mike Tyson better not find out about this.
12 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Feeding pigeons creates a false ecology for the pigeon, encourages over-breeding, and domesticates these creatures. Best to let them survive or perish on their own. What happens when this loon dies and no one is else will feed the pigeons. The Pigeons die is what happens.
13 Anonymous // Nov 13, 2007 at 10:05 pm
RE: thr photograph.
Nice illegal poster [defacing city property]
A fine and a day in the hoosegow for ya, lady! With Mike Tyson, who knows both pigeons and incarceration.