On Monday night KGMB news reported that the Hawaii house and senate were considering a bill to make feeding feral pigeons against the law.
The newscast showed a neighborhood struggling with two of their neighbors who were feeding approximately 200 pigeons and Java finches twice a day. The feral birds were pooping and leaving feathers all over their house, windows and solar panels causing a stench that made it unpleasant for them to even open their windows. They tried to reason with those neighbors, but the feeding continued.
Now there's a bill that's being considered to make it illegal to feed the feral birds. Apparently, the problem is being studied for two weeks and then to be discussed again. I found this information on the news site.
It's an even sadder situation that it takes a law to get a neighbor to stop doing something that is causing everybody around them so much misery.
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| Photo from Hawaii News Now KGMB/KHNL |
Now there's a bill that's being considered to make it illegal to feed the feral birds. Apparently, the problem is being studied for two weeks and then to be discussed again. I found this information on the news site.
You can submit testimony to lawmakers, on-line, at http://capitol.hawaii.gov. On the left hand side, enter HB15 and/or HB619 in the search box marked Bill Status/Measure Status.I have submitted my testimony.
"We had a terrible pigeon problem because two of my neighbors were feeding pigeons daily in their front yard. The birds parked themselves on our roof and solar panels waiting for their hand-outs leaving poop. I started getting insect bites that I suspected were from bird mites. Other neighbors were unhappy also so we went and asked that pigeon feeder to cease and desist. Luckily, unlike that neighbor on the TV report last night, our neighbors did stop. However, it's taking a long time for those pigeons to understand there's no more easy food here. The bird gathering on our roof is slowly decreasing thank goodness. I feel so sorry for those other people whose neighbors refused. Please pass that law so people will stop feeding feral birds. We don't have winters here in Hawaii and birds can find food everywhere. Humans are upsetting the balance of nature and it needs to stop."I don't know if it will do any good, but at least I've had my say. As for those poor people who are now trying to sell their home, it's a sad situation. I know if it were me, I wouldn't buy it.
It's an even sadder situation that it takes a law to get a neighbor to stop doing something that is causing everybody around them so much misery.
Good idea for a law. Good luck.
ReplyDeleteBlogger VP calls pigeons "flying rats."
good luck, nasty situation, it isn't healthy, the fighting and arguing or the bird poop,
ReplyDeleteso you are not alone with this problem...good luck Kay!
ReplyDeleteI am glad I don't live there. We don't have that problem here.
ReplyDeletestrange event, but it makes sense. Birds shouldn't live off human-feeding dependency
ReplyDeletePeople's innate smartness and politeness seems to have evaporate...maybe we need to stop feeding the feral people...lol!
ReplyDeleteWe've had the same problem here and the pigeons and ravens have made a real mess of the gardens on the roof of our building where a number of people have small gardens. By the way, I love your picture on your sidebar!! You are so beautiful!! Hope you have a great weekend!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sylvia. You are too kind. I have to be honest and tell you that I really am not though. It's all in the camera angle. :-)
DeleteWow! What a challenge to co-exist with nature. Hope the birds get the message to stay away and that your law passes. DrumMajor
ReplyDeleteKnock on wood... Ever since the bird population on our roof has declined, I've not been getting those huge welts from bites on me.
DeleteYou said it. Really good.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad the birds on your roof moving on.
ReplyDeleteThat neighborhood in the news... the feeders have devalued their neighbors property. They might have to reduce the price to get it sold.
~L.
Isn't it amazing that the TV station showed the pigeon feeding neighbor and broadcasted his and the other pigeon feeder's name? I guess almost the whole island now knows about this. I'd be so embarrassed, but then again, he asked for it by being so stubborn.
DeleteFeeding pigeons and Java Sparrows is like feeding rats. Java Sparrows (or Java Finches) are so pretty that I think they get a free pass in people's minds, but they will colonize in your attic if given a chance. When I sold my old house, my son extracted seventeen garbage bags of nests from the attic. I have the photo to prove it! Seventeen! We had no idea until the electrician who did an inspection told us.
ReplyDeleteFeeding feral cats also has a tremendous downside. The people who feed the cats disagree, unfortunately. The problem is if they reproduce.
There really are a jillion and one Java sparrows around. There was one neighbor I used to see during our evening walks who was feeding them and you could see a cloud of those pretty birds hovering around and flying from tree to his feeders and back to the tree. I noticed tonight that he'd put the feeders away. Innnnteresssting...
DeleteThe mess would definitely make the sale of that house difficult....good luck. Let us know how the bill progresses.
ReplyDeleteWildlife is taking over. My daughter saw 4 deer on her drive home from school last Friday, and one ran into the back of her truck and dented it. The exterminator came yesterday to set traps for the mice that have taken over our kitchen. I have no sympathy for animals who invade human space owing to the lack of predators like wolves. Bring back the wolf I say, although I don't think they eat pigeons. Dianne
ReplyDeleteI don't think anything eats those pigeons, not even the feral cats that are supposed to be killing billions of birds a year.
DeleteHow about histplasmosis; the fungus in bird droppings that kills people. My dad, for one. I'll bet there's already a law that stops idiots from subjecting people to known dangers.
ReplyDeleteOh wow! I hadn't even heard about that one. Good gosh! I'm so sorry, Joanne.
DeleteThank goodness you had a thoughtful neighbor.
ReplyDeleteGood for you for standing on the side of common sense with your supporting statement. Sometimes the best of intentions (feeding wildlife) lead to serious negatives.
ReplyDeleteGood for you; your final lines say it all!
ReplyDeleteSending YOU Aloha
from Honolulu,
Comfort Spiral
~ > < } } ( ° >
People wonder why we have so much "government regulation". That's why. People do not act responsibly on their own. Good for you for offering your testimony.
ReplyDeleteInteresting point said in the last sentence of your testimony...being the dominant species we must find that balance to preserve and protect nature, OTOH pigeons would not populate in cities if they were not fed by humans.
ReplyDeleteL...w
You should send in a testimony too about that bird problem you had. They're looking at this bill in committee for the next two weeks.
DeleteHmmm...not sure you have the right L? I don't recall having a bird problem lol...then again my memory is going these days.
DeleteL...w
Hi Kay and L...w,
DeleteI was the one that had the bird problem. I don't think I can put in my two cents with the committee because I don't live in Hawaii anymore. The bird problem I had was not with birds in Hawaii, but the ones here in Calif.
~L.
Oh no! I'm so sorry. I remember now that my sister-in-law did have nets around some of her trees.
Delete