Are Pigeons Vermin?

Feral pigeons are really just escapees from the humble homing pigeon! Homing pigeons were introduced by the early European settlers back in the 1600’s. They now dominate the urban landscape because they like our waste. They breed 4-7 time a years based on food availability. It’s not unusual to find racing pigeons among the local feral flocks. Most of these end up in the flocks because they lose their way when racing or chased by hawks or they simply found a better option. Perhaps an attractive female caught his eye. Food was found in abundance.

But together with the prodigious breeding these feral flocks have grown to become more problem than fun to feed at the local park  or shopping center.

Vermin

Vermin is described as wild animals which are believed to be harmful to crops, farm animals, or game, or which carry disease, e.g. rodents. Pigeons pretty much tick all the boxes to be called vermin. While they might be fun to feed, they are like rats. Kept in clean environments and feed and cared for they can make great pets. But moving around Adelaide urban feed sites means they come into contact with rubbish dumps and bins and other unsanitary waste sites. This then means they can carry on the feet unwanted disease just like rats. But worse; they fly! Which means they can cover a lot more area creating a widespread opportunity for disease transportation. They visit not just waste sites but also feed sites, such as grain handlers and food chains, or supermarkets. And they can visit these sites in the same day. Depending on how available the foods are.

So getting rid of feral pigeons is everyone’s  responsibility.