Painful Pigeon Death Caused by Avicides

How often have you received a recommendation from pest control companies that the best way to resolve whatever problems you have with pigeons is to poison them? Amongst the most popularly recommended bird poison also known as avicide is the Avitrol (DRC-1339). However, in reality, do we really know how painful a death from Avitrol can be? Most pest control companies will only tell you a surface-scratch understanding of the poison. For example, these companies can go as far as explaining to you that the presence of avicides in an area is enough to "scare away" pigeons and thus disperse huge flocks in a matter of days. While this explanation is true to some extent (pigeons will naturally avoid an area where a good number of birds have already died due to a certain threat) it hides away the reality of what happens to the birds that die because of the poison.

Avitrol and the other avicides available in the market are made from very toxic chemicals that can cause immense pain to birds and other animals when ingested. These poisons impair the nervous system of the birds making them disoriented. This condition leads to tremors and erratic flight movements which eventually end up to hours of violent convulsions. During the entire process, all that the birds will feel is acute pain and in most cases, this pain is what drives the birds to death. This picture is already very horrible to imagine, so much more if it involves non-target animals like pets, unsuspecting birds and raptors. Many of these animals have been reported to suffer from the ill effects of Avitrol because of accidental ingestion.

The Main Problem with Avitrol

It is really difficult to justify why pigeons should not be killed in such an inhumanely manner granting that many sectors of society do not give that much care to "pests", but despite this, there are other problems associated to the use of Avitrol. One significant problem is the fact that endangered birds in the wild feed on dead animals like pigeons which died because of Avitrol or some other bird poison. The thing about poisons is that its chemical compounds do not dissipate when the animal that has ingested it dies. The deadly chemicals remain in the bodies of these dead animals making them the new "poisoned bait". Because Avitrol does not kill the pigeons on the spot, these birds still have enough strength to fly into places where endangered falcons would find them and feed on them. Falcons eating poisoned birds will definitely get poisoned too. Amongst the other protected birds that have suffered a great deal because of feeding on poisoned pigeons are the peregrine falcons and the red-tailed hawks.

This clear harm is the reason why cities have already discouraged the use of Avitrol in their territories. Some of these cities are: San Francisco, New York, Colorado and Boulder. However, even to this date, the use of these poisons is still not prohibited and the market is still very wide open to sell more of it.

Harmful and Ineffective

It might also come as a surprise to you to know that all the harms that the society is willing to face just to have an effective bird control product such as the Avitrol is put to waste because in reality, such products are ineffective. Pigeons are wise birds, in fact they are considered as the wisest of all city-dwelling birds. When they sense that a specific area has been implanted with poisoned baits, they will simply relocate into another area adjacent to their old location. Sure, pest control companies can then set the baits in that new area and the birds will again relocate. This will only result to a never-ending cycle of brutal killings.

If indeed, the intention is to simply control the birds and avoid the possible damages that they can cause, you can simply resort to non-lethal methods. As far as statistics in concerned, these methods are more effective and practical. Examples of non-lethal bird control methods are: the installation of nettings and spikes and the use of frightening devices whether mechanical or electronic.

It should be understood that simply killing the birds through the use of poisons is a short term solution. After the current population is killed, another generation of pigeons will come after them. If you continue to resort into using poisons, you will end up repeating the same process over and over again. Of course, it will cost you a great deal of money and that expense will be perpetual. You should know that to serve their best interests, pest control companies that rely on poisons as well as the manufacturers of these poisons themselves will not reveal this reality to you, else they will be hurting their own industry. It is up to you to be wise and choose the kind of control method that will both give more value to your money and to the life of the animals around you.

Helping the Birds

By any chance, if you happen to find a pigeon or any bird that exhibits the symptoms of avicide poisoning, you must act quick and take the bird to a veterinarian. If you are not that much concern about the pigeon because in your own personal assessment these birds are nothing less than rats with wings, then at least have the decency to take the bird and dispose it in a place where non-target animals will not find it and feed on it. Of course, that is if you do not really care about the fact that pigeons who are poisoned with Avitrol and some other avicides are definitely suffering from so much pain.

But, if you are the concerned type, it is best if you report the incident to a "local animal control agency" so that they can help out in investigating how the bird was poisoned in the first place. If you see another bird species apart from pigeons, grackles, sparrows and starlings that suffer from the same symptoms, all the more that you should act quickly because such birds are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty issued by the federal state. Anyone who harms the birds, whether by poisoning or not, is legally accountable to the law.