Recently our smallest grandchild was very cross when a pigeon poohed on his arm. If anything he was more cross at the fact that everyone found the incident amusing. I can sympathise with him. A long time ago now I had the same experience while standing in the shade on a hot street in Florence. As I quite loudly expressed my disgust, laughing Florentines assured me that it was lucky: “Porta fortuna, signora, porta fortuna!” It may very well bring you good fortune but it doesn’t feel like it when hot pigeon poop lands on your arm!
Personally I find pigeons quite objectionable whether they use you as a toilet or not. In town centres in particular they have a way of swooping down or taking off just in front of you, causing me to flinch every time it happens. And I’ve seen others ducking to avoid them as well, although I’ve never yet seen one collide with a person.
I read the other day that London has the largest pigeon population in the country with 3 million pigeons. I sometimes think Manchester must have close to that. People often talk about “breeding like rabbits” but maybe “breeding like pigeons” would be more appropriate. Various attempts have been made to reduce their numbers. Ken Livingstone had a go in and around Trafalgar Square in the early 2000s and Northern Trains employed pest control experts to shoot pigeons in Manchester’s Victoria Station last year - the Manchester Victoria Pigeon Massacre. Neither was very successful. Both provoked accusations of animal cruelty from pigeon lovers. Yes, they do exist!
One solution offered comes from the National Pigeon Advocacy Association (NPAA) and its president, Sue Joyce (AKA Sue the Pigeon Lady):
“She has a vision of an avian utopia where the pigeon “problem” is solved for good.
The vision looks like this: in an empty council flat above a Boots, Sainsbury’s or Greggs, in each of the UK’s major cities, a haven for feral pigeons is constructed. Rows of shelving mimic the look of a cliff’s edge, the habitat where pigeons lived before humans domesticated them. The shelves contain side-by-side plywood roosting boxes for the birds. No need for twigs or shredded paper – pigeons aren’t fancy – just a steady food supply to keep them coming back.
Every few days, a volunteer stops by to replace recently fertilised eggs – which they will then destroy – with plastic ones. The pigeons will continue to sit on the decoy eggs until they realise hatching is unlikely, at which point they’ll kick them out of their nests and try again. Fewer squabs are born, and the mother pigeons are none the wiser. Over time the pigeon flock decreases to a manageable size, for which there is plenty of appropriate food to go around. The townspeople are happy. Their parks are no longer overrun. No more pigeons need to be shot, trapped, poisoned, starved or hunted by hawks.”
Okay! It could even provide employment for somebody.
One day last week, out for a stroll, I saw a child with a hobby horse. You know the kind of thing: a horse’s head, with bridle and reins, on a stick which has a wheel attached; child straddles the stick and pretends to be riding a horse. The one I saw only seemed to have the horse’s head but she looked quite happy with it. I didn’t think hobby horses were still a thing. Then I saw this report:
“FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany’s first hobby horsing championship got underway in Frankfurt on Saturday, with hundreds of young riders competing in time jumping, style jumping and dressage on their wooden stick horses.
Roughly 300 riders — mostly youngsters, but there are about 20 adults enrolled — are expected to canter around a gymnasium Saturday and Sunday, watched by 1,500 spectators. The competition is part of a growing wave of hobby horsing events internationally: the United States and Australia also held their first championships this year.
“Hobby horsing just gives me self-confidence and I just enjoy doing it with other people,” said Max Gohde, a 15-year-old competitor from Gifhorn, Germany, who has been practicing since 2020. “And now there’s also this atmosphere here, where everyone is just happy for you. And I think that’s just really cool.”
The events stemmed from a grassroots movement in Finland, where riders trotted their hobby horses through Nordic forests more than 20 years ago. The pastime has since exploded in popularity through social media during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, and it has been credited with highlighting female empowerment for the enthusiasts.”
Well! Who knew that such events took place? But there it is!
Life goes on. Stay safe and well, everyone!
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