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In Europe, they are seen as rats that can fly, which I find funny.

touristtam 5y ago
The city council of Paris has been controlling pigeons population for a while now: https://observers.france24.com/en/20100805-pigeons-paris-public-enemy-number-one https://observers.france24.com/en/20100805-pigeons-paris-pub...
- csunbird 5y ago
  Are they that bad? I do not understand the contempt against them. I live in a different city in Europe and my neighbors seem to have a dislike to the pigeons (also they asked me to destroy the nest they have built in my balcony).
  - permo-w 5y ago
    It’s odd, because doves are seen as pure and beautiful, and pigeon, which are essentially grey doves, are seen as dirty and verminous
  - touristtam 5y ago
    I think it is part public health with the bigger the pigeon population the greater the risk of virus carrier and part public space maintenance, the faeces being left on public buildings and other outdoor items. It does cost money to the public coffers (local taxes) to clean after them.
  - thenoblesunfish 5y ago
    Another interesting story from the book was about arguably the first successful pigeon control strategy, developed in Basel and now used in many places: encourage people not to feed pigeons (since they reproduce much more when there's an excess of food) and build your own pigeon lofts on rooftops, feed the pigeons there, and then replace their eggs with fake ones! I think this is the guy: https://anatomie.unibas.ch/IntegrativeBiology/haag/Feral-Pigeon-Strassentauben/pigeon-management.html https://anatomie.unibas.ch/IntegrativeBiology/haag/Feral-Pig...
  - praptak 5y ago
    They are extremely dumb, stubborn and dirty. When they chose my balcony for their nest, they kept trying to rebuild it despite me cleaning it up several times a day. Finally they laid an egg on two twigs sitting on bare concrete. They shit into their nest and their parasites (pigeon ticks) are dangerous to humans. So yes, they are bad.
melesian 5y ago
I have only ever heard that expression in the US (most frequently in NYC), never in Europe, where pigeon keeping and racing is still popular. See https://www.daviddegner.com/photography/fancy-pigeons/ https://www.daviddegner.com/photography/fancy-pigeons/ (cited here) for further evidence. We all know what Americans did to the Passenger Pigeon. A lot more than 5k vanished.
- ramblerman 5y ago
  Definitely considered flying rats here in European cities. Pigeon keeping/racing is popular, but still a small subset of the population. Also the pigeons in cities are generaly dirty, missing some appendage.

The city council of Paris has been controlling pigeons population for a while now: https://observers.france24.com/en/20100805-pigeons-paris-public-enemy-number-one https://observers.france24.com/en/20100805-pigeons-paris-pub...

csunbird 5y ago
Are they that bad? I do not understand the contempt against them. I live in a different city in Europe and my neighbors seem to have a dislike to the pigeons (also they asked me to destroy the nest they have built in my balcony).
- permo-w 5y ago
  It’s odd, because doves are seen as pure and beautiful, and pigeon, which are essentially grey doves, are seen as dirty and verminous
- touristtam 5y ago
  I think it is part public health with the bigger the pigeon population the greater the risk of virus carrier and part public space maintenance, the faeces being left on public buildings and other outdoor items. It does cost money to the public coffers (local taxes) to clean after them.
- thenoblesunfish 5y ago
  Another interesting story from the book was about arguably the first successful pigeon control strategy, developed in Basel and now used in many places: encourage people not to feed pigeons (since they reproduce much more when there's an excess of food) and build your own pigeon lofts on rooftops, feed the pigeons there, and then replace their eggs with fake ones! I think this is the guy: https://anatomie.unibas.ch/IntegrativeBiology/haag/Feral-Pigeon-Strassentauben/pigeon-management.html https://anatomie.unibas.ch/IntegrativeBiology/haag/Feral-Pig...
- praptak 5y ago
  They are extremely dumb, stubborn and dirty. When they chose my balcony for their nest, they kept trying to rebuild it despite me cleaning it up several times a day. Finally they laid an egg on two twigs sitting on bare concrete. They shit into their nest and their parasites (pigeon ticks) are dangerous to humans. So yes, they are bad.

melesian 5y ago

I have only ever heard that expression in the US (most frequently in NYC), never in Europe, where pigeon keeping and racing is still popular. See https://www.daviddegner.com/photography/fancy-pigeons/ https://www.daviddegner.com/photography/fancy-pigeons/ (cited here) for further evidence. We all know what Americans did to the Passenger Pigeon. A lot more than 5k vanished.

ramblerman 5y ago
Definitely considered flying rats here in European cities. Pigeon keeping/racing is popular, but still a small subset of the population. Also the pigeons in cities are generaly dirty, missing some appendage.