Minnesota Town launches ''Operation Pigeon Purge''

Washington, Apr 8 (UNI) Even an year before the 2008 Republican National Convention in Saint Paul, Minnesota from September 1, the civic authorities in the town are working out a strategy to combat the ever-rising pigeon population, which has become a major nuisance.

City officials are now pinning their hopes on a new tactic to turn the tide against the downtown pigeon menace. Their plan: Lure the birds to new rooftop nesting grounds, then steal and destroy their eggs in a bid to thwart their numbers.

Bill Stephenson, the city's animal control supervisor's idea is to build and lure the pigeons to new rooftop nests and then ''We'll keep taking the eggs, and they won't have little ones. Slowly they'll die off, I guess'' he was quoted as saying by Pioneer Press.

The challenging task of keeping the pigeons at bay has preoccupied the city officials so much that in the past, the city has turned to several desperate measures, including sticky foam, blow-up hawk balloons and a notorious trapping programme in the late 1980s.

Netting the birds was a total failure - in practical and public relations terms. After capturing thousands of pigeons, the collectors handed the birds over to gun clubs for target practice.

That invited tonnes of protest from animal-rights activists, besides being ineffective.

''What we learned is that you can't control the number of pigeons by killing them. They're like rats - they just reproduce,'' the civic authorities said.

Mayor Chris Coleman ordered Bob Kessler, the city's director of licensing, inspections and environmental protection to lead the charge against the feathered loiterers. Kessler has requested that the city pay 280,000 dollars for pigeon reduction and other skyway improvements, including paint jobs and better signs.

Officials said they aim to take care of the pigeon problem before the convention, which runs September 1-4, 2008. They hope building owners will put up another 280,000 dollars on the broader skyway plan.

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