AR-News: (USA, TN) Cargill Inc. is poisoning pigeons on Presidents Island. Is the practice safe?

[D. Roth]

A Last Resort?
Cargill Inc. is poisoning pigeons on Presidents Island. Is the practice 
safe?

They were the beloved companions of Queen Victoria and were prized by 
the pharaohs of Egypt. Picasso loved them so much that he named his 
daughter after them. They ferried messages for American and allied 
forces during World War I, and their image has been used time and again 
as the universal symbol of peace.

But in Memphis, they're being poisoned.

At the Cargill Inc. facility on Presidents Island, hundreds if not 
thousands of pigeons, also known as rock doves, have found a haven. 
There's water (McKellar Lake), shelter (ledges and tanks to perch on), 
and, most importantly, food. The Cargill plant processes about 200,000 
bushels of corn daily to make food sweeteners. But company officials 
fear the birds' droppings may pose a health risk to workers, and in late 
January, they began working with the U.S. Department of Agriculture 
(USDA) to eradicate the birds using corn laced with poison.

"We've tried everything, and this was pretty much a last resort," says 
Bill Brady, a spokesperson for Cargill. "We tried trapping and 
relocating. We tried to limit their access to the corn. But if there's a 
little spillage when you're unloading, they know. So the USDA 
recommended this program."

The USDA-administered program at Cargill utilizes DRC-1339, which 
according to David Lingo, district supervisor for the USDA's wildlife 
services, is only toxic to "pest species of birds," such as pigeons, 
blackbirds, and crows.

He says that, before baiting the pigeons, efforts are made to ensure 
that nontarget birds aren't feeding at the site. Although the poison is 
formulated to kill pigeons, nontarget birds can be affected if they eat 
too much. Lingo says pigeons must ingest about two to five kernels to 
get a lethal dose. It would take much more to kill a nontarget bird. The 
poison can take from eight hours to three days to take effect.

Lingo says the USDA has no statistics on the number of pigeons poisoned 
thus far.

Judging by the size of the flock that still hovers over the plant each 
morning, one would expect the area to be littered with dead pigeons. 
But, according to Lingo, the pigeons don't generally feed and roost at 
the same site.

"We spend a lot of time documenting where the birds are nesting or 
loafing, and that's where we concentrate our efforts in picking up dead 
birds," says Lingo. "Every effort is made to properly dispose of the 
carcasses, and there is someone monitoring the roosting sites. We don't 
just leave dead birds lying around."

However, Dave Roth of the Urban Wildlife Society, an Arizona-based 
pigeon rescue organization, says he saw dead pigeons lying all around 
Glendale (a suburb of Phoenix) when a USDA-administered poisoning 
program was in effect there. He also saw one toddler trying to eat a 
kernel of regurgitated corn lying next to a dead pigeon near an 
apartment complex.

The USDA claims the laced corn isn't potent enough to affect humans, but 
Roth's not so sure. He says it would be nearly impossible to track down 
all the roosting sites, meaning dead pigeons could end up anywhere.

"They can go fly off who-knows-where, and that's what makes these pigeon 
poisoning programs so dangerous," says Roth. "Pigeons don't generally 
congregate in large roosts like waterfowl. They'll have their own little 
spots, whether it be on a building or in a tree."

There are several alternative methods of pigeon control often suggested 
by animal-rights groups -- netting, artificial nesting platforms, and 
even motion-detectors that send out faux-hawk calls. The USDA claims 
that a DRC-1339 death is "apparently painless," but Roth thinks otherwise.

"DRC-1339 is a nasty way to die," says Roth. "It basically destroys the 
kidneys, and the birds die from toxemia. A kidney infection can be 
excruciating, and the birds just run around in agony waiting to die."

Brady says the Cargill plant has had no complaints from animal-rights 
activists. Kathy Simonetti of the Memphis-Shelby County Humane Society 
said her organization has no official stance on the situation since they 
mainly deal with companion animals such as dogs and cats. And Rob 
Peeples of the local chapter of the Tennessee Ornithological Society, a 
bird-watching club, said his group isn't really concerned with pigeons 
because they are not native to America.

Meanwhile, Brady says the program at the Cargill plant is ongoing. USDA 
administrators will leave bait out for two or three days or until it 
appears that the number of pigeons on-site has dwindled. Then, they'll 
take a break and start the program again when too many pigeons return.

According to Roth, this cycle of poisoning actually makes the situation 
worse:

"One of the reasons pigeons breed so prolifically is because of our 
actions to eradicate them. There are pigeons in the wild that raise 
maybe two to four chicks a year, and that's their natural state. But 
nature abhors a vacuum, so the more quickly we kill the birds off, the 
more prolific breeders they become."