Wire mesh installed on the underside of a railway overpass on Warden Avenue to keep birds from roosting - Date unknown Jack Lakey.

13 July 2012

Trapped Pigeons Are Dying to Escape from CP Rail Overpass

Toronto Ontario - Dead bodies are piling up beneath a Warden Ave. railway overpass and causing a flap among bird lovers.
 
Pigeons have figured out how to get behind barriers meant to keep them from roosting in the rafters under a CP Rail overpass on Warden Ave., but some aren't smart enough to find their way back to freedom.
 
They end up trapped behind metal mesh attached to the underside of the overpass, prisoners in a bird cage with no exit, and eventually starve to death, their corpses visible from below.
 
It's a tragedy for those who see pigeons not as a source of foul droppings but elegant creatures of flight, and reason enough for us to help them close the steel trap.
 
An email from Rudy Brunell, who's been devoted to pigeons for 30 years, said the mesh "has the opposite effect" of preventing birds from perching on the iron beams under the bridge.
 
"It is letting in pigeons and they get trapped in there!" said Brunell, adding that another bird lover, Evelyn Obermeier, "has been pleading with CP, but apparently the management won't budge."
 
Wire or steel mesh has long been used beneath bridges to prevent birds from roosting, usually above sidewalks, where they are known to drop wet bombs on hapless people.
 
The underside of the overpass is completely covered with mesh. CP has obviously put some effort into deterring birds, even above the traffic lanes.
 
As soon as we were beneath the bridge, on Warden, just south of Ellesmere Ave., we noticed a heavy layer of bird droppings along the sidewalk on the west side, a sure sign that the barrier isn't working.
 
We could see pigeons going into an opening in the mesh near the southeast corner of the bridge, allowing them to range within the enclosed area, all the way across to the support column in the middle of the street.
 
Some appeared unable to find their way back to the opening. We watched as several that were far inside the enclosed area kept flapping their wings, as though they were trying to fly away.
 
Others that went into the enclosed area but didn't stray far from the opening were able to get out, as though they knew enough to stay close to the door.
 
While talking to Brunell, we suggested that pigeons might be too dumb to figure out how to get back to their point of entry, if they went too far into areas covered with mesh.
 
Oh no, pigeons aren't stupid, he said, noting that some can find their way home from great distances, while others demonstrate real intelligence.
 
There's a pigeon known to fly into TTC stations, swoop down to the platform level, and enter a subway car, he said. It rides the train for a few stops and leaves, just like the rest of us.
 
Except the pigeon rides for free.
 
STATUS:  Ed Greenberg, who deals with media for CP, said the city is responsible for maintaining the overpass. John Bryson, who's responsible for bridges and expressways, said the city likely has a "board order" or agreement with CP to maintain the overpass, and installed the mesh to keep the birds from pooping on people. Bryson said he was trying to get someone from the local maintenance yard to check on it Friday and close the weak spots in the mesh ASAP.
 
Jack Lakey.