The Border Crisis - Don`t Feed the Pigeons
There are misguided but well-intentioned morons who believe that feeding pigeons is the humane thing to do. They are wrong. Aside from introducing health hazards (1), they deface buildings and corrode monuments. Pigeons produce about 25 pounds of excrement a year. So much of it lands on cars, sidewalks, benches, and statues that it has become intolerable. It is not just an American problem, for example, pigeon poop in Paris is so bad that feeding the flying rats is forbidden by French law (2) with fines of up to 450 euros (~US $612).
Because it is against French Law, Parisian pigeon feeders go out surreptitiously late at night to avoid getting caught (3). The filthy birds are there waiting for them. Feeding them only encourages more of them to come.
The humane thing to do is not to feed them and to protect our own population of human beings. If there were fewer people feeding the pigeons, there would be fewer pigeons and that would make for a healthier and happier community of pigeons. There also would be less rats and destruction of public edifices. That would be best for both humans and the pigeons in the long run. That's the trouble with well-intentioned do-gooders: they only think of the birds now, not the long term benefits of both bird and man,
Likewise we see the situation as I explained in my article Glenn Beck is a Dangerous Idiot: we are not thinking of the long-term consequences of encouraging more children to cross our border. Mere rumors that the US might let them stay has brought a tsunami of illegal invaders. That we give them food and toys and send them out into our communities to stay will only encourage the millions of other Central-Americano children to come as well.
Are we prepared to handle millions of foreign, undocumented, hungry children?
ENDNOTES
(1):
Department of Public Works, Reasons why NOT to feed the pigeons
Large population of pigeons is a health hazard. Our huge feral pigeon population is a health hazard and creates many problems in the city. Pigeon droppings dirty public spaces, do costly damage to buildings, and can spread life-threatening diseases, especially to the elderly and immune-deficient. Their nesting materials block drains and harbor parasites like bird mites. Pigeon food makes a mess and attracts rats.
Feeding pigeons promotes overbreeding.
Pigeon feeding produces overbreeding. Pigeons normally breed two or three times a year, producing two eggs per brood. Overfed city pigeons can breed up to eight times a year....
It’s against the law to feed pigeons on the streets or sidewalks of San Francisco.
(2):
Le Figaro, In Paris, A New Breed Of Urban Outlaw: Pigeon Feeders
PARIS - It’s late at night, in a deserted Parisian neighborhood. A few furtive silhouettes can be seen in the distance, making strange movements, working hastily. They know what they are doing is forbidden by the law. They know they could get caught. But they are on a mission: the benevolent, yet criminal mission of feeding pigeons.
This new class of urban delinquents, called nourrisseurs (feeders), is starting to seriously annoy a majority of Parisians, who can’t help but see the gray city doves as mere flying rats. "They think they’re doing a good deed, but feeders are increasing pigeon overcrowding […] which leads to large concentrated quantities of feces and can damage public and private goods," says a Paris City Hall spokesperson.
The sometimes costly and time-consuming activity is also reprehensible: feeding pigeons is forbidden by the French law and can lead to fines for bird-lovers of up to 450 euros. But that doesn’t stop the flying rodent rescuers –mostly women over 60, although they are a very mixed bunch —from saving up their bread crumbs.
(3):
France 24, 8 May 2010, Pigeons of Paris: Public Enemy Number One
Ah, Paris, the city of love, lights, cafes, and… pigeons? That’s right — the French capital estimates that there are 80,000 of them, or one for every 25 inhabitants. A bit too much cooing and pooing for public officials, who are making an effort to limit the pigeon population.
...
Concentrations of pigeons occur when attempts to control them backfire. Pigeons gather in places where they find food: parks and gardens. But these are also places where people who fancy pigeons come to feed them. To combat this, the municipality tracks down people who feed them, so well in fact that the pigeon feeders have to come at night. They have to act quickly so they are not seen, and they leave all the food in the same spot. That’s why the pigeons always come back to the same spots.
