AN intensive pigeon trapping program appears to have done little to reduce the number of birds in the Bathurst CBD.
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Bathurst Regional Council launched the program following complaints from building owners and the public about the mess caused by the pests.
But Councillor Monica Morse yesterday admitted council’s pigeon trapping program was only temporarily effective and said council will need to revisit the problem next year and embrace more aggressive means.
Cr Morse said she was involved with the restoration of the Catholic cathedral and is horrified by the damage pigeon droppings have done to the fabric of the building.
She is also distressed about damage being caused to the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum building.
“They are still doing damage to our lovely buildings,” she said. “We can’t lose our lovely buildings to pigeon poop.”
Local resident Dr Martha Gelin said although the birds appeared to decrease while the trapping was taking place, the pigeon population had come back very quickly. “Numbers are certainly not decreasing,” she said.
Dr Gelin has been a volunteer at the Australian Fossil and Mineral Museum for more than a decade. It is one of the areas in the CBD most affected by pigeons.
The architectural structure of the museum features a lot of nooks perfect for roosting pigeons.
“You have to admire the survival qualities of a pigeon, but they are a health hazard,” she said.
Dr Gelin said the droppings pile up around the entrance to the museum, and now, for the first time, they are starting to cover the fossilised log in the courtyard.
She said she feels very embarrassed about this when out-of-town visitors come to the museum.
“It’s not a good look for council, for the museum or for Bathurst,” Dr Gelin said.
“We have thousands of children come through the museum each year and the pigeon poo keeps piling up. It is a real health risk.
“Sometimes the staff gets out and cleans it up, but as volunteers, we don’t get involved with the pigeon poop because it is a health hazard.
“I believe council needs to give this matter more attention. If they can’t get rid of the pigeons, they need to clean up the mess they make.”
Cr Bobby Bourke agreed that council needed to find a new way of ridding the city of its pigeons.
“I don’t think we’ve pushed it hard enough,” he said. “I think those pigeons have beat us.
“They are a noxious pest; they are filthy, and we need to do something better than we have been doing. We tried the trapping program, but I don’t think it worked.”
Cr Bourke said perhaps putting a bounty on their heads was the answer.
“They’ve been around long enough. We’ve got to get rid of them,” he said.
“Let’s clean the city of pigeon poop for our bicentennial year. We don’t want pigeons pooping on our parade in the bicentenary.”