TWO councillors would like to see Bathurst Regional Council trial a new method of pigeon control in the central business district.
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Councillor Jess Jennings has pitched the idea of using solar electric tape to deter pigeons from buildings.
If a bird lands on the tape, they will receive a small, harmless electric shock.
It doesn’t take long for the birds to learn not to land or walk across the tape, ridding these buildings of the messy problem.
In speaking with the Western Advocate, Cr Jennings said he had heard about the new technology from a pest management specialist.
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“I was talking about a couple of pigeons I knew had roosted in an awnin
g nearby and I just asked him casually what’s the best way of getting rid of pigeons and he said ‘Shooting is sort of the old way, but there’s this new electric tape’,” he said.
“He said it’s extremely effective and that’s the newest, best practice way of going about it.”
If council were to trail this method, Cr Jennings felt it would be best to target a couple of known pigeon hot spots first before rolling it out further.
“All those old buildings we’ve got are getting covered in pigeon poo,” he said.
“Heritage and pigeon poo don’t go well together and it’s only going to end up costing us more and more if we can’t do something about it a bit more effectively than what we’ve been managing so far.”
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Deputy mayor Bobby Bourke, who has long been searching for a solution to eradicate pigeons from the CBD, also wants to see council trial the tape.
“I didn’t have a chance to speak at that meeting, but I would have fully supported [Cr Jennings] in that,” he said.
He agreed with Cr Jennings that the tape should be put in the most pigeon-prone areas to test the effectiveness.
Cr Bourke said that council seemed to “lack that wanting to go out there and try things” when it came to controlling pests, but it needed to get serious.
Should a recommendation come to council to trial the tape, he said he would absolutely support behind it.