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Pigeon Larceny
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 10, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 10, 2004
Modified Mar 6, 2008
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There is a whole underworld of NYC pigeon theft that Gothamist did not know about: Apparently people have been poaching pigeons in order to be taken as targets for shooting events and the like! The Times describes the M.O.:
The reports are the same: around dawn, near a city park or plaza, two men jump out of a van, the license plate often concealed with tape. They toss a handful of seeds, and when pigeons descend, they swipe the birds up in a net...Once captured, the pigeons are then driven to Pennsylvania, investigators believe, and sold to private gun clubs for use in live bird shooting.
That is so dastardly! And while New Yorkers may not be fans of the huge, cooing masses that poop all over, no one messes with pigeons except New Yorkers...or at least the hawks that fly around the city to keep down both rat and pigeon populations, okay? It turns out that city pigeons are state-property, thus making it "illegal to harm them." The Times article also notes a number of small groups and clubs that are New York Companion Bird Club. Other great things we learned: Mention of Bernard Goetz's squirrel rehabilitation; pigeon lovers' surveillance of poachers ("Our aim is to unveil the mafia of netters."); it's hard to gather evidence, once the poachers pass state lines; of 311's 300 pigeon-related calls, half are complaints about people feeding them, and the other are about pigeon poop.
Gothamist's friend JW insists that pigeons are part of the dove family and are also called rock doves. Yeah, but just sometimes. And there is a classic pigeon scene in High Anxiety that is a take-off from The Birds.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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