61. Pigeons | The Economics of Everyday Things
Summary
TLDRThis transcript explores the relationship between pigeons and humans, particularly focusing on urban environments where pigeons are seen as pests. Dave Champagne, owner of Bird Busters, helps businesses in San Francisco combat pigeon infestations. The transcript delves into the historical significance of pigeons, from their ancient domestication and use in wars to modern pigeon racing and their ability to navigate. Despite their reputation as 'rats of the sky,' pigeons are resilient, intelligent creatures, and companies like Bird Busters aim to humanely manage their presence in cities.
Takeaways
- 🕊️ Pigeons are considered one of the most notorious pests in cities like San Francisco, causing damage with their acidic droppings.
- 🐦 Dave Champagne, owner of Bird Busters, Inc., specializes in humane pigeon removal and prevention, highlighting the smart and tenacious nature of pigeons.
- 🌆 It's estimated that over 8 million pigeons live in North American cities, particularly in urban centers where they roost and gather in large flocks.
- 🏛️ Historically, pigeons were revered and even worshipped, with their domestication dating back 10,000 years to Mesopotamia.
- 📜 Pigeons were used for message delivery due to their homing abilities, playing a crucial role in communication before the telegraph.
- 🏆 Pigeons have been honored for their service in wars, with some receiving the highest military honors for animals, like the Dickin Medal.
- 💰 Pigeon racing is a big business, especially in Asia, where top racing pigeons can sell for millions of dollars.
- 🥇 Pigeons have exceptional athletic abilities, including flying for up to 16 hours straight and reaching speeds of 60 MPH.
- 🌐 Cities around the world spend millions on pigeon control measures due to the structural and health hazards they pose.
- 🔄 Modern pigeon control focuses on humane removal and prevention methods, such as netting, spikes, and bird track systems, rather than killing the birds.
Q & A
Who is Dave Champagne, and what is his business?
-Dave Champagne is the owner of Bird Busters, Incorporated, a company that specializes in bird control. His business primarily deals with pigeons, helping cities and businesses remove and prevent pigeon infestations.
Why are pigeons considered a nuisance in urban areas?
-Pigeons are considered a nuisance because they gather in large flocks, roost on buildings, and produce acidic droppings that damage structures, car paint, and solar panels. Their poop can also pose health risks due to bacteria and fungi.
What historical significance do pigeons have?
-Pigeons have been domesticated for over 10,000 years, used as food, messengers, and even worshipped as fertility goddesses in ancient times. They were also used in wartime communications and were celebrated for their intelligence and homing abilities.
How did pigeons contribute to wartime efforts?
-Pigeons played a crucial role in wartime by delivering messages across enemy lines. For instance, during World War I, the U.S. had a dedicated pigeon corps, and pigeons like Cher Ami and G.I. Joe saved many lives by delivering critical messages under dangerous conditions.
Why do pigeons thrive in cities like San Francisco and New York?
-Pigeons thrive in cities because they are highly adaptable, find plenty of ledges to roost on, and have access to food discarded by humans. Cities mimic their natural cliff environments, and pigeons can breed year-round, contributing to their large populations.
What methods do companies like Bird Busters use to control pigeon populations?
-Bird Busters uses a variety of methods to control pigeons, including netting, spikes, bird wire, and electric tracks that give pigeons a small zap when they land. These methods aim to prevent pigeons from roosting without harming them.
How do pigeons navigate and find their way home?
-Pigeons have an extraordinary sense of direction, likely due to tiny bits of magnetite in their brains that help them detect the Earth's magnetic field. This allows them to return home over long distances, sometimes flying up to 1,000 miles without stopping.
What was the role of pigeons in the development of the Reuters news service?
-In 1851, Paul Julius Reuter used pigeons to bridge a communication gap between Brussels and Berlin, delivering stock prices over 400 miles. This innovative use of pigeons helped establish Reuters as a leading news service.
Why do some people view pigeons more favorably, despite their nuisance reputation?
-Some people view pigeons more favorably because of their historical significance, intelligence, and athleticism. Journalist Andrew Blechman argues that pigeons are gentle creatures that have lived alongside humans for centuries and should be appreciated rather than vilified.
What is pigeon racing, and why is it a lucrative industry?
-Pigeon racing involves releasing pigeons from a distant location and timing their return to their home lofts. It is a lucrative industry, especially in China and Taiwan, where prize money can reach millions of dollars. Champion pigeons can be sold for millions and bred for high-priced offspring.
Outlines
🐦 The Persistent Problem of Pigeons in Urban Areas
Dave Champagne, owner of Bird Busters, specializes in pigeon control in San Francisco. Pigeons, despite being considered unintelligent, are remarkably tenacious. The city faces an infestation of over 8 million pigeons, whose acidic droppings damage buildings, cars, and solar panels. While cities spend millions on controlling these pests, pigeons were once revered and celebrated in various cultures. Pigeons, or 'rock doves,' have a rich history and are highly adaptable, leading to their proliferation in modern urban environments.
🕊️ Pigeons' Storied History and Wartime Contributions
Pigeons have been used by humans for thousands of years, not just as a food source but for their remarkable homing abilities. From ancient Egypt to the modern era, pigeons have played critical roles in communication. In wartime, pigeons demonstrated immense valor, flying long distances through dangerous conditions to deliver messages. These birds saved countless lives, particularly during World War I and World War II, where they were recognized for their bravery. Some pigeons received military honors, such as the prestigious Dickin Award.
🏁 Pigeon Racing: From Belgian Roots to Million-Dollar Champions
Pigeon racing began in Belgium in the 19th century and has since become a lucrative sport, especially in Asia. Pigeons are trained to race home from distant locations, using their superior homing abilities. The sport has gained popularity in countries like China and Taiwan, where wealthy individuals have driven up prices for champion pigeons. In recent years, top racing pigeons have sold for millions of dollars, with prize pools in competitions reaching tens of millions. Pigeons are bred and trained for optimal performance, and a thriving economy has emerged around pigeon care and racing.
🌆 Pigeons in Urban Environments: An Ongoing Challenge
Feral pigeons have thrived in cities due to their adaptability and close association with human environments. Pigeons are non-migratory, breed year-round, and can survive on discarded food, making urban centers like San Francisco ideal habitats. Despite efforts to control them, pigeon populations remain resilient, thanks in part to individuals who feed them. Pigeons have been blamed for significant structural damage to buildings and vehicles due to their acidic droppings, costing cities billions of dollars in damages annually.
🚫 Humane Pigeon Control: From Netting to Low-Voltage Solutions
Modern pigeon control has shifted from extermination to humane removal and prevention. Companies like Bird Busters use various tools such as nets, spikes, and low-voltage deterrents to keep pigeons away from structures. Dave Champagne’s company charges from hundreds to six-figure sums, depending on the complexity of the job. While pigeons can be a nuisance, Champagne acknowledges that they are simply trying to survive. Journalist Andrew Blackman urges people to view pigeons more positively, as resilient creatures that have been part of human civilization for thousands of years.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Pigeons
💡Bird Busters Incorporated
💡Pigeon Racing
💡Feral Pigeons
💡Structural Damage
💡Pigeon Poop
💡Pigeon Intelligence
💡Magnetite
💡Pigeon Messaging
💡Pigeon Prevention Methods
Highlights
Dave Champagne is the owner of Bird Busters, Inc., a company that specializes in removing pigeons from San Francisco's buildings.
Pigeons cause significant structural damage in cities due to their acidic droppings, which can corrode buildings, car paint, and solar panels.
Pigeons are not migratory; they tend to settle down and breed year-round, making them a constant issue in urban environments.
Feral pigeons in North America are descendants of rock doves brought over by European settlers as a food source in the 1600s.
Pigeons have been utilized for thousands of years for tasks such as delivering messages, due to their intelligence and strong homing instincts.
Pigeons were once revered, worshipped in ancient civilizations, and used by Egyptians to fertilize crops with their excrement.
During both World Wars, pigeons were used for military communication, with a success rate of 95% in message delivery.
Notable pigeons like Cher Ami and G.I. Joe saved lives during war by delivering critical messages despite being injured.
The sport of pigeon racing is highly lucrative, with prize-winning pigeons being sold for millions of dollars, particularly in China and Taiwan.
Bird control experts like Dave Champagne now focus on humane methods of pigeon removal, using nets, spikes, bird wire, and electric tracks.
Pigeons are highly adaptable and can survive on human food waste in cities, making it difficult to reduce their population.
Despite their nuisance in cities, pigeons are extremely athletic and have an advanced sense of direction, able to travel hundreds of miles back to their home.
Bird Busters charges clients from $600 to six figures for bird removal, depending on the complexity of the job.
Some experts argue that pigeons are misunderstood and should be appreciated for their resilience and historical importance.
There is a growing industry around pigeon control, with companies developing various products and tools to prevent pigeons from nesting in urban areas.
Transcripts
on any given week Dave Champagne can be
found scouring the nooks and crannies of
San Francisco in an effort to hunt down
one of the city's most notorious pests
the worst jobs of the church Steeples
they're normally infested and it's you
got to suit up like a space suit to
clean it they're smart animals you know
if you have something missing a spike
falls down if you don't do something
right they find a breach they will
capitalize on it
champagne doesn't deal with rats
squirrels or termites he's the owner of
a company called bird Busters
Incorporated and one bird in particular
makes up the bulk of his
business pigeons you know you think
they're not too bright but they're
pretty tenacious considering they're
still here once they find a place to
live they're not going to leave it's
estimated that there are more than 8
million pigeons living on the streets of
North American cities most of them are
concentrated in busy Urban centers they
gather in enormous flocks in Parks they
Roost on roofs in light Wells and under
bridges and their acidic poop eats away
at buildings car paint and solar panels
cities pay companies like bird Busters
millions of dollars a year to get rid of
them but before pigeons were a pest they
were celebrated and even woried it's
really only in England and America that
we see them as so-called Rats of the Sky
the reality is that it's a very very
gentle
creature the only real problem is when
there's just too many of
them for the fre economics radio network
this is the economics of everyday things
I'm Zachary Crockett today
pigeons pigeons weren't always a
nuisance most feral pigeons are
descendants of the rock do a part of the
colid family of birds in fact there's
not much difference between a Street
Pigeon and the most romantic bird on
earth the white doves that are released
at weddings are just pigeons that happen
to be colored white that's Andrew
blechman he's a journalist and the
author of the book pigeons the
fascinating Saga of the world's most
revered and reviled bird pigeons have
been worshipped since we've been Homo
sapiens they were seen as fertility
goddesses they're all through the
[Music]
Bible by most
pigeons are the world's oldest
domesticated bird they were collected
and trained as far back as 10,000 years
ago in
Mesopotamia ancient Egyptians kept huge
flocks of them for food and used their
excrement to fertilize vegetables and
fruit trees but over time humans
discovered another use for the pigeon
they're extremely intelligent you train
them as to where home is and then you
take them somewhere and then they'll go
back home and you can tie a little
message to their legs and they'll fly it
back some of these pigeons can fly 600
to 1,000 mil away they will hone in on
their Loft literally like a laser guided
missile from a th000 miles away and
they'll go through without food without
water they'll go through different
weather pigeons can fly for up to 16
hours straight and hit speeds of 60
MPH they couple this athleticism with an
astonishing sense of direction that some
scientists say stems from Tiny bits of
magnetite in their
brains they use that to detect the
Earth's magnetic field it's almost like
they were designed perfectly to do this
in a way they were they were selectively
bred over centuries to fly further
distances and return home and in the
years before the widespread use of the
telegraph that wasn't just a parlor
trick in 1851 for instance a German book
publisher named Paul Julius reuter used
pigeons to deliver stock prices from
Belgium to Germany a distance of 400
miles there was a telegraph wire that
was laid between Brussels and Berlin but
there was a gap in the Arden and reuter
came up with the idea of filling it with
pigeons so he was the first one to get
the news to Berlin from uh Brussels and
from Brussels to Berlin that's literally
how reuter's news service began it was
on the backs of
pigeons the pigeons talents were also
put to to use on the
battlefield every major superpower in
all of world history utilized pigeons
during the Franco Prussian war in 1870
the French military used pigeons to send
thousands of messages past Enemy Lines
by World War I the US even had a
dedicated pigeon Corp that bred and
trained the birds to deliver messages
while Under Siege by War's end pigeons
had a 95% success rate Telegraph wires
can get cut
you know wires can also be intercepted
pigeons are the lowest Tech you can use
and sometimes lowest Tech is the best
tech some pigeons exhibited legendary
acts of Valor when Allied troops were
surrounded by German soldiers during an
attack in October 1918 they relied on a
pigeon named Sher Ami to call for help
he was shot through the breast blinded
in one eye and nearly lost his leg but
he managed to fly 25 mil back to
headquarters in less than half an hour
sherem went through all the gunfire all
the guns were trained on it and somehow
he made it back barely breathing during
World War II the US used 54,000 War
pigeons including the legendary gii Joe
he delivered an order to call off the
bombing of an Italian city saving the
lives of at least a thousand Allied
troops what they performed were massive
Feats of heroism and they say saved tens
of thousands of lives you're talking
people's Sons people's husbands people's
fathers who came home from the war
thanks to you know like a 3B bird when
the dickin award the highest honor for
animals who served in the military was
created in 1943 the first three
recipients were pigeons today 75 of
those medals have been awarded and
pigeons hold 32 of them but pigeons
don't just deliver things the Coast
Guard has listed them in search and
rescue efforts they've fared out
defective drug capsules at
pharmaceutical factories and they've
made a name for themselves as Elite
athletes in the sport of Pigeon
Racing they're trucked out to a distant
spot and then they're released from
these trucks that have these trap doors
that just open on both sides I mean and
these are like 18 wheelers just filled
with pigeons so it's like a giant
Starting Gate and you'll have some kind
a judge or witness to make sure it's
done properly there's one starting gate
but unlike a racetrack with the horses
they're flying all over the place to
like endless Finish Lines rooftops all
over Brooklyn Queens North Jersey parts
of Westchester they hone in on their
home Loft and they land and then they're
all wearing a special race bracelet
across an ankle and they're scanned in
quickly and it's all computerized and
then it's all sent to a central database
Pigeon Racing first achieved popularity
in Belgium toward the end of the 19th
century for a while it was a popular
sport for the working class these days
it's less popular but it has attracted a
new demographic with much deeper pockets
in China and
Taiwan in 2019 a top racing pigeon named
Armando sold to a Chinese buyer for $14
million that record was broken a few
months later when the Belgian race new
Kim went for 1.9 million after a heated
bidding war in Asia prize pots for the
largest pigeon races can reach into the
tens of millions of dollars and a
champion pigeon can continue printing
money even after its career is over the
winners I mean they're studded out
essentially so just like horses are the
sperm of one of these Racers can go for
you know hundreds of thousands of
dollars so it's big business there's a
small but thriving economy that caters
to the Pigeon Racing Community selling
natural grain mixes supplements and
antibiotics you know you're not going to
feed an athlete mac and cheese off of
the supermarket shelf I mean there's
endless formulas they're looking for
carbohydrate content for protein content
for the highest source of a certain seed
whole businesses have grown up around
it but today the biggest industry around
pigeons is the one trying to to get rid
of them around the world cities have
been plagued by millions of feral
pigeons who Roost in local businesses
and cover sidewalks in acidic poop so
how exactly did pigeons go from fancy to
feral and what kind of work goes into
reclaiming the city streets from these
resilient Birds I do a billboard every
six months now and I've taken out 2,000
lb of bird crap and I swear when I'm up
there this is what I think I went to
college for
this that's coming
[Music]
up pigeons are thought to have first
arrived in America in the 1600s when
European settlers brought rock dobs over
on ships as a source of food but over
time many domestic pigeons escaped and
became feral these populations of wild
pigeons increased dramatically in the
first half of the 20th century when
racing pigeons left rooftop CPS in
cities like New York for a life on the
streets they love to be on cliffs you
will not see them in trees our cities
are really just concrete mountains you
know they're just concrete Cliffs
everywhere again that's Andrew Blackman
so that's why they're on our Ledges
that's why they're on our Bridge
superstructures that's why they're on
the eye beams and the reality is they
like being around
us so why are there there's so many
feral pigeons in places like San
Francisco and New York City well for
starters pigeons aren't migratory when
they're not made to deliver messages
hundreds of miles away they prefer to
find a good ledge somewhere and settle
down they breed basically year round
have a fast reproduction cycle and can
survive on the streets for 3 to 5 years
they're also highly adaptable and eats
just about anything humans discard from
pizza crust to Fried Chicken
every city will have the proverbial
crazy older person who at 3:00 or 4: in
the morning will go out into the streets
when they're not being spotted and open
up giant bags of feed like 30 40 pound
bags of feed to feed their pigeons and
that will cause overbreeding which
actually stresses the population out in
some cities it's now illegal to feed
pigeons but that hasn't stopped feral
populations from thriving City dwellers
either love them like Bert from Sesame
Street I love pigeons and I love how
they walk and I've created a really cool
dance called doing the
pigeon or hate them like the 1950s
singer songwriter Tom larer all the
world seems in tune on a spring
afternoon when we're poisoning pigeons
in the
park one thing is certain all of these
pigeons can cause a lot of damage an
estimate from 2000 put total pigeon
related structural damage in the US at
over a billion dollars a year that has
spawned a big business for bird control
professionals like Dave
Champagne I'm from Louisiana originally
so I visit my cousin down there and they
kind of laugh that I do bird stuff
because where I'm from they just shoot
them champagne started his company bird
Busters nearly 30 years ago after
noticing that the big Pest Control firms
often didn't know how to deal with birds
a lot of pest control companies aren't
good at it because it's tricky they like
to spray and bait that's the main money
for those smaller comp you know the ones
on the ground we have to get up in the
air it's not easy the stuff we do today
he helps businesses and cities across
Northern California get rid of unwanted
Birds I work with everybody from
Salesforce to you know Google to Amazon
all of them hire us I've done Bridges
freeways the big billboard you see on
the freeway no one escapes a bird
problem champagne deals with all kinds
of flying creatures seagulls owls
swallows Hawks but he says around 60% of
his business comes from pigeons which
like to roost in local businesses and
private
residences most of the buildings we deal
with like victorians they love
victorians I mean there's nooks and
crannies and little ornate balconies we
do a lot of light Wells it's like a few
living City you open up your bathroom
windows in an apartment there's this
shaft that goes down between the
buildings people open these windows and
all a sudden there's four or five birds
that have been nesting there all winter
clients call Bird Busters for a few
reasons for starters pigeons produce a
tremendous amount of poop about 25 lbs
per bird per year they cause a lot of
structural damage when they sit in a
spot and crap all day and their poop
it's a high in acidity and it will wreck
a car paint job wow sometimes it's just
staying side to side a building and I
can scrub it and clean it and disinfect
it but the damage is done this can
especially be a problem for people with
solar panels they're a perfect place for
pigeons to Nest under I mean they love
them and then what happens is the poop
slopes downhill it clogs the gutters up
and it starts to destroy the roof
excessive pigeon droppings can also pose
health hazards like any excrement it's
filled with fungi and bacteria that can
be harmful if inhaled pigeon related
infections in humans are pretty rare but
hospitals private businesses and cities
don't want to take on that
risk and then there's the
sound the sound they make the harmonic
it vibrates through the house they coup
all morning long cuz they're hanging out
deciding what to do and they normally go
out out and eat and party all day or
loaf they come back in the evening and
they do the same thing and people it
drives them crazy when champagne's team
is called to a job the first step is to
get the pigeons out and that part isn't
too
complicated you just chase them out
pigeons are so chill they never come at
you they don't attack anyone they're
puppy dogs I mean they just don't care
if you had a problem with pigeons 100
years ago you just shoot them or kill
them with poison pellets even today
there aren't any federal laws that
prevent the slaughter of pigeons the
USDA labels them as an invasive species
and the migratory bird treaty Act of
1918 which protects many species of
native bird does not apply to feral
pigeons but in most cities including San
Francisco the pigeon control industry
has shifted from killing pigeons to
humanely removing them the modern day
focus is on moving pigeons elsewhere and
preventing them from coming back the
same birds will come back it's crazy
they keep scoping out their old home and
I I didn't believe that but I've seen it
so many times there are dozens of
companies with names like bird barrier
bird beone and bird X that manufacture
and sell pigeon prevention products to
guys like champagne the market is full
of all kinds of devices sticky gels that
smell like garlic holographic prisms
that reflect sunlight and plastic decoy
owls champagne uses different pigeon
tools for different jobs one of the most
popular options is netting that's a
primary thing for loading docks parking
garages big areas where you're just not
going to chase the birds around it's
more cost effective because you could do
a big area with like big pieces of net
we net the entire loading dock ceiling
to where the birds can't land on any PL
they can't get up in the duct work the
mechanical boxes so basically when they
fly in they hit the net they bounce they
leave for tall Ledges fire escapes and
rooftops he'll employ rows of spikes or
bird wire that make it hard for pigeons
to land it's a thin wire that's coated
and what you do is you attach it to a
post and then you run it to another pose
with a spring on it so when the birds
come in the land they hit the wire and
it bounces back they can't grab onto the
wire it's too thin one of his favorite
pigeon prevention measures is something
called the bird track if the birds land
on it every 4 seconds it just sends a
low low low voltage out it gives them a
little zap and I've not seen birds come
back for a second try for his Services
champagne charges anywhere from around
600 bucks to six figures depending on
the complexity of the job the pigeon
removal business has put his three
daughters through college and it's
afforded him a nice nest in the San
Francisco suburbs and even though he
spends his days evicting pigeons he has
no beef with the birds I think they're
just trying to survive like everyone
else Andrew Blackman the journalist who
spent several years chronicling pigeons
understands the need for urban bird
control but he doesn't think that
pigeons deserve the bad rap that they
often get the way we look at pigeons is
just unfair why not see them as the
Whimsical happen stance in a concrete
jungle they've been with us since the
very beginning they like being with us
they're incredibly docel creatures
they're tremendous
athletes I would just urge people to
kind of take a new look at them and see
them for what they are which is just you
know a wing creature that chooses to
live amongst
us for the economics of everyday things
I'm Zachary
Crockett this episode was produced by me
and Sarah Lily and mixed by Jeremy
Johnston we had help from Daniel morit
[Music]
rapson steroids are a problem in Pigeon
Racing so yeah I guess the only way to
put is like that's a lot of breast
meat the Freakonomics radio network the
Hidden Side of
Everything Stitcher
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