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YOUR VIEWS: Leeds church plagued by pigeons... hires a hawk
A CHURCH plagued by pigeons is receiving help from above...in the shape of a Harris hawk.
Lucky has been drafted in to scare away the unwelcome squatters at St Paul's Church in Drighlington, Leeds.
The congregation had, for months, tried everything they could think of to get rid of their unwelcome house guests and their smelly droppings.
But nothing kept them at bay – until Lucky swooped in.
The vicar, the Rev Susan Askey said: "We tried all sorts of ways to make the pigeons unwelcome but they didn't take the hint and, because they breed very quickly, it got completely out of hand so we soon had an infestation.
"All the bells in the tower were covered with droppings. We had to do something as we have people going up in the bell tower, ringers and rope winders, and it was a bit disgusting as well as being a health hazard.
"It is amazing how quickly it builds up. I did a funeral recently and came round the corner to find the path covered in the stuff. We practically had to wade through it."
Rev Askey called in Neil Westwood, of NBC Bird and Pest Solutions, who put up netting and spikes to keep the pigeons out.
He now flies Lucky around the church tower regularly to warn off the birds from coming back to roost.
Neil, the area manager for Leeds, said: "Birds get used to different deterrents, but never to birds of prey because it is instinctive."
Neil has two birds – Leo the Lanner falcon, which he flies at larger sites such as Elland Road and Salt's Mill in Saltaire, and Lucky, which he uses to scare birds on smaller sites.
He said: "They don't actually hunt the pigeons. They are trained to associate me with food, so they probably wouldn't tackle a bird even if it was right in front of them.
"It is illegal to hunt feral birds unless they are damaging a crop.
"Bird mess covering a building is not a good enough reason to kill a pigeon, but there is no law against frightening the life out of them!"
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Weather for Leeds
Saturday 11 February 2012
Today
Sunny spells
Temperature: -2 C to 1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
Tomorrow
Cloudy
Temperature: 2 C to 5 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: North west
