People seem to hate pigeons, accusing them of being disease-ridden rats of the sky. People also love doves, of course they’re a symbol of peace. They are also both essentially the same animal; many species are called both doves and pigeons.
I recently saw a small mixed flock of Rock pigeons (your standard city pigeon) and mourning doves (the common tan country dove). I don’t think a city pigeon would have any more disease than a city dove, right? Just how bad are they, anyway? Googling turns up some disease info, but it doesn’t seem that they are unhealthier than other species or are any threat to humans. If I caught a feral pigeon, could I safely have squab for dinner?
Rats aren’t particularly dirty animals, except when they live in artificially dense population, amongst (and feeding on) our waste. Pigeons are pretty much the same - outside of the artificially inflated urban population context, they’re just birds.
I don’t think a properly-cooked city pigeon would pose a serious risk to you. The act of preparing it might, though.
At the train station in Portsmouth on my commute home, I often see a pigeon that has no feet - last year it was hobbling around with damaged feet - this year, it’s just hopping around on callused stumps. In the wild, an animal like that, or any diseased specimen, would be quickly dead - in the city, resources permit them to survive in spite of their diseases.
Count me as a dove hater. A couple of them once made a nest in a potted plant on the porch outside my bedroom. They would start cooing every morning at 5 am, a few feet away from my head on the other side of a glass door, and this went on for months.
I was so irritated that when they finally left, I stuck sporks all around the soil of the plant to deter them from coming back the next year. Next year they were back, and sure enough, they squeezed a cozy nest in between the sporks. Now when I see a dove, I want to stick a spork in it.
My neighbour is about to take down a large bay tree next to my fence that has a pair of wood pigeons building a nest in it - I’ve already asked for a few branches from the tree (for the bayleaves), but I might see if I can get a pigeon or two as well (they struggle to get out of the dense growth - I reckon I could probably grab one).
I’ll eat wild wood pigeon any time I get the chance - it’s lovely. I wouldn’t eat Stumpy the station pigeon from Portsmouth, but I’ve seen feral pigeons in a park in Bournemouth that looked very plump and healthy - I’d have a go at one of those, given the chance.
I think the pigeon’s reputation may have something to do with the fact that they poop indiscriminately on any and everything. Most other birds do too, of course, but the pigeon is certainly more visible to the average city dweller. Starlings seem to be much worse hygiene-wise though; I’ve seen them tear holes in garbage bags and dip into garbage cans.
It is silly if it’s applied to all pigeons in all contexts (as has happened at least the last two times I mentioned eating pigeon in other threads). Pigeons are just birds.
But in the context of feral pigeons in cities, it’s probably apt - in the presence of humans, their wastes and their structures, both pigeons and rats can achieve enormous populations, and they both pose health and safety risks to humans - it’s not entirely nonsensical to compare the two.
Most people’s experience of pigeons is probably feral city pigeons, so to most people, pigeon=flying rat. - And most of those people have probably never seen a bat (or rather, noticed bats) - so they have no need of a simile comparing them to rats.
I was using “flying rat” just like SunSandSuffering says; expressing the opinions of others, not my own. I had rats when I was younger. I am now an unabashed rat evangelist. I tell people that they’re similar to mice and hamsters except cleaner, smarter, and less vicious.
Maybe I should find out if pigeons can be taken when dove season opens up.
Sure, and pet pigeons are probably just as nice as your pet rats. When people say ‘flying rat’ they’re talking about the rats that infest sewers, landfills, waste collection areas, and (hopefully not too often) restaurant kitchens. They’re not so nice.
Well, except for the one that splatted on my forehead just after I’d cleaned myself up from an emergency chocolate mess. But other than that, I like them. I think they’re beautiful creatures.
This is why I don’t care for seagulls. Paddling out of Marina del Rey, or motoring out of Blaine Harbor, I’d pass by the jetties. The stench of the seabird guano is formidable.
If you have AIDS or an extremely weak immune system they can give you a nasty lil’ bug: Cryptococosis
and there’s the always fun “Pigeon fancier’s lung”
Only in that they’re mammals. I would say there’s more similarities between pigeons and rats than there are between bats and rats.
[ul]
[li]Bats are either carnivores or eat fruit, as far as I know, no species of bats scavenge or eat a rodent like diet[/li][li]Bats typically do not live in the cities feeding of human waste[/li][li]Bats probably taste a lot worse (or at least gamier) than rats or pigeons[/li][/ul]
