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Pigeons

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Can anyone believe me that pigeons are giving me sleepless nights and siesta deprived afternoons.No no they are not the mutated ones from the Sci-fi stories.Well.. during May-June 2012 I had some repairs done in my home. The head mason suggested that I put plastic shades on the sunshades to prevent being damaged by rain.It cost me quite a lot of money but I hoped to keep the house in good shape for a longer period.I never imagined the woes the shades would bring to me.

Scarcely four months had passed. Rains came and went. With the first trace of winter dozens of pigeons of different species took shelter permanently under the shades. It was a comfortable home for them to live in. At first I wanted to drive away the pigeons which began breeding exponentially and dirtying the cemented porch with their droppings.In another two months time the number of pigeons grew to over two hundred !!! I slept to the soft cooing of pigeons and woke up with their cooing and fluttering. They would sit on top of the shades sunning themselves making scratching noises.Neighbours said that homing pigeons brought peace to homes. Somehow I fell in love with those untamed birds.

Dirtying the compound with droppings is tolerable but feathers floating into bedrooms and other rooms is certainly a menace and irritating.. But as I said I fell in love with thos cooing creatures. We never give them any food.They feed at other people's homes and return before sundown.I even tried driving them away with a vacuum cleaner but failed.

As the rains came and went for the second year the ledges were crammed with pigeons.The slum boys came in droves to steal these birds during siesta time and early evening armed with catapults.Off and on I'd get a foul smell of rotten carcass.Two or three pigeons had died in their home.Maybe some cat had killed them. I had to call a do-all man who came with his son and took Rs.100/- per visit for pulling out the dead birds and take them away.This is still going on.

Often some oversmart young boy would ask "Duto paira deben? pushbo.." [will you give me two pigeons. I'll keep them as pets] These words were untruth. They stole pigeons for their meat.Chickens cost Rs.190/- a kilo and pigeons stolen came free. We have to keep vigil to save these innocent birds.We shout our lungs out but of no avail.Can any reader suggest a remedy ??