Landsberg - It coos around the pigeon house on the Saint-Laurent-du-Var-Promenade. The animals enthusiastically peck the food spread in front of the wooden house. “The pigeon house is generally well received,” says one of the volunteer supervisors. If you look inside the house, which has been standing since mid-July, you get a daunting picture: there is a yawning emptiness in all the nesting compartments on the back wall. There are also some holes in the ground in front of the house, possibly dug by rats. Does that even work with the pigeon house? And if so, when?
The swarm that is supposed to settle in the pigeon house is that of the Peter-Dörfler-Weg with 60 to 80 animals, one of the supervisors tells about the press officer of the city Susanne Flügel. The supervisor in particular does not want to be named. Perhaps because pigeons are still considered to be “rats of the air”, undesirable fluff. A pigeon house that does not work at first glance may cause even more resentment.
It is the human being to blame for the populations in the cities, which are getting out of hand in some cases: city pigeons are former letter, house and wedding pigeons. They breed up to seven times a year due to the cultivated breeding obligation - less often when they are healthy, because the population is then not in danger. In addition, they are extremely true to their location: spikes or nets do not help at all. According to estimates, there are swarms with a total of around 400 animals in Landsberg's old town. The two largest swarms live on Hellmairplatz and Hauptplatz.
The pigeon house obviously needs time.
"It can sometimes take over a year for the pigeons to settle in the house," says Sabina Gaßner, the managing director of the Augsburg Animal Protection Association, who oversees the city pigeon concept there with ten lofts and two pigeon towers.
How long it will take for the project to be successful depends on how close the pigeon house is to the previous home of the animals, how quiet it is at the new location and how well it is looked after.
In Landsberg they are currently in the feeding phase, says Flügel.
Food is spread there every morning at the same time.
"Some of the animals are already waiting for their feeders." Do not breed pigeons in the house yet.
“But feathers have already been found there” - so the animals have at least penetrated inside.
It is extremely important to feed them regularly, says Gaßner. However, feeding should be done inside the pigeon house, not outside. But that is exactly what is done in Landsberg: There the grains are right in front of the house. “This can be necessary at the beginning to attract the pigeons to the house,” admits Gaßner. Because pigeons stayed in one place as long as possible. It is generally difficult to move the animals to a new location.
In order for the move to work, a pigeon house should be a maximum of 200 meters from the old location.
In Landsberg this is just about fulfilled - but with the Lech in between.
“The ideal would be an attic in the city,” says Gaßner.
Everything else is a compromise.
Perhaps one or two pairs of 'foreign' pigeons could be quartered in the pigeon house to speed up the process: as literal decoys, so to speak.
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In addition to chaffinches, rats also taste the pigeon feed.
© Greiner
Rats and co.
The fact that people feed in front of the pigeon house in Landsberg also attracts other animals: chaffinches, sparrows - of course rats, too, after all, we are on the Lech. The holes next to and in front of the wooden house suggest a certain rat activity. “But we don't have a rat problem,” says Flügel. Feeding them in the morning prevents the rats from eating too - rats are nocturnal. Obviously, the rats' alarm clock at the pigeon house rings in the afternoon. At this point in time, many of the animals can be seen eating pigeon grains with relish, together with chaffinches, sparrows and ducks. “That cannot be avoided,” says Gaßner. You may want to sweep away the food in front of the house after feeding in the morning. Or generally spread less feed.
Gaßner has no good news for city dwellers who have problems with pigeons in their backyards or on the terrace: Since constructions such as nets and spikes are useless, one has to come to terms with the animals. "It would be best to set up a dovecote directly on site, in which the eggs can then be exchanged for plastic eggs." Most of the animals stayed in such a loft - and with them their droppings.
It also changes if the animals are fed appropriately: if they are malnourished, they are green and thin, with excellent adhesive properties. Well-fed animals leave brown circles that can be swept away. But whatever quantities of pigeon droppings there are: It is no more harmful than the excretions of other animals, Gassner reassures. For example those of blackbirds or cute squirrels. Some of the employees in the Augsburg pigeon project have been with us for 25 years. "And so far none of them has gotten sick."
A feeding ban in the city would mean that many of the pigeons suffered from deficiency symptoms, the supervisors of the Landsberg pigeon house are convinced.
And, as already described, this leads to increased breeding - and thus even more pigeons.
Gaßner does not recommend a feeding ban either.
Pigeons also fetched tit dumplings and other bird food.
"And why should one make a distinction between a blackbird and a pigeon?"
Gassner concludes that there is never actually a hundred percent success with the pigeon houses.
You just have to make compromises, live with the animals and not against them.
“You need a lot of patience for the pigeon house.
But I'm sure it will work out sooner or later. "
