Pigeon-Trapping at Condominium in Laguna Beach Ruffles Some Feathers

Residents of Laguna Beach like to save things. Save the ocean. Save the canyon. Save the old downtown.

Now some residents want to save the pigeons too.

This seaside community, it seems, is a self-declared bird sanctuary, and someone has been out there trapping a flock of pigeons because they have been making a mess of things at a ritzy condo complex.

Enter the animal control division and an angry resident, and what you have is a community in uproar over pigeons’ rights--Laguna style.

It all started last August, when Blair Roberts, manager of Laguna Sea Cliffs Apartments, a 22-unit oceanfront condominium complex on fashionable Cliff Drive, hired someone to trap a flock of 60 pigeons that were making a mess of residents’ balconies.

That didn’t sit well with a neighbor, seeing all those pigeons being trapped, and soon the animal control division of the Police Department was called in to disarm the trap and release the pigeons.

Roberts, informed that a city ordinance protects pigeons and other feathered friends, went before the City Council on Nov. 7 to seek permission to thin out the flock by trapping the pigeons. The city code states that “no person shall trap, hunt, shoot or molest any bird or damage the nest or the eggs of any wild birds within the city.”

If a type of bird becomes a “public nuisance” or a “menace to health or property,” the City Council may take action to destroy or otherwise control the offenders.

Violation of the code is a misdemeanor, and Roberts was not cited.

Hence the pigeon pow-wow.

“I know it’s a sensitive issue,” Roberts said. “But you can’t imagine the mess. There are flies and droppings everywhere.”

Roberts said he resorted to trapping the birds only after trying “every trick in the book” to control them. Roberts said he hired a firm to trap the animals, but he declined to identify the company.

“They come out and set the trap and bait it with food and water,” Roberts said. “Twice a week, they service the trap, take the birds out and re-bait.

“I felt it was the most humane way,” he said. “I’m not trying to destroy them; I’m trying to reduce the flock to a manageable level.”

Roberts said he didn’t know where the pigeons were taken and what happened to them afterward--matters of some concern to the City Council.

Said Councilman Dan Kenney: “I admit pigeons are not at the top of my list. But they shouldn’t be killed. I’d prefer they don’t become pigeon soup.”

Roberts maintained that pigeons aren’t protected by the city code because “these birds are not wild.”

Not so, said others, noting that the code protects “any bird” in the city.

Johanna Felder, board member of Village Laguna, a group whose mission is to save the village atmosphere in Laguna Beach, defended the pigeons.

“We have to be more tolerant of nature and redefine what is a menace,” she said. “We should exhaust all measures before authorizing trapping.”

Resident Philip May agreed.

“If you’re fortunate enough to live on the sand, birds are going to be a small price to pay for living on the water,” he said. “We can’t have it both ways.”

Birth control for the pigeons--spiking their food to make them infertile--was one solution offered during a lengthy discussion before the City Council.

But resident John Gabriels, who said the town has “squirrel lovers hanging from the chandeliers,” thought that was a bad idea.

“If you get into birth control, we’re going to have pro-choicers out here,” he said.

Other possible solutions put forth included petitioning the Fish and Game Department for some peregrine falcons--a pigeon predator--or relocating the pigeons.

“Putting them somewhere else is ridiculous,” another resident said. “They’d beat you driving back; they’re homing pigeons.”

Councilwoman Martha Collison suggested using fake owls, sound recordings of predatory animals and pinwheels to keep the pigeons away.

But Roberts said he has tried a dozen fake owls.

Council members sympathized with Roberts’ dilemma and instructed Roberts to seek advice from Pacific Wildlife Assn., pigeon experts, on how to deal with his problem.

Later, Roberts said the problem is “far from funny.”

“Homes are literally being desecrated,” he said. “We’re talking about railings, tile, carpeting, wood, furniture and barbecues. Imagine coming out on your patio and finding it covered. . . . You’d be upset about it too.”