GLENDALE : Pigeon Eradication Proposals Rejected

Five proposals to eradicate thousands of pigeons from downtown Glendale were rejected by the City Council on Tuesday as being either too expensive or too inhumane.

For now, city officials will rely on two measures to curb the overwhelming number of pigeons: an ordinance banning pigeon feeding in public areas, and an education program that includes posting signs warning residents not to feed the birds.

Earlier, the City Council had agreed to contract with Los Angeles County to catch and kill the birds. But when it turned out that the county’s plan was to kill the pigeons by placing them in bags and tying them to an automobile tailpipe, city officials began looking at other alternatives.

Five firms recently proposed ideas, two of which were to trap the pigeons and set them free in the Mojave Desert or near Bakersfield. The other suggestions were to use a gluey substance that would stick to the birds’ feet when they land on it, add a potentially fatal chemical to the bird’s food and stretch a coil along all landing surfaces.

Still another resident made this recommendation Tuesday: “They must be shot at. . . . They have got to realize they better be afraid of humans,” said Gene Blankenship, 77.