Re: Take a little off the top of pesky bird population (Letters, Aug. 19)
Have you taken a good look around downtown recently? White streaks and blotches everywhere, on all the buildings, awnings, sidewalks, roads, windows, cars, everything.
I work downtown, so I really notice it. I have been dumped on twice.
I talked to almost all the artists in Bastion Square, and practically every one has been dumped on at least once. I’m a biologist by training and I love nature, but this is ridiculous. And, with a collective effort, it would be quite easy to eliminate.
If all the building owners, managers and residents were to go up, give the eggs a good shake, enough to scramble the yolks, eventually, after a few years, the number of successful hatchlings would decrease. The female would continue to sit on the eggs, but they won’t hatch. Or we could simply continue to take the eggs away.
Let’s get real with the don’t-touch law. We need a remedy! They are beautiful, but don’t belong downtown. Take a look around next time you’re down there. It’s a mess. Also, please don’t feed them, it will encourage their return. This is not being cruel. In the countries I have lived, they would all be caught and eaten. So let’s just be nice and make them nest someplace else.
John Ballard
Saanich