PIssing in the wind

[Blue Hills]

This strikes me as a supreme waste of time.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-europe-55655158

Even without knowledge of Rome's many serious problems

(was wondering whether this should go in current affairs at least as a bit of light relief, but here prob the most appropriate.

 

[fossyant]

That's a whole lot of bird poo. The poor scooter - it was bad enough when one bird had crapped on my bike's handlebar, and I had nothing to wipe it off until home. Blurgh.

 

[Beebo]

It does seem like a waste of time. The birds will move half a mile away to crap on someone else’s car.

Didn’t they use a hawk to control the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. Ultimately the pigeons left because it became illegal to feed them. I wonder what the starlings are eating. Remove the food and the starlings will go away.

That scooter must have been there a few days. Ergh.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

Always face downwind

 

[Ajax Bay]

Interviewer has a boom mike but then gets up and close to the laser wielder 'pissing in the wind'er.
Well known sailor: Peter Leeward

 

[Oldhippy]

With everything going on in the world its not exactly news of any worth I think.

 

[gbb]

It maybe makes more sense than you think....spread them around, dont allow them to regularly settle in one area.
1980s, we had a very large flock of starlings took to settling in bushes and trees that verges one side if the site on an embankment. We were 20ft away on one side of a wall, they on the other, the noise was tremendous. We'd occasionally lob something over to startle them, they'd launch themselves up, fly around and settle again.
This went on for a few, maybe 3 or 4 weeks at the most. Early the next spring, I went on the bushes side if the wall with a lawn tractor to cut the grass nearby....there was a slick of sh1t about a foot thick and twenty ft long that had slowy run down the embankment....I couldnt believe the amount of it. Amazing !

 

[Deleted member 1258]

Always face downwind

I remember stopping to water a gate post on a ride, stood there with my back to the wind, and half way through there was a gust from the opposite direction, afterwards it looked like I'd p***** myself.

 

[MntnMan62]

One look at the cars and motorscooters covered in bird poo and I'd say it makes sense. But one guy with two lasers is hardly going to make a difference. As someone said, they will just fly a few hundred yards away and settle there instead. I suppose the idea would be to remove their food source in the area as someone else said. That and finding a natural predator that they stay away from and put up lots of models of them like the owls do for pigeons. I really don't have much to add to this discussion. I guess I just wanted to pixx into the wind.

 

[Poacher]

Removal of food supply? The starlings spread far and wide to feed, probably up to 20 km or more, and only congregate in central Rome to roost overnight. Not a viable solution.

Predators? There are plenty of Peregrines in Rome. They probably get a decent meal every evening, but don't make a dent in the starling population, and don't seem to deter them. Some starlings get unlucky, but the odds are stacked in favour of any individual, mainly due to the safety in numbers of a murmuration. Not a viable solution.

 

[nickyboy]

They like to roost in cities because it's warmer and there aren't any predators. Lots of other birds like Pied Wagtails do the same on a smaller scale. They leave the roost at daylight and fly a long way to search for food. It isn't city food that's supporting them

No easy solution. All they're doing is moving the problem to another part of the city. Removing roost sites works but that means chopping down the trees. I've seen nets put over trees they particularly want to stop the starlings roosting in. But you can't net or chop down all the trees in Rome