Pigeon patrol

Ben and I went on another pigeon patrol to the Harriet Street flock today which has become a somewhat regular activity. A gull turned up and ate some of the sunflower seeds. He must have been hungry as I’ve never seen a gull show interest in sunflower seeds before. Admittedly there were a few calciworms in the mix so perhaps that’s what piqued his interest. A nearby crow also appeared obviously thinking that if a gull is interested, there must be something good.

The birds all looked healthy so we were about to up and leave when a second flock flew in to join the buffet and we spotted a bad case of string foot. They were all so close and eating out of my hand by this point so I thought I may as well try to help this bird as it seemed an easy catch and it was.

We caught the poor thing and began work to remove the thread. It was some kind of very fine nylon and was already severely constricting the blood flow. He would almost certainly have lost the toe without intervention.

It took longer to remove because it was so deep but we couldn’t have done it without a stitch unpicker. Scissors alone would have been insufficient.

I’m pleased to say we managed to remove it all then sprayed a bit of disinfectant on his foot before letting him fly off.

The toe is still pink so there’ll be no lasting damage. I hope he feels better.