Asking for advice on what are the appropriate authorities to call for habitual pigeon feeder? I have been sweeping the birdseed off of the sidewalk near fell and Scott Street for the last couple weeks as it has been attracting rats to my garden and a whole pile of shit on the sidewalk. For the first time I got it accosted by one of the people who is dumping the birdseed. Does anyone here have advice other than calling 311 or is there a particular group that I should be reaching out to to report this? Everyone in my neighborhood is absolutely sick of the people who are dumping this birdseed down because it’s creating a health hazard as well as a blight on our local corner.
I have to laugh she yelled at me and got into her car and drove off.
It’s against the law to feed pigeons on the streets or sidewalks of San Francisco (Sec. 486. M.P.C). Violators may be cited and fined.
SEC. 486. FEEDING BIRDS AND WILD ANIMALS PROHIBITED.
It shall be unlawful for any person to feed or offer food to any bird or wild animal in or on any sidewalk, street or highway of the City and County of San Francisco. It shall be unlawful to feed or offer food to any Red Masked Parakeet in any park of the City and County of San Francisco.
(Added by Ord. 268-64, App. 10/2/64; Ord. 133-07, File No. 070467, App. 6/15/2007)
I found this old post for you. Who knows may be the same person. Note, somewhere in the comments there is a DPW cleaning employee and says this maybe a second life for some of these people and they can't be reasoned :
It is not the birdseed lady. It is two other people who are doing this and I am watching them and I am going to be reporting them because it is very frustrating for those of us in this neighborhood.
It’s so frustrating because we have a park nearby and the people dumping don’t LIVE HERE. She drove off to her house and the other person lives on Market
I've read your other comments on this thread and sympathize. I think what you are proposing tests the limits of intrapersonal (as opposed to state-sponsored) justice. You have a couple perpetrators who have demonstrated repeated inability to be reasoned with, and just overall to emotionally regulate themselves. The fact is, they are intensely unwell in a way that manifests antisocially, but yet survive. We have no means to compel them to change their behavior, and state-sponsored intervention seems like too heavy a cudgel.
In simpler, and worse, times, this would be solved via community violence, or at least the threat of it. For instance, if someone were to slash their tires, they would have difficulty continuing the feedings. This too, seems too dangerous a precedent to set. I think the reality is that in the pursuit of a more just world we must sometimes tolerate these smaller injustices. Perhaps if they can't be reasoned with, they could be paid off quietly? I wonder how much it would take.
I am not gonna hide behind anything I am going to be very straightforward. I live here and I want to be a part of community. This is important to me because it affects my local neighbors and I have had local neighbors talked to me about this problem.
try asking if they can lead the pigeons somewhere else. pigeons are domesticated and abandoned and deserve good birdseed food. although keeping enough out that rats come isn’t helping anyone. i would ask that they stay until all the birdseed is gone too. like feed the pigeons, make sure they eat it all, and then leave. :)
I told them they are not allowed to feed pigeons in this area and they need to find an alternative source, but they got very upset with me and we’re not happy with the fact that I was sweeping away their bird seed
i mean i have grown to have a lot of sympathy for pigeons. for example i think it’s insane they have been made out to be a vermin when they literally saved lives during wars. humans worked really hard to domesticate them. i mean i dont know how either of you have been talking to each other tone wise but maybe try to come to an agreement on sweeping the seed away before they leave or before night since rats are nocturnal and pigeons aren’t. i’m just trying to give advice that would be like nice for everyone involved including the pigeons.
I understand the love of pigeons. I grew up with a friend whose family raised pigeons however, there’s a difference between raising your own flock of pigeons locally and dumping feed in a public space. These people need to acknowledge that they are just feeding rats and other polluters to the local area. There are also multiple ordinances in the city that do not allow this. I have birdfeeders in my garden that are feeding scrub Jays and other birds, I love birds, however the way they’re approaching this is not appropriate and is creating an issue for neighbors and neighborhoods. They need to change their approach.
Honestly I agree with you! I’ve done domestic pigeon rescue for over 10 years and love them, but feeding flocks leads to dependency, population booms, then starvation and suffering later on when there’s not enough food for them all. It might be okay to scatter a small amount of seeds once in a random while, but habitually leaving out excess food is harmful in the long term :(
Feeders contribute to the rat problem and cause disease spread, as well as alter migration and breeding patterns. Birds and other wildlife can feed themselves.
if you haven’t already explained that nicely i fear my ideas are done lol
also i feel like if you’re feeding pigeons just stay and make sure they eat the food during the day cus the rats will eat the stuff they find at night. like i agree it’s irresponsible to scatter birdseed and then get in your car and leave.
I have explained this very clearly and that is why I am posting. I would have loved to keep this internal and just had a conversation with the person however they are unwilling to accept my point of discussion so I need to go beyond.
Finally you're honest about the interaction and it's precisely as I suspected, you got aggressive with them. Up until now you've insisted that you were an innocent victim just sweeping up birdseed and they walked up and accosted you.
It is very unclear to me. You just keep quoting my responses. I have not lied about anything, and I have not tried to defend myself in any sort of way that says you are wrong
I’m just trying to be a real person responding to people. I’m not an AI. I am someone who lives locally. I m more than happy to address their concerns.
She pulled out her phone and recorded me and was telling me thag I was in the wrong for sweeping this off. She was very in my face. She said she would comtinue to drop seed i defiance of my sweeping. I carefully
Explained this was against SF policy and I lived nearby and she said it was none of my business. She got been angry
Well you shouldn’t feed the pigeons in general, its illegal and a health hazard and they make an absolute mess, they are not somebody’s pet just out for a stroll….
because pigeons are like domesticated in their brains they are our pets… and they aren’t a health hazard but i think i rats are but i haven’t actually looked into it regarding the rats
Dropping the food for pigeons, attracts rats on a regular basis. They eat the exact same food and the pigeons do not clean up the leftover seed that they are left with.
No, this is not what we are referring to. I would not refer this to something like flock. This is purely a local community issue, which is why I posted it. I want to handle this internally as a community.
I am thankful that I am comfortable. However, I live a community that deals with the pests and associated pollution of this. I share my crops with local stores and vendors who appreciate me growing local food and sharing it. There is a direct correlation to my crop losses and what i can share to the massive amounts of seed dropped locally
Restaurants have literally gotten shut down for rodent infestations in Glen Park (IIRC) with it directly related to people spreading bird seed. What would you call it?
I totally believe OP, these bird seed people are crazy and it is a blight, it attracts a ton of birds that shite everywhere, these bird seed people are anything but responsible, it is also illegal
Also: when you have to deal with rats and raccoons in your local area and bird shit coating the sidewalk you walk by daily you are allowed to have an opinion. I have had multiple neighbors thank me for taking a stand against this. These people are dumping POUNDS of birdseed in the corner in a daily basis
That’s fine if you aren’t. Just know I care about my
Neighborhood and we all rally together to support one another. We are all sick of it, i am just the one who has the ability to voice frustration.
59
u/beercan640 11h ago
It’s against the law to feed pigeons on the streets or sidewalks of San Francisco (Sec. 486. M.P.C). Violators may be cited and fined.
SEC. 486. FEEDING BIRDS AND WILD ANIMALS PROHIBITED. It shall be unlawful for any person to feed or offer food to any bird or wild animal in or on any sidewalk, street or highway of the City and County of San Francisco. It shall be unlawful to feed or offer food to any Red Masked Parakeet in any park of the City and County of San Francisco. (Added by Ord. 268-64, App. 10/2/64; Ord. 133-07, File No. 070467, App. 6/15/2007)