Small SA town's 'out of control' pigeon population

Pinnaroo's pigeon population leaves local businesses hundreds of dollars out of pocket In short: Residents are spending hundreds of dollars a week on cleaning farming machinery due to pigeon droppings. Parents at the local primary school say drinking water has had to be carted in due to contamination risk in recent years. What's next? The Southern Mallee Council says it will continue eradication efforts in the coming weeks. Walking down the main street of Pinnaroo in South Australia's Murray Mallee, you may have to watch where you step. With distant coos of pigeons perched on the ledges of the town's historic buildings, you can see the streets have a few unwelcome guests. From birds creating drinking water issues at the local primary school to local businesses spending hundreds of dollars a week cleaning their machinery, many say more needs to be done to address the problem. Hundreds spent on cleaning For third-generation business owner Roydn Bailey, the pigeon problem is not new, but now it is getting "out of control". He estimated his business spent hundreds of dollars a week washing pigeon excrement off his company's machinery. "We try and park our machines between the rafters to limit the amount of droppings onto our machines because it damages the paint,"he said. "[The droppings] block our gutters up, which then creates a big problem when we get downpours with water coming in through the roof." Mr Bailey believed having two grain silos at either end of the township made it the ideal food source for the birds. A few metres down the road, Todd Dooley runs the local post office and said you can "hear and see them all the time". Mr Dooley's child also attends the local primary school and said the pigeons have gotten so bad in recent years that the education department had to step in. "I know they were shipping in drinking water for the kids for the last couple of years because of the damage done to the tanks, pipes and drinking fountains,"he said. An education department spokesperson confirmed the school relied on rainwater tanks for drinking water and had supplied drinking water to the school on two occasions. "[Water was supplied] last year while the tanks were temporarily disconnected from the rainwater system as a precaution to ensure they were not affected by contamination from impacted gutters," the department said. "The department has been working with the school to address issues associated with pigeons and ensure its drinking water supply remains safe and available." The department said there was no ongoing weekly pressure washing of the school grounds and the school was "not currently" having drinking water trucked in. Pest explained Feral pigeons are descendants of domestic homing pigeons that were introduced to Australia from Europe, making them creatures of habit. Adelaide Pigeon Control owner John Rohal said the species bred extremely fast. "It may start with just two pigeons on the roof that you don't seem to mind, but they can breed up to nine times a year, and before you know it, you've got 12 up there," he said. "The amount of damage 12 birds in six months can ruin a house." Mr Rohal said eradication was the most effective way to address pest populations. "I would say your two most effective methods would be shooting and trapping as deterrents don't really work," he said. "I've gone to places where I've only eradicated five out of 20, and the other 15 have bailed and never returned." Eradication efforts Southern Mallee Council chief executive Jason Beaton has been organising eradication efforts via a contractor for the past 18 months. With harvest around the corner, he said the council was prioritising culling to get on top of the issue. "It's very effective to start with … but then they do come back, so it's going to be a real ongoing process for us," Mr Beaton said "It's the public amenity we're worried about; there's real pride in this community, so to have pigeons hanging around and defecating on your public parks and buildings, that is our biggest impact." When asked whether the state government has been notified about the ongoing issue, he said it was a council problem they would fix on their own. "This has been a localised issue that, as the Southern Mallee people do, we solve our own problems," he said.