Bird trouble in Hollywood

This CNN.com article, "Women battle over dirty birds," made me laugh and sigh. On one side, Laura Dodson wants to reduce the amount of guano deposited by Rock Pigeons around Hollywood. The article says guano can corrode metal; I had no idea.

On the other side, Susie Kourinian dumps 25-lb. bags of seed at various locations around Tinseltown. "Kourinian once told police she spends $65,000 a year on bird feed -- enough to dump 500 pounds of birdseed every day, a lifeline for the more than 5,000 pigeons who now populate the two square miles of this neighborhood northwest of downtown Los Angeles."

From the article:

Stephanie Boyles, a wildlife biologist with the Humane Society who has developed pigeon control programs around the country, said she's never seen anything like it. To get a sense of how bad the problem was, she once scattered some bread in a Hollywood parking lot.

Within moments, the bread was gone and thousands of eyes were upon her. An eerie cooing suggested they wanted more.

"I've traveled in Europe, I've been to New York City many, many times, Washington D.C. and Chicago ... places that claim to have pigeon problems. They do, but compared to Hollywood, it's not even a fair comparison," Boyles said.

Dodson's efforts now include avian birth control: Ovocontrol P. It seems to be working and reducing the pigeon population -- and the amount of guano.