Distinctly Montana Magazine

50 D I S T I N C T LY M O N TA N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 4 All of that poop is more than just unsight- ly—it provides a food source for fun- gus that, in turn, produces acid. Acid that eats into historical brickwork and statues in Amer- ica's largest historic district. Es- timates place the national price tag on pigeon-shit damage at $1 billion yearly. What, then, is to be done? Well, on their website Montana Fish & Wildlife write (with almost detectable ill-will toward the birds) that they "were originally domesticated in Europe and brought to the U.S. where they eventually escaped to the wild. Consequently, pigeons are not a native wildlife species and are not protected in Montana. Pigeons may be taken at anytime, and their nests and eggs destroyed. The spread of pigeons has been most noticeable in ur- ban areas where they have become a nuisance." Methods to "deal with" pigeons range from spiky protrusions placed on likely roosting spots to a sticky substance used as repellant to traps. None of them are 100% effective. Maybe a nuclear blast would do it, but we wouldn't want to destroy America's largets histor- ic district. Besides, there'd probably be a gaggle of three-eyed pigeons pecking through the ruins even then. We've only scratched the surface of how amaz- ing pigeons really are—how they just might be na- ture's masterpiece. Have you ever seen a dead pi- geon in the grille of a truck? Probably not, because they see everything in what we would consider slow motion, about 70 frames per second in film- speak. To them, even the fleetest car barrelling down Harrison looks like a hippo out for a stroll. Here's another: there are precious few exam- ples in the animal kingdom of critters being able to discern their own reflection in a mirror. Most an- imals get mad and wonder who's the jerk. But in lab tests, pigeons recognize the uncanniness of the mirror-pigeon mimicking their every move and re- HALLIE ZOLYNSKI

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