You might have expected politicians to have some sympathy for the feral pigeon. After all, they are both generally unattractive and looked down on by much of the public as lower forms of life that should be strictly controlled. But no: it seems our elected representatives are trying to outdo each other with measures to combat their feathered counterparts.
London's mayor, Ken Livingstone, who once branded the birds "rats with wings", has found himself under fire for trying to clear the pigeons from Trafalgar Square with the aid of a pair of Harris hawks. Since 2003 the hawks have killed 121 pigeons and scared off hundreds more. But today the Liberal Democrats complained about the cost of the operation - £226,000, or £90 for each of the 2,500 pigeons removed.
Julia Fletcher, of the Pigeon Action Group, told the Guardian today that the mayor's campaign was "the greatest wildlife cruelty catastrophe London has ever known". Methinks she should look up the word hyperbole in the dictionary. Frankly, I'm in favour of hiring more hawks and wiping the club-footed pests from every borough in the capital. Let's face it, the feral urban pigeon is the Dean Gaffney of the avian world.
Clearly, I'm not alone in my hatred of the matted, mite-ridden creatures. News that the Scottish parliament is to spend £500 removing a pigeon and its fledgling from the roof of its supposedly pigeon-proof building provoked MSP Margo Macdonald to declare she would personally wring the birds' necks. Dick Dastardly and Muttley would be proud.
