Photo-a-Day  (Wednesday, 6th December, 2023)

Not a good idea feeding vermin, can't they see the toxic droppings spread all over the seating and floor area. Instead of buying buying bird food, save it and give the money to the homeless folk bedding down in shop doorways.
Pigeons breed all year long, they multiply like rats. Please think what damage you do feeding Pigeons for our future and help stop disease.

Silly person, people have to sit down there, like pensioners.

What is there worth going to Wigan for these days?

I hope she washes her hands later, just look at the dangerous droppings where people sit,
No respect at all.

She should be made to clean all the seating and floor area. How can folk sit and walk there.
Filthy birds full of disease.
The Council should step in!

Disease ridden flying vermin that should be culled if not exterminated. They even get inside the concourse at the bus station.
The council should crack down on those feeding them and put up ‘No Feeding’ signs.

Not a good idea feeding stray Pigeons in a public place.
The droppings tell a story.

Nothing worse than people eating in the street . Pigeons fair enough ......

Just off into Wigan with my Shot Gun, Vermin feeders beware and stay clear!!!!!!

They will flock there in great numbers - they ‘know’ people drop food. That person doesn’t look like she’s from these parts to me and doesn’t know any better.

Disgusting and dirty i cant understand people today have they got nothing better to do like the world of work!

Speaking of Vermin, one thing as annoying as the Pigeons in Wigan are the scallywags who zoom around pedestrians on those electric scooters and bikes, it won't be long before someone is seriously injured or killed.
Perfect vehicles for bag snatchers.

Disgraceful people.

That does not help having that low down bakery right outside, its tising the pidgeons.

That is pretty bad, it probably will encourage rats . It needs reporting to the Council as they have a byelaw to stop people feeding birds in public places. It carries a fine of £500 if ignored.

I saw a rat in front of Galloways.no doubt there are plenty more with all the demolition work.

Well done that woman, those pigeons would have been very grateful for those few beakfuls of food on that cold frosty morning, hope she wasn't caught by the council Gestapo.
And who in their right mind would want to sit there in the bitterly cold weather and on that freezing cold metal seating.

The ones who complain the most about this and that spreading disease are more than likely the ones who cough everywhere without covering their mouths, same with their noses when sneezing, they also have that filthy habit of spitting in the street, never wash their hands when using public toilets - yes we've all seen them just walk out, they throw away their used cigarette ends in the street and filthiest of all they spit out their chewing gum on the pavement, and all full of bodily fluids and matter containing trillions of harmful or potentially lethal bacteria and viruses. Compared to what humans get up to pigeons are actually quite clean living.

Exactly Jack and so very true.

There are plenty of 2 legged rats in Wigan town these days.

Vermin. Wigan use to be a clean and safe Town.
I agree with Veronica, the people who are not from Wigan spoil our Town.
Looks like more Wigan people on Wigan World dislike the pests.

There is Tommy T, and they need feeding,
I agree with most on here.

I don’t think they should be fed purposefully like that, but there are folk who just drop food on the ground because they don’t want it or like it ignoring the bins! In that case the pigeons clear up after those dozy odd balls and they’re not paid a wage for doing us a favour!

Very true, Tommy T. I have witnessed a drunken man and two drunken women fighting and screaming foul language outside The Moon Under Water, and people so out of their heads they have been laughing hysterically at nothing in WH Smith's old doorway, and you could see older people and mums with prams having to cross the road from them in fear. Some of the people on drugs appear menacing and one lad asked me aggressively what the you-know-what I was staring at when I hadn't even looked at him. Give me the pigeons anytime. I only go to Wigan now when I have an appointment at The Linacre or Boston House.

Pigeons are everywhere not just in Wigan Town Irene. Yes some people are troublesome but not all, most people are genuine honest folk who look out for each other. Pigeons aren't welcome.
About people dropping food and cigarettes, well they should be prosecuted.

I too just got back from the town centre.
A line of what you might term and being politically correct 'None Indigenous' young men sat along the wall throwing the remnants of their Pound Land pigeon food around.
To top it all there were two police cars at the top of Standishgate and a police van and police car in the Market Place but not a uniformed person to be seen. They were probably all queuing up in Greggs. Utter disgrace.

Never before have I seen as much hatred on a photo ,'Hamas' springs to mind..hatred like that starts wars ..I bet coddies odds that you've all got full bellies,of course you have...grow up.

Not a good advert for Wigan Town centre I'm afraid. And I'm not a Pigeon Fancier, but love garden birds.
As one or two have said, people shouldn't feed them.
They can be a pest in railway bridges and stations.

I don't like pigeons but wouldn't harm them. I think the real point of this subject is people feeding them and making the town untidy.
Those benches do look unsightly with droppings though.
The Council do have laws to prosecute people who feed them in Towns and Cities.

Pigeons have been feeding and fending for themselves for centuries without humans helping them. They would survive and forage for their food in the countryside and atop cliffs and mountains they are as tough as old boots and certainly they wouldn’t starve. It’s not hygienic or healthy for them or us really in town centre's. I’ve seen them with their feet damaged on the railway station. Let’s face it they would not be there if food wasn’t dropped or for folk feeding them.

Wiganer, and everyone, I understand what you are saying about pigeons being everywhere, not just in Wigan, but the comments are about today's photo-a-day, which IS about Wigan Town Centre, and the comments I made reflect that. Pigeons were in Wigan Town Centre when I was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and people just accepted them. I have a photo of my Dad in Trafalgar Square in London when he went to watch Wigan Rugby at Wembley in the 1960s and he is covered in pigeons, having bought food to feed them....that's just how it was then. They don't worry me at all..... it's the druggies and winos who bother ME, with their filthy mouths and aggressive attitudes to innocent by-passers. Not one pigeon had ever frightened me or made me feel threatened. I am not disagreeing that they bring disease, as I have no knowledge on that subject, but what proof is there of that? I am not being difficult, but what actually ARE the diseases they bring? I'm not asking that to be awkward....I am genuinely asking because I don't know. I have never heard of any pigeon-related diseases, and am just interested to know. Thankyou.

Correct Irene, those Spice Heads don't know what day it is, and the police or ambulance put on protective gear before handling them, I'd say they are more infective than the pigeons, especially if they bite and break the skin, and you're right to give them a wide berth.

Google is going to be busy tonight with all the pigeon haters copying and pasting as many exotic sounding diseases that they can find which are said to be lurking in droppings.

Well! That really threw the cat amongst the pigeons.
Thank you all for a truly entertaining day.
Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Irene look at Jennifer's comment on yesterday's photo a day.
She fully explains the illness the pigeon droppings causes.

Irene: this may help.
Pigeon Poo has several diseases Tuberculosis being one of them.
It's dangerous by inhalation too.
Do you remember the late steeple Jack Fred Dibnah, where he was quite seriously ill, Fred had a habit of using his flat cap to wipe sweat off his face, it turned out that his illness was caused by Pigeons poo on his cap.
This is just one sinerio of the dangerous Pigeon droppings.

Aspiuller , I’m sorry but that isn’t quite right.. not like it alters anything I know. We have it on tape that Fred was staggering home after getting drunk fell and his flat cap fell in pigeon droppings, that’s what caused his illness ..Irene if you go on Google it’ll tell you everything you want to know about pigeon droppings causing illness.. mind you the same can be said with other animal droppings, do you remember Owd Dave.. well he had to give his African grey parrots up on GPS advice, his lungs were being affected.. so it isn’t just pigeons, it’s loads of other animals.as I said earlier.. the hatred is palpable on this subject.???

Aspuller, it wasn't the pigeon droppings on Fred Dibnah's cap that had made him ill, it was the fact that earlier he dropped his cap into a tank of water containing 'Dead Decomposing Pigeons' and hadn't washed it before wearing again, as well as fever it gave him a scabby head too, so maybe he'd caught 'Scaly Face' off the dead pigeons.
And it isn't just the droppings of pigeons that can cause illness in humans as all bird droppings can, even pet birds in cages, with the most common being parrot or bird fanciers lung. When cleaning up droppings of any sort bird or animal it's a case of using common sense and wearing gloves or some other protection and washing hands afterwards, everyone knows or should know that any bird or animal droppings do contain pathogens which can be harmful to health.
As Irene said it was part of life that pigeons were in the town centre and folks didn't make a fuss about them then.

We should be thankful that it isn't Fruit Bats hanging around outside the Pound Bakery waiting to be fed, with all the viruses and diseases they carry there would be complaints to the council.

Thankyou everyone.

Poet , I agree . People eating fast food in the street is so unsightly .
There should be a bylaw to stop it , then the junk they leave wouldn't be a magnet for the pigeons.
May I say your yesterdays post , 'Townies ' says it all. . These birds have now evolved from what they were originally.
I liked the James Cagney ' you dirty rat ' joke too .

The pigeons we see in Wigan and towns are not natural wild birds. They are bred from domesticated pigeons which have escaped from captivity. They are a man made species like most dogs are

Excrement caked on those benches won’t be cleaned off. I dread to think of any children sitting on them. I’ll be giving them a wide berth on any visit I make in the future. I don’t mind the odd few or 2 or 3 pigeons hopping about but not throngs of them. There should be a sign prohibiting feeding them. It’s common sense that it’s a health hazard as in that case shown above. I don’t think that girl is aware of what she’s dealing with when she’s touching them. It makes me shudder! I don’t think they can be classed with domesticated pets either. Most people look after their pets and pick up their mess.

I went to town yesterday and there wasn't a sign of their droppings and the area was spotless ,so they're obviously employing someone to keep it all clean...but there was still about a hundred birds on the other side of that area..God love 'um'.

How nice to see Nationwide surviving in Wigan. Happy memories of my association with them when in UK. We have pigeons in Australia !!

Once again Veronica spot on, put a sign up not to feed birds or you will be prosecuted. Let's get shut of the birds and let them forage in fields.

Maureen one thing is for certain, Pigeons are filthy birds and are indeed scavengers. Nothing against you Maureen but clearly you can see in the photo how untidy those benches look.
If people do sit there, they will take the droppings on the bus, in the car and home.

There’s always been prosecution signs near the pound bakery.. but I’ll feed the pigeons anyway, just nip behind a pillar .. if I get caught and they prosecute me….tough.

There is security cameras in the facilities Maureen, be careful.

Aspuller.. as I quoted above.. yesterday I went to town and the place was spotless so it seems they do employ someone to keep the place clean , that’s not to say it won’t stay like that after the dirty teenagers leave their bottles .. sputum vomit and God knows what else but as we all know we can just blame the mess on the pigeons.

Maureen I know you love wildlife - I don’t ‘ hate’ the pigeons you can’t blame them for swooping down and filling their belly’s ….but ever since Covid it’s made me more aware especially with bird flu. It’s the folk who drop food on the streets and in places where you can sit for a while that are to blame. People can do what they want in their own gardens and I can imagine you do look after the birds. The only creatures I ‘hate’ are slugs …birds love them. The pigeons can eat them I don’t mind one bit. In fact I would encourage them to feast on them. ;o)

Good point Aspuller.

Veronica, my problem is I can’t stand any creature going hungry.. there’s probably one creature that I have an aversion to .. and that’s spiders. As I said I do put food out for the birds .. any birds,.there’s a bowl of water on the garden table filled with water and a little plump robin was bathing in it for ages it was freezing too. I am very careful about viruses .. because it seems my immune system isn’t very good, but I couldn’t be more careful in the amount of washing my hands..I seem to have spent my childhood washing them and I use bleach an awful lot, all this is just to show you how much I am careful feeding any creature.. I even scour my little Chihuahuas dishes … any way look after yourself Veronica and especially your pans.you know what I mean.

The salt worked a treat Maureen. I left it soaking for 3 days! A bit of scrubbing as well though! All these fancy cleaning products are a waste of money - salt is the best. And Lemon!!!

Maureen, We agree to disagree, and value your opinion.
Have a great Christmas and the sherries on me.x cheers.

Awww Garry, that’s very kind of you..and I hope you have a lovely Christmas too, I’ll be along shortly for my sherry.xx

Go Maureen! The ignorant people calling pigeons vermin are rather lacking in intelligence. Pigeons do not spread disease and have paid their debt to society in the war. Look up Winkie. Many received medals. I have looked after pigeons and rescued them for two decades and they do not cause any problem. All the critics could volunteer and clear up your town if you think it's that bad. People cause much greater problems in society than pigeons - and there are WAY too many people in this world wrecking the planet.

Pigeon fan, if you’ve never heard the story of a pigeon nsmed Cher Ami , have a toot on Google.. it’s very sad but I wonder if the pigeon haters could do the same brave mission.. I doubt it.