STOMPer Nicholas said that a 'crazy' pigeon was harassing patrons at the Everton coffeeshop for days and sent in a video of a man who had enough and picked it up and placed it several metres away from the eating place.
In an email to STOMP, the STOMPer wrote:
"At Everton coffeeshop, this sickly-looking (and likely to be starving) pigeon has been harassing the patrons of the eatery for days.
"It would fly up unto tables and proceed to peck away at people's food. People were either be pushing it away, or would get up and leave their tables.
"Some ladies would even scream and run off, leaving their food and drinks uneaten.
"Short of injuring the bird, the staff of the coffeeshop have tried shoo-ing the bird away, but to no avail.
"In this video, a man who has had enough of the pigeon's annoying antics picks it up and walks about 30 metres from the coffeeshop before setting it down among the bushes.
"Needless to say, our feathered pest had hopped back to wreck more havoc less than one minute later."
Related post: Neighbour always leaves food for birds! (21st January 2009)
Uncle feeds pigeons despite 'No Feeding' sign at Bencoolen Street (22nd January 2009)
Bird droppings everywhere because of too many pigeons (29th January 2009)
I've seen how bold Javan mynahs (Acridotheres javanicus), common mynahs (Acridotheres tristis), house crows (Corvus splendens) and Eurasian tree sparrows (Passer montanus) can get when food is nearby, but this is the first time I've seen such a fearless feral pigeon (Columba livia).
I have no idea why the pigeon behaved in such a manner; without a biopsy, we will never know the answer. But if I had to make an educated guess, there are a few possible scenarios:
i) This pigeon has experienced very close contact with people; either it was someone's pet, or it's become used to being deliberately fed by people.
ii) It was just really hungry and couldn't find any scraps on the ground.
Of course, it could just be plain crazy, like the original poster said.
Do check out the video posted on STOMP.
One thing I find amusing was that "some ladies would even scream and run off, leaving their food and drinks uneaten". Maybe they watched too much Alfred Hitchcock.
