view of exterminators and Front Street merchants plagued by the birds.

"These are flying rats,'' Archie Brown & Son Ltd. president Mr. Warren Brown, Jr. said.

The top of his Front Street shop is fouled by pigeons so often that the store pays for water, rather than rely on the supply from the roof.

"It's a huge problem,'' Mr. Brown told The Royal Gazette . "It's got a lot worse in the last few years.'' The store has tried several approaches to rid itself of the birds, even placing four life-sized owls on the roof as scarecrows. But the pigeons just "sit on their heads and do their business,'' Mr. Brown said.

Some claim growth in the Island's pigeon population is related to the release of pigeons that were raised domestically. The pigeon boom is also said to reflect increasing urbanisation.

Because Bermudians rely on their roofs to collect drinking water, pigeons are a potential health hazard, said Mr. Gary Soares, an owner of Atlantic Termite & Pest Control Ltd.

"They're putting faeces all over the roofs, which is bad for the water supply,'' he said. "Some of the roofs that we've checked -- there have been real problems up there.'' Restaurants needed to be careful, he said. "If something isn't done about it in the near future, it's going to be a problem for a lot of places.'' Dr. John Cann, the Island's Chief Medical Officer, was away yesterday. An official in his department said he had heard little about a pigeon problem, but there could be pockets in Hamilton with large numbers of the birds.

"I'm sure if they defecated on the roof, and it rained, there is a potential that that could get into the water system,'' he said.

Pest control experts were sometimes stymied by public sentiment, Sun Island Pest Control Ltd. manager Mr. Edward Knight said. "I have nothing against pigeons myself, but if they're starting to create a public health problem, then obviously you have to do something.

"Who comes first, the public or the pigeons?'' The nuisance factor alerted the City of Hamilton to pigeons, Corporation Secretary Mr. Roger Sherratt said.

"There are more and more people now becoming more and more concerned,'' he said. "This year we've had quite a few complaints.'' A woman recently had pigeon droppings land on her at Par-La-Ville Park, where benches bear markings from other aerial assaults, he said.

The Corporation has tried unsuccessfully to trap pigeons, leaving shooting and poisoning as the two major options, he said. "It is very inappropriate to shoot pigeons in the middle of an urban area,'' and poisoning is "really the last resort in any event''.

Feeding pigeons something that made them sterile was also a possibility, he said.

The Corporation was discussing the problem with the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries "to see what we can do collectively about the problem before it gets completely out of hand''.

Outside of Hamilton, concerns were said to include growing numbers of pigeons taking over areas that were once the domain of the longtail.

HEALTH THREAT? -- A boom in Bermuda's pigeon population could be threatening the purity of drinking water drawn from roofs. (See story below).

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