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London pigeon vendor shuts shop
08/02/2001 09:43 - (SA)
London - Bernard Rayner walked into a storm of 6 000 flapping, clawing pigeons without a flinch and fed the birds from his last bag of feed on Wednesday morning.
Rayner was the "pigeon man," peddling plastic cups of corn for 30 pence - 45 cents - each to tourists and local pigeon lovers from a small kiosk his great-uncle opened on Trafalgar Square after World War II.
Wednesday was his last day.
Hours earlier, Rayner gave up a three-month fight in court to keep the stand open. Rayner's pigeon feed license was revoked in October because London Mayor Ken Livingstone wants to banish the pigeons from the square.
Livingstone says the pigeons are a "health hazard," provoking outrage from animal lovers including one who dumped water on him in Washington D.C. last month.
Rayner, who kept the stand open appealing the eviction, said he could not afford to continue the fight. He settled for an undisclosed sum.
"They've always been there. Me and the pigeons. The pigeons and me," said Rayner, a gruff, stocky man who had names for some of the birds - Scraggy, Whitey and Blacky.
London authorities intend to phase out bird feeding by April 30, but animal rights activists say that's too fast. The Pigeon Control Advisory Service recommended a minimum of two years to get the pigeons out.
"There is a strong likelihood that 25 percent of the 6 000-strong Trafalgar Square flock will starve to death," said Andrew Butler, spokesperson for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals Europe.
Bob Langridge, a London bus driver, bought a cup of feed on Wednesday morning for his friend's 2-year-old grandson. Tourists often ask him where they can see the pigeons, he said.
"The pigeons are as popular as the sites in London," Langridge said. "They draw people like a magnet. It wouldn't be Trafalgar Square without them."
Mary Lou Klipp, visiting with five friends from Philadelphia, said it was a "shame" that the stand was closing.
"As long as the birds are confined to one area, I don't see them as a problem," Klipp said. "If you don't like them, don't come to this area."
Not a unanimous view, however.
"In Germany we call them flying rats. They are terrible and cause so much damage, so much disease," said Manfred Schulze, a German who has lived in London since retiring 10 years ago.
Rayner emptied the final bit of corn from his last canvas feed bag into the hands of three children standing in the square and left the kids laughing with pigeons crawling on their bodies. A few other children asked for feed, but Rayner said no, that the shop had closed.
"And don't feed them because you might go to jail," Rayner added dryly.
He left the square without much emotion, no shouts of injustice or tears.
"I'll still come back and have a look to see if the birds are all right," Rayner said.
"Leave the birds alone. Just let them melt away, like me." - Sapa-AP
- SAPA
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