Roosting birds again become nuisance
Peabody police officers began firing the city's propane cannon Monday in an effort to once again deter flocks of roosting birds from nesting in the city.
"It's that time of year again," said Peabody police chief Bruce Burke. "We have had several complaints of the noise, smell, and mess associated with hundreds of birds roosting in a given group of trees."
Police officers will be firing the propane cannon intermittently between 8 p.m. and dusk for as many nights as it takes to move the birds out of the area.
"There is no shot or fire associated with the cannon," said Burke. "It creates an explosive noise that frightens the birds. It generally takes four or five nights of the explosions and they will move on to another nesting area."
Police hope they will move to an area at the edge of town or outside of town, but Burke said if they move to another spot in the city limits where they create a health or noise nuisance the gun can be used in that area as well.
"If people have a problem with birds, they need to call the city building or the police department and let us know," he said. "The cannon works pretty well, it's humane, and it doesn't take too many evenings to move the birds along."
For more information or to request assistance with roosting birds, call the city building at 983-2174 or the police department at 983-2133.
