Comments on When Pigeon Meets Syringe

It's really only a hygiene problem if the pigeon is sharing that needle.

Yesterday, on the sidewalk, next to the rubble that used to be Kincora, Manray, and such... I saw what appeared to be a mummified rat.

Pretty much like this:
http://www.unexco.com/gallery/mummyrat.jpg

It's no pigeon with a syringe in it's head, but damn...

Yes, things like this NEVER happen in other big cities - in NYC the rats of course are so big they can actually order table-service instead of dining al fresco, and in our sister-city to the north, Vancouver, the pigeons are allowed to use the city-sponsored "shooting galleries" to partake of their smack.

Clearly, we poor, provincial Seattleites will never earn the cache of being a "world class city" until we can provide similar amenities for our urban vermin.

I'd really be interested in what our return on investment is in this city. I feel as though I'm paying a lot in taxes (and parking tickets) and getting very little in return in the way of services. I love the library, but the port is corrupted, the police don't seem to be protecting us and the Seattle schools are terrible. I hate to sound like a broken record, but our mayor is corrupt and incompetent.

I recall once seeing around 2nd and Pike a couple of pigeons dining on old fried chicken. It was a pretty disturbing sight but I think the pigeon with the needle has topped that.

@4: At least all of Seattle's parking enforcement officers have Segways (at $8,000 apiece) to prevent them from having to walk from meter to meter!

She should've stepped on it to put the poor thing out of its misery. Lordy!

I wonder what it says about me that what bothers me about this post is that the poor pigeon was probably in a lot of pain and I don't know if someone stopped and helped it get the needle out.

Last week, I walked past two puddles vomit, both presumably emanating from the same person. It contained undigested chunks of bread, and there was so much vomit, it pretty much covered the entire sidewalk.

@8:
I say better the pigeon getting stuck with it than the pigeon AND someone trying to yank it out.
This is very eww. Now I know why everyone says pigeons are dirty birds!

I actually saw that pigeon in right about the same place a week or two ago. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me because I just saw it quickly. This is, I suppose, confirmation that I wasn't going crazy. So, for what it's worth, it appears to be a chronic condition for this pigeon rather than a fatal one (or if fatal, at least not immediately so).

Yeah, well you try being a pigeon and shooting up, David. First you've got these tiny little legs you've got to find a vein in. Then you've got to try to hold the syringe with a frigging wing. And you've got the pigeon-parkinsons head bobbing crap going on all the time. Of course you'd stick yourself in the head with a needle every now and then.

Sometimes it's worse to be unlucky than stupid.

Hot tipper Melyssa seems to be a somewhat callous hot tipper - her primary comments were "disgusting" and "what a clean (sarcasm) city."
Who cares about how it might threaten our sense of "sanitary."
What about that poor pigeon?

And crows are omnivores, and scavengers to boot. Seattle has a big rat problem. We're pretty lucky that crows are around to clean up such "messes."

I can't wait to see this bird on Intervention!

"Poor pigeon"? Geez, get a grip.

What, Fnarf, "insignificant, dummy pigeon"?

there should be a black metal song about this. awesome.

I saw that same bird (or another one with the same affliction) a week or so ago at the 3rd and Union bus stop as well. Two junkies were laughing at it. It sorta felt like they had something to do with it.

I nominate this pigeon as the official mascot of Seattle.

Does your cell phone NOT have a camera on it?

This just screams "Flickr Photo of the Day"

Jesus fuck. This pigeon has been walking around like this for three weeks and at least three Sloggers have seen it and fucking NO ONE in Seattle has helped it? I am ashamed to be a human being.

Greendyke:

All kidding aside, you ever try to catch a pigeon? Even one with a needle sticking out of its head is going to be nigh-on impossible to corral, and frankly, I personally wouldn't feel all that comfortable trying to wrap my hands around a squirming bird with the business end of somebody's works pointing in my direction.

And while it may seem callous and inhumane, I would point out that the poor bird is apparently surviving, so that says something for the resiliency of columba livia.

I'm gonna stop at Kentucky Fried Pigeon on the way home from work. As I down the entire bucket of pigeon, I won't feel even one small pang of guilt. I wonder of you can get a buzz from eating a freshly injected pigeon...?

@22: Who the hell is going to pull a dirty syringe out of a dirty pigeon? That's like asking for a disease. You wanna try and pry a used needle out of a flapping bird?

@22: I apologize for laughing when your post made me picture a female Jolly green giant chasing a bird with a needle in it's head.

PICS OR IT NEVER HAPPENED.

What, you've never seen a pigeon get mercilessly squashed by the front tires of a Metro bus? You've never seen one get run over by a sppeding car while the pigeon was trying to woo a mate? Never seen one whose body was crushed but the head was still intact so that all it could do was squirm until it died?

They're STUPID birds. The only way you can deal with seeing this kind of shit is to turn away and try to forget. And call them "stupid."

I mean, of course there are some humans that are stupid enough to try and mate in the middle of the road, but they're more likely to be avoided by traffic. Or arrested. Never seen one of Seattle's Finest trying to haul a bird to the cage, believe me.