As of this week, feeding pigeons in public areas of Kecskemét is against the law. The new regulation is said to be necessary because public squares could no longer be used for their original purpose. Mayor Gábor Zombor stressed that the town didn’t not want to introduce unnecessarily strict measures, but there were so many complaints coming from residents that something had to be done to solve the problem of the goddamn birds.
Interestingly, the maximum fine for breaking the new anti-pigeon-feeding rule is Ft 50,000 (€190), the same amount Budapesters are hit with if caught smoking at bus or tram stops. Bummer. [origo.hu]
I’ve heard that some cities in other countries are
also making this a crime, since pigeons transmit
diseases that can kill weak and sick people. I have
no sympathy for those who feed pigeons, since they
don’t seem to have any trouble finding food on their
own, and I’m sick of all the pigeon poop that ends
up on my car… which rarely leaves the garage!
Not only in Venice and Munich but also in many smaller German cities is it forbidden to feed pigeons – many cities also have “pigeon homes” where the birds can build nests …
However regularly (every day ?) the eggs are exchanged for stoen eggs – so we don’t get more and more pigeons …
People who feel the need to feed them are hopelessly sentimental folk- they probably can’t help themselves.
People ate those things in the old days! My grandmother, as well as the other village women would make pigeon soup for Sunday dinner or special occasions- and boy was it good! It tasted as good as the best chicken soup! Most any bird, especially one fresh killed, is delicious food. The ancient Romans cultivated pigeons for consumption, by controlling what they ate while in captivity- thus improving the flavor. They considered flamingos to be a great delicacy!
@Wolfi,
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing that; I
might mention it to some people here in Budapest,
where the “Tilos a galambokat etetni” (Don’t feed
the pigeons) signs are still standing only in
places where the elderly don’t congregate.
@Farkas László,
I didn’t know that about the Romans; how
interesting! I wonder why we don’t eat flamingos
today…
I just ate lunch at a very popular, modern
restaurant here in Budapest, Menza, and they
offered “dove” soup on the menu. Of course, galamb
could be either dove or pigeon, but I’m guessing
that, in this case, it’s more likely to be pigeon;
it’s not a very expensive place.
hi Szabad Ember,
Those ancient Romans were a bunch of wild and crazy guys! Their upper classes were hedonists “par exellance” who didn’t allow considerations of sentimentality or compassion to interfere with their sensual pleasures.
Sentimentality and potential flack from animal rights groups prevents us from eating flamingos today, just like we don’t eat dolphins- which the Romans ate with gusto. They considered mice a great delicacy, and bred them for consumption, feeding them milk and other food calculated to improve their flavor. One extreme cook out I heard of was when they would stuff a chicken inside a duck, then stuff that in a goose, then inside a pig and finally a cow- and roast all five animals together on an open spit! Pretty far out! A wealthy Roman liked to impress others by providing exotic meats at his dinner table, and sometimes even lion meat was on the menu!
“Pax vobiscum!”
Hmmm… is the flamingo endangered? If not, it
should be eaten! The French and the Hungarians eat
horses, Koreans and Vietnamese eat dogs, and people
the world over watch a cute, sweet talking pig in a
movie, then go out to the lobby for pork rinds. I’m
going to go find a butcher who can get me some
flamingo, tomorrow!