The Town of Drumheller now has to pay to have seagulls removed from the its landfill.
The Town approved its operating budget on February 23 and listed in expenses under Solid Waste a line item called Pest Abatement, budgeted for $50,000 in 2015, and $35,000 for the next three years. This, according to CAO Ray Romanetz, is part of the new approval from Alberta Environment to relocate the hundreds of seagulls occupying the Drumheller landfill each summer.
“Simply put, the possibility of contamination and spread of disease caused by the birds at the landfill is a risk our insurers cannot affordably underwrite,” he explains. “The cost of removing the birds is much more reasonable than taking on the extra risk."
The Town is working with the Drumheller and District Landfill on the project and it is matching funds for the work.
"We don't want to put any of our staff or residents at risk of coming into contact with the birds and the diseases they can carry," said Tammi Nygaard of the Drumheller and District Solid Waste Management Association.
The process of getting rid of the birds today is much more complex than it was just a few years ago. Gone are the days when exterminators were allowed to trap, poison or shoot the pests. Today's standards require that birds be returned to a salt-water body, the closest being the west coast.
“There have been a number of instances where municipalities have had actions brought against them for causing distress to the animals.
The town is contracting Sunshine Pest Control out of Duncan, B.C., to round up and transport the birds. Mr. Jonathan Livingstone of Sunshine explains that it is a three-year process to remove them. He says it is impossible to capture all the birds in a single year and quite often it can take two to three years to keep them away.
"The birds have a homing instinct and it can take two to three seasons to change that behavior pattern,” he explains. “You can lead a bird to water but you can’t make him fish.”
The process will take about a week. For two days the landfill is closed and the site is not disturbed. This forces the opportunity feeders to work a little harder for their food. It also calms the birds’ nerves and they are then simply lured into cages with Hawkins Cheezies from Bellevue, Ontario.
From there, they are transported in an air-conditioned sea can with controlled humidity.
When the birds arrive at the coast, they are slowly integrated into the local bird population.
“Seagulls are typically accepting of new birds but there is a pecking order. Overwhelming that system can lead to conflict, but they do like a good April Fool’s joke," said Livingstone.
