[lit-ideas] Tuppence a Bag
- From: JimKandJulieB@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 21 Apr 2006 07:04:38 EDT
LOS ANGELES - Hollywood officials say they want to stop a mysterious bird
lady who hauls 25-pound sacks of feed and draws flocks of messy pigeons whose
droppings have fouled cars, sidewalks and buildings.
Authorities say they've asked the woman to stop feeding the birds but they
can't order her to quit. City law only bans pigeon feeding in a section of
downtown.
Local residents aren't happy.
"I've collected birdseed bags she's discarded," said Laura Dodson, president
of the Argyle Civic Association. "We calculate she spreads 112 tons a year
above Sunset Boulevard, centering on Vine Street. We've spotted 29 spots she
puts down food."
Dodson said the woman puts down 150 pounds of bird seed a day at a triangular
traffic island the community wants to beautify with palm trees.
The feedings have interfered with an $80,000 landscaping project, officials
said.
Some local leaders worry that the pigeons could spread avian flu but "wild
pigeons don't seem to be a major source," Karen Ehnert, senior veterinarian for
the Los Angeles County health department.
The pigeon poop also covers bridges and signs on the nearby Hollywood
Freeway.
That's a headache, said Dave White, a spokesman for the California Department
of Transportation.
"You can't paint over it. You can't wash it out with a hose because it turns
into a muddy slurry that you can't send down the flood drain," White said.
"So you shovel it out into bags or knock it to the ground and clean it up as
fast as you can."
Aides to City Councilman Tom LaBonge, who represents part of Hollywood, told
the Los Angeles Times that the woman has refused to stop feeding the
pigeons.
"I spoke to her. She told me she was afraid the birds would die if she wasn't
there," said a staff member who declined to be identified.
Erik Sanjurjo, a LaBonge deputy, said the next step could be amending city
law to ban pigeon feeding in sections of Hollywood or throughout Los Angeles.
Pigeon feeding is banned in some areas of other California cities, including
San Francisco, Sausalito, Seal Beach and Pasadena. Scofflaw pigeon lovers can
be fined hundreds of dollars â and that's not chicken feed.
Early each day to the steps of Saint Paul's
The little old bird woman comes.
In her own special way to the people she calls,
"Come, buy my bags full of crumbs.
Come feed the little birds, show them you care
And you'll be glad if you do.
Their young ones are hungry,
Their nests are so bare;
All it takes is tuppence from you."
Feed the birds, tuppence a bag,
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag.
"Feed the birds," that's what she cries,
While overhead, her birds fill the skies.
All around the cathedral the saints and apostles
Look down as she sells her wares.
Although you can't see it, you know they are smiling
Each time someone shows that he cares.
Though her words are simple and few,
Listen, listen, she's calling to you:
"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag,
Tuppence, tuppence, tuppence a bag."
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