pigeons vs. rats

[lapsedmodernist]

This is something I was talking about with nuncstans the other day, and I am curious: is it weird that I am more grossed out by pigeons than rats? I really find pigeons to be the most repulsive life form I have ever encountered. Not the scariest--I am, in fact, probably more scared of rats, but the most repulsive. I often have pigeons in my dreams, and they are always metonymic with disease, hopelessness, sickness, miasma of the soul, etc. It's weird, because on the whole, I LOVE birds. Anyone who has known me for long enough has probably seen me coo over budgies and parrots that I insist on stopping in to see at the pet store in Greenpoint, or heard me tell detailed stories about my two childhood parakeets, Rocky and Lara. When my former boss was out of town, I would stay at her apartment and babysit her green-and-yellow Amazonian parrot Ruben who followed me around from room to room and I would just sit and play with him for hours and hours on end. I think birds in general can be the cutest, sweetest creatures, and they usually take to me as well. But oh my god, I am so disgusted with pigeons. Possibly even more so, because in some way I see them as this perverted monstrous variation on something that I love (i.e. birds en masse). So the other day while we were walking through the East Village I was relating yet another dream to nuncstans where pigeons made a guest appearance. She has pointed out the prevalence of pigeons in my dreams before. I said that I thought of them as flying rats, and then she asked me if I was more disgusted by pigeons or rats, and I had to say pigeons, which she thought was highly unusual. Is it highly unusual? Is anybody with me on this one?

Comments

[springheel-jack.livejournal.com]

pigeonrats. like in the Simpsons.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

eeeeewwwwww.

[constintina.livejournal.com]

yes it is weird. or at least unusual. pigeons are fabulous. but then again. you have both traumatic experiences and a lack of Bert on Sesame Street as a child so I guess you're excused.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

what do you mean, they are fabulous? like, if one flew into our living room, you would be excited? do you know how many diseases they carry? don't they make you think of maggots?

[constintina.livejournal.com]

yes, no and no.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

wait...bert was a pigeon? i guess i did not gather that from the Osama & Bert posters from circa 9/11/01

[constintina.livejournal.com]

woah. I am so confused now. no, bert wasn't a pigeon, but he fed and was really into pigeons. but maybe you know that and are just trying to fuck with me. congratulations, this comment just blew my mind.

oh dear.

[never-the-less.livejournal.com]

this totally makes sense, in a way. while i'll take pigeons over rats any day if we're talking about unwanted inhabitants in my neighborhood, with pigeons you have the extra fear of them shitting on you from above. also, while rats' movement is limited to a two dimensional plane, pigeons move in all three directions, often with unpredictable/non-linear flight paths, which means they are less easy to avoid, and therefore, more scarry.

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

you are totally right about the flying thing. i actually had a pigeon crash into my head once. and i always duck when they fly up en masse. it's like when i was in ecuador and there were these horrible roaches, but the true horror was that in addition to running really fast they could just fly into the air, so all of a sudden instead of a land-bound creature you have to defend yourself from an aerial attack. ack.

[claudelemonde.livejournal.com]

this is the same dimensional advantage that sharks have, and why they freak me out more than anything else (actually i am afraid of almost nothing, except for sharks).

[(Anonymous)]

in the city, i think, pigeons may seem pretty bad - they're everywhere, and crap on everything. the city is one giant toilet. whereas rats tend to skulk in the shadows, and they only crap where food is stored or other dark places. but i live in the 'burbs where pigeons come to my feeders, and are just another of many different kinds of birds that visit. they're actually kinda cool because they look so out of place among the smaller birds. maybe you have some latent negative event from your childhood, or some other semantic association you don't realize. it might be time to ask your parents about "that time, when i was really little, and the pigeons..."

[lapsedmodernist.livejournal.com]

the thing is, i don't think i minded them that much when i was little. i just thought they were more vulgar doves, and i liked doves. i think this pigeon-hatred is definintely a post-adolescent development.

[(Anonymous)]

- seltix

[(Anonymous)]

well, i just came home to pigeons having sex on my roof. so there you go.

seltix

[totalvirility.livejournal.com]

Dude, I was in Paris this one time, and in front of Notre Dame I saw this fucking CRAZY looking little girl with huge coke-bottle glasses pick a pigeon up from the ground and hold it with it's wings spread apart, laughing maniacally. Her parents totally freaked and she screamed and screamed when they took it away from her. Her mother said "WE HAVE TO WASH YOUR HANDS NOW, ASHLEY!!!" and the little girl, defiantly, put her entire hand in her mouth.

Nasty nasty nasty. Pigeons carry far more diseases than rats, so it's natural to be more grossed out by them. Of course, you never lived in an apartment that was so infested with rats that they took over a large section of the kitchen and their corpses would turn up rotting behind the stove and floating in the toilet, so you'll have to understand why rats still get my 'yuck' vote.

[claudelemonde.livejournal.com]

ashley: ha ha rad

Pigeons and parrots

[(Anonymous)]

At the NW corner of Ditmas Avenue and Ocean Parkway, in Brooklyn, there is an apartment building, outside of which there is a tree, upon which hangs a birdfeeder. Visit this spot in the morning and you will find pigeons and parrots (yes, Brooklyn's famous wild parrots) intermingling and eating together beneath this tree. It's a weird sight, even a little disturbing, but it might make you rethink pigeons in the world of birds.
~Clare.