Mayor’s hawks ruffle feathers

THOUSANDS of Parisians have signed a petition to protect the French capital’s pigeons, after its mayor vowed to let birds of prey loose in a bid to oust them.

More than 17,000 people have signed the online petition organised by pigeon supporters at the Pigeon Embassy and a bird protection charity.

It came after Remy Féraud decided to bring in two hawks and three falcons to scare off Paris’s omnipresent pigeons from the Rue du Buisson Saint- Louis area.

The birds of prey will try and disperse the large concentration of pigeons wreaking havoc on the roofs and window ledges of social housing areas.

“We tried traditional methods and now we are doing something more radical,” a spokesman for the town hall said.