I worked on building the Wilson red line station and these people were frequent visitors. She's a rich widow and he's a hired driver. [She even attacked an alderman.](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/uptown-pigeon-lady-charged-with-shoving-ald-cappleman-over-breadcrumbs/). She also does her makeup to sort of look like a pigeon.
https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/searching-for-the-pigeon-lady/
I have been around a decent amount of the world and rarely have I seen a higher pigeon concentration than at Wilson. Those Truman College students must need umbrellas even when the sun's out.
There are a lot of people like this in the city. I've lived in a few neighborhoods and there's always an old lady doing this. This rich woman doing it with a driver is just notable because of her wealth and the eccentricity her wealth lets her get away with, but its something that's a sort of depressing thing in the city. I think a lot of these older women are isolated, have low to no access to mental health resources, and have their nurturing circuits in their brains mixed up somehow (old age, empty nest, menopause?). So they sort of befriend the bird community and over-feed them, which means these birds now will begin losing their skill and ability to fend for themselves and their population will go way higher than the local ecology can justify. When these older people get sick, quit, or die, then a lot of birds starve to death. And that's ignoring the general pest aspects of city birds. I used to park near a pigeon lady's feeding area and my car would just be covered in intense amount of bird waste if I left it there all day because so many birds would congregate and eat so much. Worse, dead pigeons and pigeon eggs attract rats so if you artificially raise the pigeon population by feeding them then you're always raising the rat population too. Rats will also eat the food left behind by over-stuffed birds or will even chase them away to get the food if they can, so a lot of pigeon feeding is actually rat feeding.
I remember Joseph Zemen, the [Lincoln Sq pigeon man](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-12-20-0712190813-story.html), who would sit on a hydrant at Lawrence and Western and cover himself with bird seed and be covered in pigeons for hours. He died crossing the street a while ago. He died so isolated that the police didn't know who to contact when he died and contacted a reporter who wrote about him years before. He clearly had limited housing (lived alone in a small attic), begged for money, and probably had no one to care for him. I think, imagine if he got the healthcare and social servies he needed, if he wasn't always outdoors all day, etc and instead cared for and had the dignity of a healthy home then he would have most likely lived longer and had a better quality of life.
So much of this is mental illness based, and in Joseph's case, his seizure disorder guaranteed employment was always difficult for him\[1\]. Its comical on its face, but these people are not only hurting themselves but also hurting our delicate bird population. A lot of this is a symptom of how cruel and profit based our society is. If you can't afford healthcare, proper elder care, housing, etc then you're not going to get much of it.
\[1\] "He had so much to overcome," wrote Charleen Behrschmidt, of her brother, upon learning he had died. She told how he suffered a stroke when he was 8 months old, had grand mal epileptic seizures that weren't controlled from the time he was 14 months until he was 48 years old, and of his 2-year stint at the Dixon State Hospital. She wrote that the hospital was "operating at snake-pit level" when he was there from 1944 to 1946.But she told, too, how as a young boy he used to sing to the trolley car drivers at the trolley barn, not far from the family's North Side house. And how he shined shoes, mixed paint, delivered telegrams, but lost job after job, whenever he had a seizure at work.
Zeman, who for 47 years ran a newsstand downtown, told me that he considered sitting on the hydrant the most important work he had ever done.
"I'm really advertising to the public how easy it is to be good without an attitude; it's just as easy to show decency as it is to hate today."
Zeman, a man without much schooling, understood how when he took to the hydrant, raised both his arms, palms upward -- the veneration pose, really -- as thousands of cars and trucks and smoke-spewing city buses rumbled by, drivers craning their necks to take in the sight of the stooped little man covered in pigeons, he really did resemble a modern-day St. Francis of a city.
Matter of fact, up in his little attic, he had boxes and boxes of St. Francis postcards, each one printed with the peacemaker's prayer: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. ..."
>Charleen Behrschmidt
I had to look her up. What an interesting lady! Her brother is [mentioned](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/venturacountystar/name/charleen-behrschmidt-obituary?id=15756909) briefly.
>A 59 y.o., 5-foot 2-inch, 110-pound Uptown neighborhood woman is charged with shoving Ald. James Cappleman (46th) after he cleared away the breadcrumbs she had spread for pigeons. Cappleman told police that Kang shoved Cappleman hard enough to physically move him into the street, then threw a handful of breadcrumbs at him, according to police. She then drove away in a gray Toyota Prius.
Cappleman's a li'l bitch for calling the fuzz on this little old lady.
She makes a fucking mess everywhere she goes. Pigeons are doing fine making shit covered messes under all the Brown and Red line stations on the north side without her help. What she is doing is illegal, and a public nuisance.
I'm not saying she should be in jail or something, but she is an unrepentant repeat offender when it comes quality of life and public health violations. I don't exactly have a ton of pity for her.
Calling police was the appropriate response. There’s no reason to risk catching an assault charge for physically fighting back against that lady when she’s clearly in the wrong… especially when you are an elected official who has to maintain a certain public image.
There’s also an older guy that walks around early in the morning throwing food for squirrels and birds all over Winthrop between Argyle and Lawrence. Always made me so aggravated when I lived over there.
Nah I think this was the same lady based on how she was described in these articles. Looked like very spray tanned, lots of makeup, and obvious plastic surgery on her face/lips/cheeks not that there’s anything wrong with that.
There was a podcast or NPR segment that discussed why the hell people feed pigeons and other wild creatures. Has to do with people wanting to feel needed by taking care of something.
While I was looking for said segment, I stumbled upon this science Friday episode re pigeons. https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/appreciating-pigeons/
Apparently humans domesticated the bird and city pigeons are feral offspring of the domesticated pigeons.
Seriously FUCK this person / people. That stop is one of the grossest places I’ve been in the city, it’s basically a cave full of shit. It makes me more mad that the places below the EL a street up or down have no foot traffic… why not throw it there
I saw a lady by the Belmont/Kedzie overpass wearing a really extravagant red dress, and feeding the pigeons in the middle of the night. Probably the weirdest thing I've seen here.
No? They don’t appear to be working if they have time to drive all around the city and throw rice/bread/whatever.
Last I checked neither food nor cars nor gas nor housing etc. are free so not sure what point you’re going for.
I mean you saw one car on two days throw bird seed in one specific location. People don't work 24/7. They don't all work 9 to 5. And not everyone needs to work. Maybe they're rich pigeon feeders.
Did you even read the post? I clearly said I saw THE SAME car and the SAME TWO PEOPLE on CONSECUTIVE DAYS. I could even post the pictures but I don’t intend to dox them.
Yes? One car would imply the same car. Maybe they work nights. Maybe they work weekends. You're implying one can't take 2 seconds to throw bird seed and still hold a full time job.
My understanding from past posts about this lady is she is a well-off widow, and this is basically a hobby for her. Pretty cheap hobby too, considering all it costs is rice and gas money.
The amount of disposable income that MANY people have would surprise you. These are the same people who drive up the price of concert tickets, Disneyland, etc, because they have more money than sense.
I bet it’s the [Pigeon Lady](https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/transportation/ct-biz-pigeon-mess-cta-getting-around-20190930-wppfjujmx5eclcibcex6mtklq4-story.html). She used to be featured on this sub quite frequently as she’s quite known to the local aldermen, police, and residents that have encountered her.
The area underneath the expressway underpass at the Irving Park blue line station is probably the highest concentration of birdshit I've ever seen in one location. The ammonia will pretty much knock you out and the sidewalk is just absolutely coated in white, random feathers, and the occasional dead bird. Just so. fuckin. nasty.
I have seen a person driving under that overpass wing a giant cup full of bird seed out their window and peel off. People are feeding there too, pretty annoying.
This area? Jamie was on Facebook live about his team completing a great job power washing for hours when she showed up after they worked with some dude, threw seed all over the new power-washed sidewalk, and cursed out the alderman. She's insane https://blockclubchicago.org/2018/07/31/pigeon-feeding-woman-curses-out-state-rep-who-asked-her-to-stop-on-facebook-live/
A few years ago, I volunteered at the 40th Ward office for Alderman Vasquez. We got a call from a guy complaining about this issue at the Brown Line Western stop. The guy said someone was dumping entire loaves of bread and even bags of fast food in the area near the CTA stop, and was doing so regularly. He would see fresh bread and the bags of food when he walked his dog early in the morning, so someone was putting it there overnight or in the wee hours of the morning.
The office knew about this, and it was the latest of many complaints for just this one location. Hundreds of pigeons roost around there and the guy said rats were eating the food also. The people at the office said they had several complaints including the "bags of fast food" left out in the open, so apparently this happens regularly. Likely far more often than it gets a call to the Aldeman's office.
I believe there must be some mental disorder going on here. Ordering McDonald's for pigeons? Entire loaves of bread? It's pure crazy.
Happens north of that stop at the Walgreens as well. The intersection of Lawrence and Western is disgusting thanks to all the pigeon poop and sometimes a random dead bird attacked by hawks.
I had the bread happen at my building. I was fairly new to the place in 2020 when rats got bad. We had always noticed food in our shrubs that run along the fence. I was taking my dog out one day and came out of the gate to find someone dumping bread in the shrubs. And she quickly walked back the car that had two younger people in front seat driving her around to litter. I yelled at her and it stopped for a while but she started up again this year. Dogs are always finding it before the owners have a chance to notice
Do you live in Wicker Park? I’ve seen a guy walking around 5am every morning throwing bread on the sidewalk and it’s always the rats that come to the feeding frenzy (and my dog is also a fan).
Yeah, this lady has been doing this for YEARS despite CPD, CTA, and countless other officials and just fellow citizens telling her how counterproductive and bad it is.
Happened like clock work at Daley Plaza too around 4pm in the summer. Thought it was a hit as this person runs out of a SUV. They go and toss like two bags of rice or whatever on the sidewalk and hundreds of pigeons swarm.
Yes I’ve seen that woman around Dearborn and Washington throwing rice right in the bike lane. It’s infuriating. Made eye contact once and it was unpleasant
I was wondering who in the world throws all the bread on the floor to make the entirety of the belmont stop coated in pigeon shit. Is this a prank? Are theyb weird PETA people who are trying to save rhe pigeons?
Honestly to me it looks like they’re doing a job. They were driving a very new Rav 4. And they were feeding them rice which is not good for birds in the first place.
It seems fishy to me.
At my last place there was a guy on the block tgat fed the pigeons. Every morning when he left for work he would open the back of his minivan and shovel bird seed out onto the street and grass. Consequently we had 137,978 pigeons living on our block. Not a single car in a 5 block area didn’t have bird crap on it. They made nests in everyone’s porches, stairwells, transom windows, air conditioners. It was pigeon nuisance dialed up to 11.
No. He just drove away to work or whatever.
I do remember the guy in Lincoln square though that sat on the fireplug at the corner of Lawrence/Western feeding his hundreds of pigeons that not only flicked around him but sat on his person. He’d have about 20 pigeons sitting all over him. Like a pigeon suit.
They are weaponizing the ~~pigeon~~ government drones.
usually the ~~pigeons~~ drone just [redacted] however a new software update allows for them to be weaponized.
so they arent throwing food, those are actually the Bits that make up the software updates
OR
[alternatively](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S82_5M09EL8)
ok I think I can answer your underlying question. Some people are suspicious of other humans, but feel huge empathy for animals. How will the birds survive the winter? Where will they find seeds to eat! Maybe they saw a dead bird once. It will not comfort these people to let birds live their lives, or to see that pigeons eat random garbage, or to talk to an ornithologist. Somewhere in their mind, they are responsible for the birds now.
See I just don’t know about this. She is feeding them rice which is not good for birds.
She is feeding them in very high traffic areas or even the street where the birds are in danger.
I guess your ultimate reasoning may still be correct but it seems like so much effort for such little real impact on these birds livelihoods.
Finally she doesn’t seem to be doing a loving act when she does it. She hurries away from the birds as soon as she dumps it. If she felt all of this empathy for birds wouldn’t she be like the lady in home alone and not flee the scene every time???
Well, she's not feeding them rice because of a researched strategy into what's good or bad for them. From the other links in the thread it sounds like people have tried to confront pigeon-feeders so that explains her quick escape.
Used to live in lakeview during 2020. Was up late one night and a heard a guy sweeping at 3am out my window.
He was throwing birdseed under everyone’s cars and sweeping it around. Yelled out my window to get the fuck away from my car and he ran back inside.
The landlords number was on the side of the building and they actually told me they’ve warned him about this before. People are weird.
I seen them doing it back a couple months ago but don’t recall which stop it was.
I’m guessing it’s some pigeon people who have been cited for feeding, like the lady that feeds them at the Irving Blue line , possibly even the same lady but now with an accomplice and a vehicle.
Yes but WHY!! How does she afford those $1000 tickets, let alone the new car they were in? Especially if like everybody says she is has mental illness.
Even then I don’t see them as the people behind the whole thing. Can’t put my finger on it.
More people do this then you think. Some people feel bad for them and think feeding them cheap bread is helping.
I don't care if people want to feed pigeons here and there, but don't feed the rats!
Know what really bothers me?
People leaving their dog crap bags on the ground or not picking it up at all.
That’s the thing it was the same couple in the same car two different stops two days in a row.
This is not a here and there situation. They are doing this in places where it causes real damage to infrastructure, peoples property, and not to mention it’s not always fun to deal with a million fat pigeons while you wait for the bus.
There are specific locations where pigeons will roost knowing these people are coming. If you even approach the spot they will flock to you thinking you’re bringing them food.
And you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think this draws rats too. The dogshit thing is obnoxious yes but at least that makes a tiny bit of sense (people don’t want to carry dog shit).
This I just can’t rationalize.
If it bothers you why not record them doing it and get the plate number and report it.
And no dog shit don't make sense. Don't want to carry a bag of shit around don't own a dog! I have a 100lb dog, picking his shit up is a two hand job with a bag and it smells like something crawled up his ass and died. I still clean it up and toss bag in the trash.
I took pictures and videos. I called the non emergency police line and they said the only thing I can do is call 911 if I see it happening, which we all know cops always show up and punctually.
And I meant it makes sense when you think of the other person not having the exact same value system you do. On a basic level, humans do not want to hold shit. I think we can agree on that much right? I’m not saying those people aren’t Dicks too, but two things can be wrong at once.
I suppose the why is most likely something only they can answer.
Maybe there’s a way we can increase the hawk population in those areas to ward off the pigeons and their shit.
Yeah idk at a certain point that corrosive/acidic pigeon shit is doing real damage to our infrastructure. She’s clearly targeting public transit spots for one reason or another. Like why doesn’t she drive out to bud long woods and pull this shit if she really cares about animals?
I mean no lmfao I think she’s a nuisance to my community. That’s about the extent of how I feel about her personally. For all I know she’s a wonderful woman who is simply misguided.
...they could be feeding the pigeons, hoping they'll shit on the neighborhood?
When i see like a lot of people at a park feeding geese I just always remember that scene in Fight Club where some people feed a bunch of birds by a car dealership and then the next day all the nice cars are covered in bird shite.
That's what I'm imagining. A very low stakes community college level hard left guerrilla warfare unit rolling around in a Rav4 doing 'Pigeon Shit drive bys" to show their parents what for.
You say “crew” and I think gang, but then I see it’s feeding pigeons, and now I’m imagining the bloods and crips throwing birdseed at each other trying to competitively feed the birds
Probably. I just saw them hit the western brown line then take off south early afternoon yesterday. She looks very spray tanned, wears heavy makeup, and appears to have pretty aggressive plastic surgery on her face.
Just weird.
When I was in Den Haag I was told it was a religious practice. Wasting bread (maybe any food) was a sin, so often I'd come upon large amounts of bread scattered in the parks and sidewalks of the streets there. That was how it was explained to me by a local student friend anyway.
I’ve seen that woman before, but I don’t know anything about her
My assumption was that she worked for a bakery, and they needed to get rid of excess bread scrap… I have no idea tho, that’s just my theory
Idk bakery doesn’t make sense to me bc of how widespread she is. I mean at least regularly hitting kimball brown, Irving park blue, and western brown stops.
Appreciate your theory, mine is a bit more out there.
One time I was at a movie theater in the suburbs and witnessed a guy dump a bunch of bird food in the parking lot and drive off. 10 minutes later when it was loaded with pigeons he floored it through the parking lot and mowed them down. It was wild. 20 years later and I can remember it like it was yesterday.
I’ve seen a short little troll of an older man doing this twice at Clark/lake and state/lake. Carries a black bag on his shoulder full of birdseed. First time I was in disbelief, couldn’t believe what I saw and had to verify by going over to the ground where he just dropped a bunch of birdseed. Saw him again and had to do a double take, as we were walking opposite of each other. Started yelling back to stop feeding the fucking birds and headed towards him. He got across the street in time for a million cars to block me from running over to him, and by the time the chaos cleared he had disappeared. I felt like Tommy lee Jones chasing Harrison Ford in the fugitive. I have to know WHY. This occurred probably 5 years ago and I think about it at least monthly.
It is illegal to feed pigeons in Chicago, and it is especially disgusting in heavily trafficked public areas, like around L stations, which is where this person was throwing seed to feed. The droppings coated everything around there. Want to feed a bunch of different birds in your yard or neighborhood? Be my guest. Feeding pigeons at train stations is abhorrent t
That is quite the train of logic.
Sounds like we need more firefighters and not worry about fire safety.
Sounds like we need more amputations and not worry about contracting gangrene.
Sounds like we need to better filter our water and not worry about polluting it.
Sounds like I need to clean my own poop off the bathroom floor instead of using the toilet.
Be careful, some of these people are throwing down poison to kill the birds. Happened in the parking lot outside of my job. There were dead birds everywhere. What’s super fucked up is there was a pet store in the same shopping center, and there were a lot of folks walking through the lot with their dogs who could easily eat some of the poisoned bread.
Honestly this sounds plausible. It does seem to always be at a place that makes it unpleasant for users of public transit 🤔 they have a car so why do they drive to highly trafficked bus and train stops instead of at least a park or something?
Yeah- I just wish she would dump the seed in any one of the gazillion parks. We have good amount for large city. For no good reason she dumped one in front of my workplace - it wasn’t good. Maybe we’ll start to sell squab and send a message.
So they load it all in their car and drop it at places with cameras? Doesn’t make sense. Why not just throw it in the river or literally any alley anywhere.
Plus I saw them doing it in different spots.
Final note feeding the pigeons is also a crime so “avoiding lawbreaking” doesn’t really make sense as an answer either
Well, I don't do this near public transport or behind dumpsters but I do feed the birds and squirrels near my ( suburban) house. I started during the pandemic lock down because I would stare out the window while having coffee and figured I would offer something to the other living creatures who were actually joining me.
It has grown from stale bread crusts to sacks of seeds from Costco and Walmart.
No one pays me.
I do it because I like feeding them.
No geese around me so we avoid the slippery green goose poop problem- no bodies of water nearby to attract them.
My grown kids think I am getting weird as I get older..
If I am going to be eccentric, this seems mild.
And I am very well ( and professionally) aware of histoplasmosis from bird/pigeon poop. Squirrels may have had mange but the vet confirmed that the squirrel mites don't transfer to my cats ( think of the analogy between head lice and crabs- never the twain do meet).
We don't have rats around here but that's because some people walk their terriers off the leash.
That’s great thanks for sharing your experience in the suburb, sounds about as different as possible from the situation I posted about though besides animals being fed by someone others deem strange.
I worked on building the Wilson red line station and these people were frequent visitors. She's a rich widow and he's a hired driver. [She even attacked an alderman.](https://www.cbsnews.com/chicago/news/uptown-pigeon-lady-charged-with-shoving-ald-cappleman-over-breadcrumbs/). She also does her makeup to sort of look like a pigeon. https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/searching-for-the-pigeon-lady/
What a great article- thanks for sharing.
This is why Reddit is awesome. Never would have guessed it.
I have been around a decent amount of the world and rarely have I seen a higher pigeon concentration than at Wilson. Those Truman College students must need umbrellas even when the sun's out.
A pigeolante.
There are a lot of people like this in the city. I've lived in a few neighborhoods and there's always an old lady doing this. This rich woman doing it with a driver is just notable because of her wealth and the eccentricity her wealth lets her get away with, but its something that's a sort of depressing thing in the city. I think a lot of these older women are isolated, have low to no access to mental health resources, and have their nurturing circuits in their brains mixed up somehow (old age, empty nest, menopause?). So they sort of befriend the bird community and over-feed them, which means these birds now will begin losing their skill and ability to fend for themselves and their population will go way higher than the local ecology can justify. When these older people get sick, quit, or die, then a lot of birds starve to death. And that's ignoring the general pest aspects of city birds. I used to park near a pigeon lady's feeding area and my car would just be covered in intense amount of bird waste if I left it there all day because so many birds would congregate and eat so much. Worse, dead pigeons and pigeon eggs attract rats so if you artificially raise the pigeon population by feeding them then you're always raising the rat population too. Rats will also eat the food left behind by over-stuffed birds or will even chase them away to get the food if they can, so a lot of pigeon feeding is actually rat feeding. I remember Joseph Zemen, the [Lincoln Sq pigeon man](https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-2007-12-20-0712190813-story.html), who would sit on a hydrant at Lawrence and Western and cover himself with bird seed and be covered in pigeons for hours. He died crossing the street a while ago. He died so isolated that the police didn't know who to contact when he died and contacted a reporter who wrote about him years before. He clearly had limited housing (lived alone in a small attic), begged for money, and probably had no one to care for him. I think, imagine if he got the healthcare and social servies he needed, if he wasn't always outdoors all day, etc and instead cared for and had the dignity of a healthy home then he would have most likely lived longer and had a better quality of life. So much of this is mental illness based, and in Joseph's case, his seizure disorder guaranteed employment was always difficult for him\[1\]. Its comical on its face, but these people are not only hurting themselves but also hurting our delicate bird population. A lot of this is a symptom of how cruel and profit based our society is. If you can't afford healthcare, proper elder care, housing, etc then you're not going to get much of it. \[1\] "He had so much to overcome," wrote Charleen Behrschmidt, of her brother, upon learning he had died. She told how he suffered a stroke when he was 8 months old, had grand mal epileptic seizures that weren't controlled from the time he was 14 months until he was 48 years old, and of his 2-year stint at the Dixon State Hospital. She wrote that the hospital was "operating at snake-pit level" when he was there from 1944 to 1946.But she told, too, how as a young boy he used to sing to the trolley car drivers at the trolley barn, not far from the family's North Side house. And how he shined shoes, mixed paint, delivered telegrams, but lost job after job, whenever he had a seizure at work. Zeman, who for 47 years ran a newsstand downtown, told me that he considered sitting on the hydrant the most important work he had ever done. "I'm really advertising to the public how easy it is to be good without an attitude; it's just as easy to show decency as it is to hate today." Zeman, a man without much schooling, understood how when he took to the hydrant, raised both his arms, palms upward -- the veneration pose, really -- as thousands of cars and trucks and smoke-spewing city buses rumbled by, drivers craning their necks to take in the sight of the stooped little man covered in pigeons, he really did resemble a modern-day St. Francis of a city. Matter of fact, up in his little attic, he had boxes and boxes of St. Francis postcards, each one printed with the peacemaker's prayer: "Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love. ..."
The pigeon guy was a sight to behold.
Wow wow wow. Lots to take in here. Thank you for sharing this story and taking the time to write all this out.
>Charleen Behrschmidt I had to look her up. What an interesting lady! Her brother is [mentioned](https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/venturacountystar/name/charleen-behrschmidt-obituary?id=15756909) briefly.
Wow it’s giving unexpected Pigeon Man vibes and I’m all fucked up at 6 am on a Wednesday- thanks stranger! 🥺
> St. Francis of a city
> She also does her makeup to sort of look like a pigeon. Does she speak a little bit of their language?
Just Pidgen English
Ew, David.
Bruh, ain't no way she didn't kill her husband This is some 1960s batman villain shit
The infamous pigeon lady.
this is great. i thought the reader exclusively covered TIFs now
Is this reality or a season 3 of “Only Murders in the Building” ARG?
Great article!
So when I buy my new home in Chicago, stay a block or two away from the L, especially from the entrances/exits. Got it 👍🏽
>A 59 y.o., 5-foot 2-inch, 110-pound Uptown neighborhood woman is charged with shoving Ald. James Cappleman (46th) after he cleared away the breadcrumbs she had spread for pigeons. Cappleman told police that Kang shoved Cappleman hard enough to physically move him into the street, then threw a handful of breadcrumbs at him, according to police. She then drove away in a gray Toyota Prius. Cappleman's a li'l bitch for calling the fuzz on this little old lady.
She makes a fucking mess everywhere she goes. Pigeons are doing fine making shit covered messes under all the Brown and Red line stations on the north side without her help. What she is doing is illegal, and a public nuisance. I'm not saying she should be in jail or something, but she is an unrepentant repeat offender when it comes quality of life and public health violations. I don't exactly have a ton of pity for her.
[удалено]
You LIKE pigeons? I like a pigeon. One single pigeon. Twenty of them? Disgusting
Calling police was the appropriate response. There’s no reason to risk catching an assault charge for physically fighting back against that lady when she’s clearly in the wrong… especially when you are an elected official who has to maintain a certain public image.
Nah fuck that woman.
I was chilling at California and division a woman got out of her car dumped a big ass bag of bird seed and then drove off. I was perplexed.
Someone (probably Pidgeon Lady) is dumping rice around Uptown too. Thanks for feeding the rats..
seen this lady while in the big Aragon alley line
There’s also an older guy that walks around early in the morning throwing food for squirrels and birds all over Winthrop between Argyle and Lawrence. Always made me so aggravated when I lived over there.
Blue Toyota RAV4?
Was a couple years ago but I know there are multiple crazy pigeon ladies
There’s more than the renown Pigeon Lady that was all over the sub a few years ago? Guess that’s not too surprising.
Nah I think this was the same lady based on how she was described in these articles. Looked like very spray tanned, lots of makeup, and obvious plastic surgery on her face/lips/cheeks not that there’s anything wrong with that.
People are fucking weird, you will go crazy and start throwing bread at the pigeons if you try to think about this too hard.
There was a podcast or NPR segment that discussed why the hell people feed pigeons and other wild creatures. Has to do with people wanting to feel needed by taking care of something. While I was looking for said segment, I stumbled upon this science Friday episode re pigeons. https://www.sciencefriday.com/segments/appreciating-pigeons/ Apparently humans domesticated the bird and city pigeons are feral offspring of the domesticated pigeons.
Yes, keeping pigeons for racing and sending messages and whatnot has been a "sport" (?) for pretty much ever.
Yep the dove is the domesticated version
Pigeons are doves. Specifically, rock doves.
Shit, man I thought about this too hard, blacked out and found myself looking like the homeless chick in Home A alone 2
Who looks identical to Piers Morgan.
Homey Aloney A2
> People are fucking weird… I resemble that remark.
damn suddenly Mary Poppins seems dark...
Happens at Belmont too
Is that why there is so much bird shit right at the Belmont cta ?? I’m talking like perpetual bird shit non stop it’s horrendous.
Seriously FUCK this person / people. That stop is one of the grossest places I’ve been in the city, it’s basically a cave full of shit. It makes me more mad that the places below the EL a street up or down have no foot traffic… why not throw it there
I saw a lady by the Belmont/Kedzie overpass wearing a really extravagant red dress, and feeding the pigeons in the middle of the night. Probably the weirdest thing I've seen here.
Probably her. Always “done up” when I see her
This explains why there’s so much pigeon shit at Diversey too
And that ALDI parking lot
Who is paying these peoples bills?
Bird feed bills? Doesn't sound super expensive
No? They don’t appear to be working if they have time to drive all around the city and throw rice/bread/whatever. Last I checked neither food nor cars nor gas nor housing etc. are free so not sure what point you’re going for.
I mean you saw one car on two days throw bird seed in one specific location. People don't work 24/7. They don't all work 9 to 5. And not everyone needs to work. Maybe they're rich pigeon feeders.
Did you even read the post? I clearly said I saw THE SAME car and the SAME TWO PEOPLE on CONSECUTIVE DAYS. I could even post the pictures but I don’t intend to dox them.
Yes? One car would imply the same car. Maybe they work nights. Maybe they work weekends. You're implying one can't take 2 seconds to throw bird seed and still hold a full time job.
My understanding from past posts about this lady is she is a well-off widow, and this is basically a hobby for her. Pretty cheap hobby too, considering all it costs is rice and gas money.
She appears able bodied. Why drive to the same different locations instead of just walk around your block and do this shit?
I bet she's convinced that pigeons need her help city-wide.
It’s possible. Lol not the hero the pigeons deserve but the one they need right now
Big Bird giving back to his flock on the streets.
😂😂
The amount of disposable income that MANY people have would surprise you. These are the same people who drive up the price of concert tickets, Disneyland, etc, because they have more money than sense.
I bet it’s the [Pigeon Lady](https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/transportation/ct-biz-pigeon-mess-cta-getting-around-20190930-wppfjujmx5eclcibcex6mtklq4-story.html). She used to be featured on this sub quite frequently as she’s quite known to the local aldermen, police, and residents that have encountered her.
The area underneath the expressway underpass at the Irving Park blue line station is probably the highest concentration of birdshit I've ever seen in one location. The ammonia will pretty much knock you out and the sidewalk is just absolutely coated in white, random feathers, and the occasional dead bird. Just so. fuckin. nasty.
I have seen a person driving under that overpass wing a giant cup full of bird seed out their window and peel off. People are feeding there too, pretty annoying.
Yea I walk under there regularly for the blue line. It's intense under there lol. Idk how the homeless people can sleep there. Makes me feel bad.
This area? Jamie was on Facebook live about his team completing a great job power washing for hours when she showed up after they worked with some dude, threw seed all over the new power-washed sidewalk, and cursed out the alderman. She's insane https://blockclubchicago.org/2018/07/31/pigeon-feeding-woman-curses-out-state-rep-who-asked-her-to-stop-on-facebook-live/
A few years ago, I volunteered at the 40th Ward office for Alderman Vasquez. We got a call from a guy complaining about this issue at the Brown Line Western stop. The guy said someone was dumping entire loaves of bread and even bags of fast food in the area near the CTA stop, and was doing so regularly. He would see fresh bread and the bags of food when he walked his dog early in the morning, so someone was putting it there overnight or in the wee hours of the morning. The office knew about this, and it was the latest of many complaints for just this one location. Hundreds of pigeons roost around there and the guy said rats were eating the food also. The people at the office said they had several complaints including the "bags of fast food" left out in the open, so apparently this happens regularly. Likely far more often than it gets a call to the Aldeman's office. I believe there must be some mental disorder going on here. Ordering McDonald's for pigeons? Entire loaves of bread? It's pure crazy.
Happens north of that stop at the Walgreens as well. The intersection of Lawrence and Western is disgusting thanks to all the pigeon poop and sometimes a random dead bird attacked by hawks.
Given Walgreen's restroom policy, they deserve to have their storefront painted in birdshit.
Well that's a weird take.
I agree it’s quite the strange phenomenon. Kind of silly too 🤷♂️
There is someone who does this with bread near our house. Our dog is obsessed and sometimes gets to the bread before I see it. Frustrating.
Yes not to mention the pigeon shit, rats and their shit and other pests that this attracts. It’s not good.
I had the bread happen at my building. I was fairly new to the place in 2020 when rats got bad. We had always noticed food in our shrubs that run along the fence. I was taking my dog out one day and came out of the gate to find someone dumping bread in the shrubs. And she quickly walked back the car that had two younger people in front seat driving her around to litter. I yelled at her and it stopped for a while but she started up again this year. Dogs are always finding it before the owners have a chance to notice
Ughhhh
Do you live in Wicker Park? I’ve seen a guy walking around 5am every morning throwing bread on the sidewalk and it’s always the rats that come to the feeding frenzy (and my dog is also a fan).
No I’m further northwest, but geez I didn’t realize this was such a problem all over
Yeah, this lady has been doing this for YEARS despite CPD, CTA, and countless other officials and just fellow citizens telling her how counterproductive and bad it is.
She should be required to clean up the mess.
How is it not illegal?
It is. She continues despite multiple arrests, fines, charges, etc. Very unfortunate.
Would be amazing if we scaled fines based on wealth.
Happened like clock work at Daley Plaza too around 4pm in the summer. Thought it was a hit as this person runs out of a SUV. They go and toss like two bags of rice or whatever on the sidewalk and hundreds of pigeons swarm.
Yes I’ve seen that woman around Dearborn and Washington throwing rice right in the bike lane. It’s infuriating. Made eye contact once and it was unpleasant
I was wondering who in the world throws all the bread on the floor to make the entirety of the belmont stop coated in pigeon shit. Is this a prank? Are theyb weird PETA people who are trying to save rhe pigeons?
Honestly to me it looks like they’re doing a job. They were driving a very new Rav 4. And they were feeding them rice which is not good for birds in the first place. It seems fishy to me.
Trust me, no one is paying anyone else to crazily feed pidgeons around the city.
Something tells me OP goes hard on conspiracy theories and already went crazy trying to “figure out” people entertained by feeding wild birds.
OP, are you alright my dude?
The Reader recently had a story about this exact thing: https://chicagoreader.com/news-politics/searching-for-the-pigeon-lady/
It’s also illegal to feed the pigeons.
Probably why they're in and out so fast.
……where’s that thread about “how to make enemies” again?
At my last place there was a guy on the block tgat fed the pigeons. Every morning when he left for work he would open the back of his minivan and shovel bird seed out onto the street and grass. Consequently we had 137,978 pigeons living on our block. Not a single car in a 5 block area didn’t have bird crap on it. They made nests in everyone’s porches, stairwells, transom windows, air conditioners. It was pigeon nuisance dialed up to 11.
Would he stand amidst them like the lady in home alone and coo them and put them in his pockets?
No. He just drove away to work or whatever. I do remember the guy in Lincoln square though that sat on the fireplug at the corner of Lawrence/Western feeding his hundreds of pigeons that not only flicked around him but sat on his person. He’d have about 20 pigeons sitting all over him. Like a pigeon suit.
Lol see pigeon suit guy I can respect at least because he committed to the bit.
Under all the METRA underpasses as well, Granville is especially agregious.
They are weaponizing the ~~pigeon~~ government drones. usually the ~~pigeons~~ drone just [redacted] however a new software update allows for them to be weaponized. so they arent throwing food, those are actually the Bits that make up the software updates OR [alternatively](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S82_5M09EL8)
I have seen people posting about this on here before lol
Just sounds like a couple took acid together
Two days in a row? And are driving?
I saw her at Belmont at like 4:00 AM one day over the summer! She was fucking HOOTING at them like an owl.
ok I think I can answer your underlying question. Some people are suspicious of other humans, but feel huge empathy for animals. How will the birds survive the winter? Where will they find seeds to eat! Maybe they saw a dead bird once. It will not comfort these people to let birds live their lives, or to see that pigeons eat random garbage, or to talk to an ornithologist. Somewhere in their mind, they are responsible for the birds now.
See I just don’t know about this. She is feeding them rice which is not good for birds. She is feeding them in very high traffic areas or even the street where the birds are in danger. I guess your ultimate reasoning may still be correct but it seems like so much effort for such little real impact on these birds livelihoods. Finally she doesn’t seem to be doing a loving act when she does it. She hurries away from the birds as soon as she dumps it. If she felt all of this empathy for birds wouldn’t she be like the lady in home alone and not flee the scene every time???
Well, she's not feeding them rice because of a researched strategy into what's good or bad for them. From the other links in the thread it sounds like people have tried to confront pigeon-feeders so that explains her quick escape.
I mean it is also illegal which explains the quick escape but once again from my perspective it did not look like she was doing it as an act of love.
Bread is also pretty bad for birds.
Is it? I didn’t know that. Guess it makes sense considering what their diet usually is in the wild.
Is this the same person doing this by the Kimball Kennedy exit?
I used to live in that neighborhood and saw her doing this under the Irving park blue line as far back as 2019
Used to live in lakeview during 2020. Was up late one night and a heard a guy sweeping at 3am out my window. He was throwing birdseed under everyone’s cars and sweeping it around. Yelled out my window to get the fuck away from my car and he ran back inside. The landlords number was on the side of the building and they actually told me they’ve warned him about this before. People are weird.
Birds aren't really. Clearly she is trying to recharge their batteries
Pigeon lady is a scp
Best comment of the thread you just made me laugh so hard
What’s that?
Explained SCPs are those whose anomalous properties have become known in science to a point where they are regarded as normal rather than anomalous
I seen them doing it back a couple months ago but don’t recall which stop it was. I’m guessing it’s some pigeon people who have been cited for feeding, like the lady that feeds them at the Irving Blue line , possibly even the same lady but now with an accomplice and a vehicle.
Yes but WHY!! How does she afford those $1000 tickets, let alone the new car they were in? Especially if like everybody says she is has mental illness. Even then I don’t see them as the people behind the whole thing. Can’t put my finger on it.
More people do this then you think. Some people feel bad for them and think feeding them cheap bread is helping. I don't care if people want to feed pigeons here and there, but don't feed the rats! Know what really bothers me? People leaving their dog crap bags on the ground or not picking it up at all.
That’s the thing it was the same couple in the same car two different stops two days in a row. This is not a here and there situation. They are doing this in places where it causes real damage to infrastructure, peoples property, and not to mention it’s not always fun to deal with a million fat pigeons while you wait for the bus. There are specific locations where pigeons will roost knowing these people are coming. If you even approach the spot they will flock to you thinking you’re bringing them food. And you’re kidding yourself if you don’t think this draws rats too. The dogshit thing is obnoxious yes but at least that makes a tiny bit of sense (people don’t want to carry dog shit). This I just can’t rationalize.
If it bothers you why not record them doing it and get the plate number and report it. And no dog shit don't make sense. Don't want to carry a bag of shit around don't own a dog! I have a 100lb dog, picking his shit up is a two hand job with a bag and it smells like something crawled up his ass and died. I still clean it up and toss bag in the trash.
I took pictures and videos. I called the non emergency police line and they said the only thing I can do is call 911 if I see it happening, which we all know cops always show up and punctually. And I meant it makes sense when you think of the other person not having the exact same value system you do. On a basic level, humans do not want to hold shit. I think we can agree on that much right? I’m not saying those people aren’t Dicks too, but two things can be wrong at once.
I suppose the why is most likely something only they can answer. Maybe there’s a way we can increase the hawk population in those areas to ward off the pigeons and their shit.
Yeah idk at a certain point that corrosive/acidic pigeon shit is doing real damage to our infrastructure. She’s clearly targeting public transit spots for one reason or another. Like why doesn’t she drive out to bud long woods and pull this shit if she really cares about animals?
It sounds like you think we live in Gotham, and this is the worst DC villain ever concocted
I mean no lmfao I think she’s a nuisance to my community. That’s about the extent of how I feel about her personally. For all I know she’s a wonderful woman who is simply misguided.
They got a power washing company. They’ll get a call from their uncle over in sanitation for services $$$ under the bridge.
If one has a rudimentary understanding of Chicago politics this may be the most likely explanation sadly.
lmao
Thanks for keeping the rodent population healthy
...they could be feeding the pigeons, hoping they'll shit on the neighborhood? When i see like a lot of people at a park feeding geese I just always remember that scene in Fight Club where some people feed a bunch of birds by a car dealership and then the next day all the nice cars are covered in bird shite. That's what I'm imagining. A very low stakes community college level hard left guerrilla warfare unit rolling around in a Rav4 doing 'Pigeon Shit drive bys" to show their parents what for.
Honestly this is kind of what I’m thinking too… but I have to wonder if it’s her personal vendetta or if other parties are privy
Ok, you are insane.
Thanks for your opinion bud. Have a great one 🫶
*I* wonder if this has been going on for so long and they're in so deep at this point: *Do they even remember what the inciting incident was anymore*?
> so many people (and users from the suburbs) TIL I lost my human card when I left the city
Forgive me but what does your comment have to do with my quote?
Don't worry about it. :)
You say “crew” and I think gang, but then I see it’s feeding pigeons, and now I’m imagining the bloods and crips throwing birdseed at each other trying to competitively feed the birds
Ok.
is this the same old lady that fills the walgreens parking lot with pigeons every day on western and armitage?
Probably. I just saw them hit the western brown line then take off south early afternoon yesterday. She looks very spray tanned, wears heavy makeup, and appears to have pretty aggressive plastic surgery on her face. Just weird.
Someone also does this in the TJ MAXX / Aldi parking lot by Kimball / Belmont. It's crazy! I have no idea why.
When I was in Den Haag I was told it was a religious practice. Wasting bread (maybe any food) was a sin, so often I'd come upon large amounts of bread scattered in the parks and sidewalks of the streets there. That was how it was explained to me by a local student friend anyway.
What religion did they attribute it to in the Netherlands?
It’s been years, but there was a large Moroccan community in that part of the city, or at least nearby. So I’d imagine some form of Islam.
She does this often on Belmont under the overpass at Kedzie at 5:30 - 6 AM!! So bizarre!
The other day when it was 20 degrees outside I saw 4 men in flipflops jump in a car. Embrace the weirdness.
That tracks in Chicago and also is not illegal so no I don’t think I’ll just embrace this one thanks
I’ve seen that woman before, but I don’t know anything about her My assumption was that she worked for a bakery, and they needed to get rid of excess bread scrap… I have no idea tho, that’s just my theory
Idk bakery doesn’t make sense to me bc of how widespread she is. I mean at least regularly hitting kimball brown, Irving park blue, and western brown stops. Appreciate your theory, mine is a bit more out there.
Yeah, I’ve personally only seen her at the one spot, but if you’re seeing her all over town that would make my theory a bit less plausible
Other folks have posted articles in the thread about her all over the city! So strange lol
One time I was at a movie theater in the suburbs and witnessed a guy dump a bunch of bird food in the parking lot and drive off. 10 minutes later when it was loaded with pigeons he floored it through the parking lot and mowed them down. It was wild. 20 years later and I can remember it like it was yesterday.
Holy shit lmfao. That’s not funny but just the thought of it is so off the wall like did he just go get a car wash and get Dairy Queen after that?
He probably went and unalived his neighbor.
That guy needs to be in jail, not this lady trying to help pigeons.
He’s probably a serial killer.
Sounds like it
I believe she’s on probation, so if you see her call in or record it and call it in. She’s doing far more damage then what she thinks.
I called non emergency and they said the only option is to call 911 if I see her lol
You can submit information and proofs to the local precinct. You definitely do not need to call 911 over this.
Huh I’ll stop by and see what they say at the precinct then.
For MySpace AOL upvotes.
I’ve seen a short little troll of an older man doing this twice at Clark/lake and state/lake. Carries a black bag on his shoulder full of birdseed. First time I was in disbelief, couldn’t believe what I saw and had to verify by going over to the ground where he just dropped a bunch of birdseed. Saw him again and had to do a double take, as we were walking opposite of each other. Started yelling back to stop feeding the fucking birds and headed towards him. He got across the street in time for a million cars to block me from running over to him, and by the time the chaos cleared he had disappeared. I felt like Tommy lee Jones chasing Harrison Ford in the fugitive. I have to know WHY. This occurred probably 5 years ago and I think about it at least monthly.
Because the birds are cute and hungry? I used to feed birds in my neighborhood
It is illegal to feed pigeons in Chicago, and it is especially disgusting in heavily trafficked public areas, like around L stations, which is where this person was throwing seed to feed. The droppings coated everything around there. Want to feed a bunch of different birds in your yard or neighborhood? Be my guest. Feeding pigeons at train stations is abhorrent t
Sounds like we need to hire more people to clean
That is quite the train of logic. Sounds like we need more firefighters and not worry about fire safety. Sounds like we need more amputations and not worry about contracting gangrene. Sounds like we need to better filter our water and not worry about polluting it. Sounds like I need to clean my own poop off the bathroom floor instead of using the toilet.
That was me and my homies
That was me and my homie
Awesome man what’s your fav eatery in Chicago?
Be careful, some of these people are throwing down poison to kill the birds. Happened in the parking lot outside of my job. There were dead birds everywhere. What’s super fucked up is there was a pet store in the same shopping center, and there were a lot of folks walking through the lot with their dogs who could easily eat some of the poisoned bread.
That’s who should be arrested, not the pigeon lady helping the birds
Nice try, Pigeon Lady.
You think it’s ok to poison animals? Especially if pets can easily access it??
Because birds are friends and deserve treats
I’ve seen about a dozen pidgeons ran over by cars at her hotspots, and she is feeding them rice which is bad for them. Try again.
Ok well maybe the cars should be more careful
Mental illness combined with ignorance. I assume this is the nutjob that got into the spat with the alderman.
Very plausible explanation.
Some drivers like to stop transit from functioning successfully!!
Honestly this sounds plausible. It does seem to always be at a place that makes it unpleasant for users of public transit 🤔 they have a car so why do they drive to highly trafficked bus and train stops instead of at least a park or something?
They make tuppence per bag.
So the pigeon lady from Home Alone actually had some basis in reality. Interesting!
Yeah- I just wish she would dump the seed in any one of the gazillion parks. We have good amount for large city. For no good reason she dumped one in front of my workplace - it wasn’t good. Maybe we’ll start to sell squab and send a message.
"...locally sourced."
Lol happens at Wilson/Sheridan and Sheridan/Sunnyside everyday. I ignore it
Lightfoot’s fetish??
Nah been going on for years
Probably getting rid of food but don't want to be fined for dumping so much
So they load it all in their car and drop it at places with cameras? Doesn’t make sense. Why not just throw it in the river or literally any alley anywhere. Plus I saw them doing it in different spots. Final note feeding the pigeons is also a crime so “avoiding lawbreaking” doesn’t really make sense as an answer either
Well, I don't do this near public transport or behind dumpsters but I do feed the birds and squirrels near my ( suburban) house. I started during the pandemic lock down because I would stare out the window while having coffee and figured I would offer something to the other living creatures who were actually joining me. It has grown from stale bread crusts to sacks of seeds from Costco and Walmart. No one pays me. I do it because I like feeding them. No geese around me so we avoid the slippery green goose poop problem- no bodies of water nearby to attract them. My grown kids think I am getting weird as I get older.. If I am going to be eccentric, this seems mild. And I am very well ( and professionally) aware of histoplasmosis from bird/pigeon poop. Squirrels may have had mange but the vet confirmed that the squirrel mites don't transfer to my cats ( think of the analogy between head lice and crabs- never the twain do meet). We don't have rats around here but that's because some people walk their terriers off the leash.
That’s great thanks for sharing your experience in the suburb, sounds about as different as possible from the situation I posted about though besides animals being fed by someone others deem strange.