Pigeon Infestation

Author: WindStruck

The Free City of Tandem is not a sparkling utopia. Like any large city, it has its "slums." Normally most people complain about rats and other four-legged vermin. But what people complain about the most in Tandem are the birds! Flying rats, they call them. You literally could not walk six steps in this city without having to side-step around one. Or perhaps you could ignore them and practically bowl them aside with your feet as most people do. That's only describing one of the less-infested areas, however. Sometimes one could look down a street and it appears to be one giant, bobbling mass. The common house cat is rather overwhelmed and usually doesn't even touch them either. They tend to fight back swarms too, by the way. Anything that's about a comparable size to them. And even if numerous die, they breed like rabbits. Nobody really knows why the situation with birds is the way it is in the city. It's been an issue which has noticeably gotten worse over the past century. Is it the large tree houses? Shifting migration or weather patterns? Some people have taken to trying to put this untapped resource to work, however. Pigeon carrier services are convenient and dirt cheap. The blooming industry is also sometimes erroneously blamed for the overpopulation problem. Some other more desperate people have taken to catching and eating the birds, though it's a lot of work and not much meat... they're usually tough and not too tasty either. These birds have to be cooked carefully and thoroughly, however, for many times when people eat their meat, they become terribly ill.