The Ranger Online

Issue date: 11/30/07 Section: News

Media Credit: Allison Doyle Kenneth Ricks sweeps away the bird feed with help from David, who would not provide his last name.

Media Credit: Allison Doyle Fidelina Gonzalez shows dissatisfaction with efforts to drive the pigeons away.

They say the early bird catches the worm.

On Wednesday morning, however, at the Finesilver lot where students of this college shuttle to and from the campus, another early riser tried to catch the pigeons.

Two police cars answered a call to the underpass of Interstates 35 and 10 known as the Finesilver parking lot at Cameron and Belvin streets near the Finesilver Building.

The supposed crime was bird catching.

As reported last week by The Ranger, a man by the name of Kenneth Ricks has been feuding with local resident Fidelina Gonzalez, who has been feeding the birds for more than 20 years.

"Every time we come out here to trap them and pick them and move them, she comes out and calls the cops, two or three cops that ought to be doing something else," an associate of Ricks, who would only provide a first name of David, said.

"They call the cops over and over, and we've been trapping here for years. Even at night, we catch a lot of birds, and there really is nothing they can do about it."

Gonzalez's neighbor and landlord, whose name could not be verified prior to publication, placed the call to San Antonio police after she heard the loud shot of the gun that sprays a net over the birds, Gonzalez said.

While Gonzalez consistently feeds the birds three times a day, Ricks feeds the pigeons only to catch them and claims to sell them to a bird sanctuary in Houston or to local Chinese restaurants for $4.50 a bird.

Previously, Ricks claimed to work for Ricks and Sons, a company owned by his father, but the claim could not be verified because the number he provided was inoperable and the company could not be found online or in the city directory.

When asked for the company number Wednesday morning, Ricks again provided a false number.

As the police questioned both Ricks and Gonzalez's landlord, David produced a letter from the Texas Department of Parks and Wildlife with an address forwarded to Joe Ricks, owner of Ricks and Sons Birds and Feathers located in Pleasanton.

The letter was in response to the company's question as to whether it was legal to catch pigeons in Texas, David said.

"They're considered feral. There's no law, they don't have a hunting season, they don't have a limit on them, they don't have anything. They're feral," David said.

"Ask the game warden, that's what they said. There's nothing wrong with trapping."

According to the letter from David Sinclair, chief of wildlife, feral pigeons "may be hunted, trapped, captured and taken."

Sinclair's interpretation of the law was later confirmed in a phone interview with The Ranger, but he conceded that cities within Texas may have their own regulations as to whether it is permissible to catch pigeons within city limits.

A call to the city's legal department by The Ranger inquiring about the legality of bird catching within city limits was not returned prior to publication.

David made a similar case to that of Ricks' last week, saying that the acid from the bird droppings eats through the cement and that the bus benches are covered with droppings, too.

"The Salvation Army had problems (with pigeons)," David said. "They were roosting on top with their nests; they were backing up the draining system."

When called by The Ranger, the maintenance office of the Salvation Army across the street from the lot denied having any pigeon problems.

Ricks' and David's stories diverged dramatically, however, when asked about Ricks' initial claim that he had a contract with the city to catch the birds.

The Ranger tried to confirm this but the city's health department and the asset management parking division denied any contract with Ricks.

When questioned a second time, David answered for Ricks saying, "No, we basically just work on our own."

David blames this on the city and animal lovers.

"We can't find anybody to issue us a permit," David said. "We talked to the mayor, we talked to different people and they say, 'yeah we want them (the pigeons) out, but really, we got so many people that love animals,' they don't want to really say, 'go ahead and catch them, and take them away.'"

The letter from TPW also suggests to Ricks' company to check with the Texas Department of Transportation about attaining a permit.

"We had tried to get them (TxDOT) to issue one (a permit), but they don't issue permits," David said.

A call to TxDOT to confirm if this is true did not substantiate David's claim.

"We didn't get a request to my knowledge from anybody wanting to trap pigeons at Interstates 10 and 35," TxDOT official, John Vohuslow, said. "And even if we did, we don't have the authority to grant that kind of permission."

No citations were issued to Ricks, and he was allowed to leave shortly after being questioned by police. "Well, he (the police officer) said we need permission from the college, that way, the next time I come out here I shouldn't have a problem," Ricks said.

Ricks, however, claims to have already made arrangements with the college. "It shouldn't be too hard," Ricks said. "I already have permission to be here from San Antonio College."

When asked who he spoke with from this college, he said he could not remember.

"I got all that stuff written down at my house," Ricks said.

Dr. Robert Zeigler, president of this college; Debra Martin, public relations officer for this college; and Tim Rockey, chair of the Parking Committee, have all denied any arrangement with Ricks exists.

"Debra Martin checked with our facilities person, our security person and with me and with Mr. Rockey, and none of us know anything about it," Zeigler said.

Although Ricks and David initially said they tried and wanted to get permission from the city, shortly after the police left the Finesilver lot, Ricks and David presented another view.

"We don't have a contract with the city for the reason that we do this bridge because there's so many of them (pigeons), and we're probably the only ones doing this, so why bother?" David said.

They both claimed to be onto their next assignment catching pigeons at Valero gas stations because of a contract they have with that company.

"This is just one of many (locations)," David said. "We don't need this."

Yet, Carl Storlie, asset management parking division assistant manager for the City of San Antonio, told The Ranger last week that for nine months the city has been trying to run off those responsible for catching pigeons in the Finesilver lot.

Read related story here.

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