Pigeon forces temporary closure of Chesterfield market hall café

The cat was well and truly set among the pigeons when the drama winged its way to the popular town centre venue this week.

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In a top-flight statement, a spokesperson for Chesterfield Borough Council explained: "We always welcome new customers to our market hall café, but unfortunately we had to draw the line at a plucky pigeon who visited us this week – the free-flying bird got trapped inside the building, and could have contaminated food and drink so we had to close our doors for a short while.

“We temporarily closed the café on Tuesday and for a limited time on Wednesday while we tried to encourage our feathered friend to leave the building.

“The pigeon finally departed unscathed from their adventure and following a thorough clean of café we were able to re-open to our usual clientele!”

Three facts about pigeons

- Pigeons are renowned for their outstanding navigational abilities. They use a range of skills, such as using the sun as a guide and an internal ‘magnetic compass’. A study at Oxford University found that they will also use landmarks as signposts and will travel along man-made roads and motorways, even changing direction at junctions

- Pigeons are highly sociable animals. They will often be seen in flocks of 20 to 30 birds

- Pigeons mate for life and tend to raise two chicks at the same time

Source: onekindplanet.org/animal/pigeon

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