Er, cases of illness, that is. You can only get 3 diseases from pigeons (histoplasmosis, cryptococcosis, and psittacosis.) and you're pretty much only likely to get them if you've already got a compromised immune system.

NY.gov: http://www.nyc.gov/htm...epi/epi-pigeon.shtml

"Wednesday, 09-24-2008
By: Wormfood
I hope you were wearing a respirator Motts. Pigeons and pigeon feces also, carry a scary amount of nasty diseases. Over half of them can be fatal."

I know this is a rather old post, but as an ornithology buff I have to point out that this is simply not true. You are far more likely to get a disease from a pet bird than a wild one, including pigeons--who, by the way, are no more diseased than any other wild animal. The idea that pigeons and their feces are a major contaminant is basically just an advertisement for the pest control industry, and only popped up in the last 35 years or so.

You can check out public health records for more info--there have literally been about 10 wild pigeon-related illnesses in the last decade reported in the U.S.

That's so poignant. I wonder when it was written?

Oh man...how old was that newspaper?

Fantastic. Thanks very much for posting this.

Very interesting, Wormfood. Thanks.

Wow, amazing shot.

What a great title!

Someone wrote "fuck the __" on the wall back there. ("fick die _____", that is.) I can't tell what the last word is and now I'm all curious!

...that graffiti looks like Duckman to me.

I...don't know why. I've never even seen an episode of that show and had to struggle to remember what it was called.

Duckman picture: http://gd.tuwien.ac.at...ge/pics/duckman2.gif

Hi Bill! Thanks for your translation...but to me, it says "Access to switchboard, keep clear".

I'm not a native speaker, so I might be wrong, but I'm curious where you got "cabinet" from...and where "zugang" went. :)