Residents of a quiet Adelaide suburb got the scare of their lives on Monday after seeing a man in a high-visibility vest firing a powerful gun into the air.
Jeff, a local, watched in horror as the gunman walked up to a car and pulled out a “large rifle about three feet long.”
He then shot it near Wattle Reserve in South Brighton at around 6.30pm, but it turns out the local authorities legally hired the man to shoot pigeons.
Jeff said that before taking the gun, the man had been paying close attention to one house in particular, which was next to a playground.
“I was minding my own business and couldn’t help but notice that he was pacing back and forth, in and out of a driveway, pacing up and down the street.
“After about an hour, he returned to his car, which was parked in front of his house, pulled out a gun and fired a few shots.”
Jeff then saw the man pick up a dead bird he had just shot, which alarmed him and caused him to panic.
“I’m in a park in Brighton, I don’t expect anyone to pull out a gun without any sign or warning about what’s going to happen,” he said.
Residents in Adelaide’s west got the shock of their lives when they saw a man with a pickup truck and in high visibility pulling out a large gun on their street (pictured).
Jeff called the police and was shocked by their response.
“They told me there was a pigeon killer in the area,” he said.
A Holdfast Bay Local Council spokeswoman said the shooting was neither carried out nor approved by the council.
“It is a requirement for any pest control company undertaking this type of activity to request approval (or) notification to local law enforcement,” the spokeswoman told the Advertiser.
South African police said they had been notified of a pigeon cull in the area.
John, a pigeon handler from Adelaide, said these selectors are called in more often than people realize and he works on the problem every day.
‘If you saw what I saw, they have to go. The feces, the mess, the noise they cause.
The man took out the large rifle near Wattle Reserve in Brighton, which has a play area (pictured)
‘I have people praise my work after living with them for a couple of years. The disaster they cause, the sewers, the damage, amounts to tens of thousands.
He said the killers try to operate covertly so as not to scare people.
“You can put up signs, but that can sometimes attract more attention than if you didn’t put up more signs.
“So if I’m going to be blatantly obvious in front of a house, I usually walk up to them and let them know what’s going on,” John said.