Pigeon in a costume cupboard: Odd wildlife callouts at Trinity College

Ken Foxe

A pigeon in a costume cupboard, a dead fox behind an academic building, and a seagull with suspected bird flu were among the wildlife callouts at Trinity College Dublin over the past two years.

The famous city campus has had dozens of sightings of rats, mice, moths, and silverfish, according to a log of incidents.

In one case, a pigeon somehow got trapped inside a press filled with costumes at the Lir Academy for drama.

Last June, tests were carried out on a seagull found on campus to determine whether it had died of bird flu.

An incident log said: “[Disease] not present, all good.”

In 2024, the university dealt with a series of incidents involving carpet moths in various parts of the campus with spray treatment applied.

There were multiple callouts for rodents that year with a “baby rat” discovered in one trap and droppings found around a sink.

Another entry from the logs said: “Bad smell, carcass found, removed, temporary [bait] boxes installed.”

On one occasion, pest controllers were called and spotted “visible movement” as well as carcasses on site.

The records also showed at least a dozen times where burrows were baited in the hopes of keeping rodents at bay.

Reports were also logged of a dead squirrel, a dead fox, and pigeons nesting in the roof space of the Arts Block.

Asked about the records, a spokesperson said on a campus as large as Trinity, with many historic buildings, it was inevitable staff would be called out to deal with wildlife.

They said: “Trinity is a nature positive campus where our Estates and Facilities team work closely with the Sustainability Office to promote, preserve and enhance wildlife and biodiversity on the estate.

“Currently we have over 520 species of plants, fungi and animals thriving on campus.”