Scottsbluff merchants are close to meeting their goal to eradicate the pigeon population .
$4,425 of the necessary $5,000 has been raised in the past few months.
That money will go to a USDA program which will bring an expert to trap and remove the bulk of the pigeon population downtown.
County Health Director Bill Wineman says despite cooler weather moving in, the pigeon removal program should still be green - lit.
"As soon as they get the funds...because those birds will stay all winter long. It really doesn't matter what time of the year when they would start the program. Fall and winter, might even be an easier time for them to help eradicate some of those numbers."
Wineman says he believes many of the pigeons flocked downtown after their roosting place at Hergert Milling was torn down several years ago.
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