These animal control officers from Spain demonstrate an explosive technique for turning a peaceful flock of pigeons into a seething mass of wings and beaks. Is this snare cruel and unusual, or surprisingly humane?

We guess it depends on whatever they do with the birds next. First, here's a test-run on a small group of pigeons in a near-empty empty park:

This next operation, however, has witnesses. A pedestrian enters the target area, oblivious to the carnage that's about to unfold:

And here's an example of the insidious device used on a larger flock. Some of these pigeons evade the blast radius... will they escape to spread the word to other birds? Only Mike Tyson and Bert from Sesame Street know for sure: