This week, the west coast has been experiencing earthquakes and the weather on the east coast has been unpredictable, too. We've had strong winds and thunderstorms. During some recent winds, this white pigeon, with a band of purple feathers around his neck, lost his way. On Monday night, an animal lover, friend, and faithful GDP reader called us to help. She knows we are animal lovers and that we have a pet bird.
This tame pigeon was roosting in her neighbors' garage and their neighborhood, Sunset Hills, is full of cats. She wanted to know if we would help. She did not want to wake up to ruffled feathers and a dead carcass. Well, we drove to her house with a bird cage and it took less than a minute to get this beauty caged. Already night, we took him home and gave him food and water and a good night's rest.
The next day, we took him to Stephie's birds and she helped us read the band number. We have contacted the National Pigeon Association and are in the process of finding the owner. According to the association's website, if you get them fed and hydrated, you can let them go in an open field and they will find their way home-- even if it is hundreds of miles away. We will probably do that if our leads are dead ends. In the meantime, we'll keep trying to find the rightful owner. The bird is so beautiful, tame, and well cared for that we're pretty sure the owners are missing him.
As a child, Mrs. GDP had a pet homing pigeon who just showed up at her house one day. When she went to town on Saturday afternoons, she would see her pigeon on the court house square. He always came home to roost at night. One day he never returned. Mrs. GDP's mom made up a little story about how Homer married and went with his new family. So, finding the rightful owner would touch a nostalgic chord in Mrs. GDP's heart. If you have any ideas, please let us know. We feel like we're in the middle of P.D. Eastman's tale, Are You My Mother?. Let's hope our ending is as happy as the one in the children's book.
How handsome he is up close! Do let us know the conclusion to this tale.
Posted by: Jane Mitchell | Thursday, August 09, 2012 at 09:38 AM