Found a Pigeon

[Spotted Pony]

Ok, Here's the way it is. A pigeon found us and adopted us. Because we have 6 cats and they have almost got it twice in the 24 hours, we decided our best bet was to catch it and put it in a cage that we had on hand.

The problem comes in that we know absolutely nothing about pigeons and since I got fired we have become a single income household that currently has 3 dogs and 6 cats. We really can't afford to care for another animal. Although we care for animals that we find, we normally take them to the humane society and let them deal with them after trying to find the owner by posting messages on bulletin boards locally.

Because this is a special case, we decided to try and find someone who cares for pigeons specifically to take this one. I have spent the last 24 hours trying to find someone locally and none of the local businesses know of anyone out here that raises or breeds pigeons. This one is use to being handled and is very gentle. We actually caught him/her when he/she (?) willingly came in the front door of the house. We decided to try this because he keep flying into the living room window trying to get into the house, even after we covered the window.

I do not know the breed and so cannot tell you what kind of pigeon it is. I can tell you that it is mostly grey with some black stripes on the wing tips. It has no band or anything else that would give a number or something to identify him with as far as who he belongs to.

Although I can find no injuries, I do know that one of the younger cats did get to him twice last night, but he managed to get away. We thought that he would leave but he was still here this morning. Every time I leave the house and start work outside, he shows up within 5 or 10 minutes and follows me everywhere. Landing on anything that is close by. He would let me get withing 2 or 3 inches of him, but would not come onto my hand or let me grab him. I caught him by cornering him in the house with a small blanket and transferring him to the cage.

He currently is sitting in his cage on the cough and cooing to my husband who is watching TV. The cage does not stress him at all. I took him out of the cage to check his legs for bands and he was very gentle and calm, no problems here at all. All of this leads us to beleive that he did belong to somebody and was handled, but somehow got away and found our house.

We would love to find somebody to take him. I can drive within a reasonable distance to meet someone or if shipping is explained to me, I can probably have him shipped somewhere. We would like to see this bird get a good home, so please, if one of you would like another pigeon, contact me so that something can be worked out to get this guy somewhere. Thanks for listening and reading my long post. Spotted Pony

[Spotted Pony]

Forgot to add my e-mail address. I can be contacted at oatmanspony@aol.com. We are in Yoder, Colorado if someone knows of a pigeon person close by here that might have recently lost one or would be willing to take this one in. Thanks again, Donna

[TAWhatley]

Hi Donna and welcome to pigeons.com. Thank you for looking out for the pigeon.

I am in Southern California and would be happy to take the bird if nobody in your area is able to help.

Let's give it a day or so and see if something near you works out.

Please continue to keep the bird safely away from the cats. Even a seemingly minor cat bite can result in a fatal infection for the bird.

Terry

[Spotted Pony]

We are continuing to care for the bird and have asked extensively, feed store, post office, general store, etc. Nobody knows of anyone in this area, that raises or deals in pigeons. I thought maybe a racer, and so released it this morning to see if it would go, but it did not. It stayed near the house and within 10 feet of me every time I went outside, and we had to catch it again this afternoon when it started getting late.

This time it did not willingly walk into the house and I spent almost 45 minutes walking around with it, trying to outfox it and catch it again. Feed store thinks I should keep releasing it every day, to see if it does regain whatever it lost in the storm the other night and go home. What do you guys think? I am afraid that it will catch on to my methods of catch and I may not be able to catch it one night and then the cats will get it. It does seem to be stronger now than when we first found it. Could it be recovering from some unseen injury that the storm might have caused?

[TAWhatley]

Hi again Donna,

I'm glad to learn that the bird appears to be feeling better and a bit spunkier than when it first arrived.

I think your "instincts" are correct in that the bird may become progressively more difficult to catch but still not really well enough/strong enough to be out on its own. I would keep it confined for at least a few more days with good food and fresh water and then see how he flies in a safely enclosed space. It could be that the bird is releasable with just a little more of your care, but I would hate to see it on its own again before it's really up to the task.

Please keep us posted.

Terry

PS: We don't have too many folks from Colorado on the board .. I grew up about a 100+ miles south of you in the tiny town of La Veta at the foot of the Spanish Peaks and near the Sangre de Cristos.


[This message has been edited by TAWhatley (edited June 10, 2004).]

[Spotted Pony]

Hello, everyone. Just thought I would let you all know that I took the pigeon with me up to my in-laws house about 100 miles away from where I live and after being there about 1 hour we let it out of the cage. It took turns following myself, my husband and my mother-in-law around all day and even flew into the house once when we all went in to eat lunch and nobody was outside. Mother-in-law fell in love with him/her and wants to keep it, so left it up there when we came back home Saturday night. She says all is well and pigeon loves it up there. She goes out every morning and lets him out of his/her cage and it follows her around most of the day and then she catches it and puts it back in the cage at night. So far, so good. Thanks for all of the advice. Donna