Polaris "The North Star"

[Feather]

This is the story of Polaris, “The North Star”. One evening about a year and a half ago, I had a visit from a young man of about 12 years old. He was holding a big beautiful white pigeon as one would hold a puppy. He told me that my neighbor, (his friend from school) told him that I took care of animals. He asked me if I would please take his pigeon because his mom and dad were getting a divorce, and he and his father were moving into an apartment where they did not allow any animals. He said “this is a very special pigeon, he is a fantail.” As the bird exchanged hands, his long tail feathers were pointing to the north so I named him Polaris. He quickly pushed his way into our hearts, and eventually chose a mate. He was a devoted husband and father, and he seemed as happy to be here as we were to have him.

One morning this past Sept. I saw white tail and down feathers by the patio door. I knew they belonged to Polaris, because they were wider, longer and squarer on the ends than those of my other pigeons. What did I do? I must have tucked to birds in and missed him. I must have locked him out of the loft. By the number of feathers on my walk-way and lawn, I knew that I would never see him again.

When I started logging on to pigeon talk in Dec. most of the time I was reading how to care for sick birds. Then I hooked up with Victor’s thread and started to feel his pain. As all of us went through this mental and emotional search for Tooter, I think the hardest thing for me was knowing that Victor had two jobs and was desperately searching for Tooter every spare minute. I felt helpless so far away. Just the month before, I watched as a hawk targeted one of my baby’s. She returned four days later. But I remembered the guilt that I have for what I did to that beautiful bird that little boy so trustingly handed over to me.

As I frequented Tooter’s thread I also felt the love from all of you for Victor and his quest. There was one participant in particular who had the same strong feelings that I did. Unlike Polaris who I knew was gone forever. I felt very strongly that Tooter was still alive. I would read what she would post and it seemed to sooth me. Her compassion always seemed so “pure”. So I decided to tell “Phyll” that I really enjoyed the way she wrote.

She read my compliment right before she went to Mass last Sunday. While she was in church, she asked the Lord to bless me for sharing with her the way I felt. I have felt blessed ever since I found this web-site. But believe it or not Tuesday when I went outside, there was Polaris trying to get into his loft. My feet have not touched the ground since. You guys can think what you want, but I KNOW that Polaris is a result of that blessing.

I will be taking pictures, but, don’t be surprised if you don’t get them for 6 months.
I’ll be real lucky if I get this through. Oh... by the way… I have always heard that fantails do not have the homing instinct, so I looked it up on the internet. I don’t think Polaris is a fantail, I think he may be mixed. But I’ll leave that up to you pigeon experts.

Feather

[feralpigeon]

Hi Feather,

That's a remarkable story of faith and affirmation. I can't tell you how happy I am to hear of your reunion and also the remarkable instincts of even fancy pigeons. I too, hope that Tooter will also one day be one of the remarkable home comings that we hear of.

fp

[TerriB]

Feather, thank you for sharing Polaris' story and his unexpected return! What an emotional rollercoaster for you to go through! Glad he is back home again! (Remember to isolate him for a few weeks in case he picked up anything during his time away.)

[Jiggs]

Thats good to hear. How long was Polaris away??

All pigeons have a homing instinct to variing degrees.

[Reti]

Thank you for sharing Polaris's story, feather. A wonderful and touching story, a true miracle.

Reti

[Skyeking]

Thank you for sharing the story of Polaris. The return of Polaris definitely is a miracle!

Polaris is a special bird, and smart too, I'm sure you are keeping him very close these days.

[Feather]

Jiggs,

Polaris was gone for four months. I still find myself checking on him many times a day to make sure he doesn't disappear as fast as he appeared. Or as fp says, to make sure it is not one of my imageries. It is solid! He's home!
I do think that a very kind spirit had taken him in. He appears to be in Great Shape, and is as beautiful as ever. I hope that they don't miss him too much, because I don't think that they would just let him go. He's fat!

I thought of Bev and Victor, and right away I tried to post it on Tooter's thread. So if my prodical son story ended up in your private messages would you please forward it to Tooter's Thread. I feel like aunt Clara on Bewitched.
I never know where any of my replys go half of the time.

Feather

[Jiggs]

Did not recieve -hopefully went to the right place

[Camrron]

What a positive outcome for your Feather. Prayer is so powerful and I do believe in it. Years ago I worked with a lady who had gone camping one summer and had taken her cat (and her husband) along with her. Anyway, the cat disapeared the day they were going to leave the campsite. She could not believe, and never did believe that her cat was gone for good. So every weekend for 5 or 6 months she travelled back to that campsite with hubby in tow and on the last day, when they had finally given up, the cat appeared again. And at the exact same campsite it was first lost! It too had been waiting for mom to return. When my lady friend got her baby back though she was as wild as any wild animal. It took weeks for her to settle back into the life of domestication. I guess what I am saying is that having faith and hope are not wasted emotions. Prayer helps. I hope Tooter comes back one day too. You just never know. I think Victor would be thrilled and so relieved. For that reason especially I hope that day comes for him. I too think that Tooter is still out there.

Cameron

[Feather]

When you were telling me about your friends cat, it reminded me of my sister who took care of her best friends cat while she went on vacation.
My sister told me I'm a little nervious because if anything ever happened to Muff, Christy will never forgive me. That is all she ever talks about. Muff, Muff, Muff,. Well good ol Muff took off the 2nd day that he was at her house.
My sister cried. She looked everywhere for him and never could find him. Now Muff was supposed to be a very fancy cat, my sister said he was a indoor cat and that Christy had him declawed. So now poor Muff is out in the cruel world with no claws. When her friend returned from her vaca and my sister gave her the sad news. They both cried! Christy cried for Muff, and my sister cried because she knew how much she loved him.
About 2 years after that my sister moved out of the neighborhood. 5 years after that we were taking her niece home and happened to pass by her old house. She slams on the breaks, and screams "THATS MUFF". So I say "are you sure because you said Muff was a pretty cat. Now in her old yard looking up at a window was a mangie looking cat. "THATS MUFF he's looking up at the same window he jumped out of when he ran away. I am the passenger so I go after Muff. I grabbed ahold of him and he scratched the heck out of me but I was not letting go. When my sister dropped off her neice, she called her friend. Guess What? She was on vacation at the same place that she had gone 5 years before that. So extreamly nervious my sister had to watch Muff until she returned. I asked her, I thought you said he was declawed. I didn't know that they declaw the front paws only.
Almost like your story huh. A vacation cat story! On a pigeon web-site.

[Camrron]

Such a sweet story Feather. No problem it is on a pigeon site. To me it is all about hope. Belief too and reconnecting with our best friends be they cat, dog or bird. Your story reminded me of a feral cat I found in my back yard round about 1998. It was so thin and sad looking. Really in rough condition. It had a collar that came off when I tried to catch it. The collar had the name of a business, a cats name and a phone number but I could only read it with the help of a friends lens. Turns out the business was no more than a block away, a hair salon. When I turned the collar over to the lady in charge she burst into tears. She could not believe her lost cat was still alive after so long. It turn out the cat was lost and feral for almost two years. I searched everywhere for that cat for a week afterward so that I could reunite them. I put out food at night and you can guess the rest. I caught him and took him in to that lady. She was stunned. She hardly recognized her cat after such a long time but had a big cry over it right in the middle of a haircut. Me too. I felt so good!

Cameron

[Feather]

Cam,

Now that is a sweet story!

Did she lose him out of her salon? I bet that made you feel really good.
My, I couldn't imagine this world without animals. Have you seen Pikachus' web-site? it is really cute.

[Camrron]

I did feel good. As good as you probably felt getting Polaris back. I have not seen Pikachiu's site by the way and can't find it for some reason. Tips?

Cameron

[Feather]

O.K., Go to search and type her name in the search bar.

Feather

[Maggie-NC]

To Feather and Cameron - really enjoyed the cat stories.

Maggie