Your opinions please

[vandergill]

Hi there all,

I was chatting to a fellow fancier at the Sun City Million Dollar Race whilst waiting for the birds to come in, he mentioned something to me that has me quite perplexed and a little concerned, he told me that there is no way that a pigeon will fly over a mountain, it will rather go around.

I have highlighted the crest of our mountain range in yellow, the two red circles are the clubs we fly against, the blue circle is us. The line coming into the blue circle is our direction of liberation.

You will see that there are only two gaps in the mountain range, one being on the right, and the other on the left, basically in line with our competing clubs.

What are your opinions on this?? Will the birds only come through at those gaps or will they come over the mountain? If they only come through those gaps, we don't stand a chance against the other clubs.

Link to Google image http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/...current=12.jpg

Sorry I had to link the image, I could not get it to appear in the forum. If one of the Mods would like to activate it please do.

Andy

[Char-B Loft]

I used to fly in the mountains and I have found pigeons will fly the mountain passes...

[Pigeon0446]

Here's the pic he's talking about.

[SmithFamilyLoft]

Originally Posted by vandergill

Hi there all,

I was chatting to a fellow fancier at the Sun City Million Dollar Race whilst waiting for the birds to come in, he mentioned something to me that has me quite perplexed and a little concerned, he told me that there is no way that a pigeon will fly over a mountain, it will rather go around.

I have highlighted the crest of our mountain range in yellow, the two red circles are the clubs we fly against, the blue circle is us. The line coming into the blue circle is our direction of liberation.

You will see that there are only two gaps in the mountain range, one being on the right, and the other on the left, basically in line with our competing clubs.

What are your opinions on this?? Will the birds only come through at those gaps or will they come over the mountain? If they only come through those gaps, we don't stand a chance against the other clubs.

Link to Google image http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/...current=12.jpg

Sorry I had to link the image, I could not get it to appear in the forum. If one of the Mods would like to activate it please do.

Andy

Every other year or so, we go through the same thing in our Combine. When we fly the one course, the clubs on the left side of the mountain wins, and when we fly the other course, the clubs on the right side of the mountain wins. When we fly one or the other, typically a club will "quit" until the course which benifits them is reinstated. Welcome to the world of pigeon racing ! In these situations, loft location can play a big role in who wins on race day.

[MaryOfExeter]

Pigeons probably prefer to fly though the valleys, but if the conditions are right, I don't see why they couldn't fly over it. I guess it also depends on how tall the mountain is

[bbcdon]

Originally Posted by SmithFamilyLoft

Every other year or so, we go through the same thing in our Combine. When we fly the one course, the clubs on the left side of the mountain wins, and when we fly the other course, the clubs on the right side of the mountain wins. When we fly one or the other, typically a club will "quit" until the course which benifits them is reinstated. Welcome to the world of pigeon racing ! In these situations, loft location can play a big role in who wins on race day.

That is another benefit of a one loft race.

[Black.Pied]

pigeons will not fly over mountains

[MaryOfExeter]

They will if they have to, and if they are trained to. Obviously a pigeon who has never seen a mountain before, will try to go around it.

[RodSD]

Using a gps will tell you for sure, but pigeons will take the easiest route. That is common sense. They have to manage energy consumptions. But this doesn't mean that they wont pass over mountain.

Here are some examples:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MeuT-YygQ8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VQUh...eature=related

[Roller mike]

Originally Posted by Black.Pied

pigeons will not fly over mountains

Mine will, they have no choice on our course its full of mountains, pigeons can fly in the mountains and over if trained to do so, A club to the west of us liberates the races on this side of the cascade mountain range.

[RodSD]

Originally Posted by vandergill

Hi there all,

I was chatting to a fellow fancier at the Sun City Million Dollar Race whilst waiting for the birds to come in, he mentioned something to me that has me quite perplexed and a little concerned, he told me that there is no way that a pigeon will fly over a mountain, it will rather go around.

I have highlighted the crest of our mountain range in yellow, the two red circles are the clubs we fly against, the blue circle is us. The line coming into the blue circle is our direction of liberation.

You will see that there are only two gaps in the mountain range, one being on the right, and the other on the left, basically in line with our competing clubs.

What are your opinions on this?? Will the birds only come through at those gaps or will they come over the mountain? If they only come through those gaps, we don't stand a chance against the other clubs.

Link to Google image http://s1092.photobucket.com/albums/...current=12.jpg

Sorry I had to link the image, I could not get it to appear in the forum. If one of the Mods would like to activate it please do.

Andy

If I were you I will train them to fly to those gaps. What happens in pigeon gps experiment is that pigeons will try the shortest route so if you release them in one spot they will fly one way. Next time you release them, they will fly another path. They will try different paths until they memorize the shortest or the least effort. It sucks that I can't find the research paper.

[Alamo]

For saftey,pigeons will take a lower flight path,and not fly over hills/mountains,if they can.....Hawks generly fly high and circle,looking for birds that fly by...It`s easier for a pigeon to blend in to the scenery,if they are not flying so high...Alamo

[RodSD]

At my place it is the opposite. Hawks fly low and falcons fly high. The falcons try to get my birds up there and when they go down the Cooper tries to get them. Redtail do fly high at my place though.

I think pigeons are medium height flier.

[DEEJAY7950]

Boy tough place to be in, you will soon find out that fairness in pigeon flying is the most "argued" and "debated" subject in this sport, those that have an advantage will hold on to it with all their might and will never consider change that may take that advantage away, sort of the "holy grail" of the sport, yet there are ways to make it "FAIR" for "ALL" of us that fly in this sport but you will always hear that it can not be done, that it is impossible, usually this comes from those that are afraid of losing their advantage in flying birds! Anyways Good luck in your flying those mountain gaps!

[jeff houghton]

Very interesting as pigeons lost in Wales in the uk which is known for its hills and mountains seem to very rarely make it back or even attempt to make it back home.Ive had 40 or 50 strays land at my loft over the years when living there and can verify what fanciers have said to me about getting them back with i would say 80% of them saying the same thing that they wouldnt clear the hills and mountains.
Ive still got 2 / 3 with me to this day.Must be something to it .